Just before lunch I was wrapping up the morning lesson when I tripped. I was using a dry erase board on a metal tripod and somehow my pinky toe got caught on the front leg of the tripod. This tripped me which then tripped the tripod causing it to fall over and me to fall to the ground. It was one of those slow motion accidents that I could not stop.
I thought I was fine, but when I stood up it felt like I has stepped in water. I looked down and there was blood everywhere. Everyone was very nice and we got it cleaned up and saw that there was a very deep cut between my pinky toe and the toe next to it. The office nurse (who does not speak English) came to look at it. She had very long scissors she used to dab cotton balls in alcohol to rub on my foot. I saw the scissors and started to cry because I did not know what she was going to do to my foot. I was also scarred because it was pretty obvious that I needed stitches and the thought of getting sewn up in an Indian hospital scarred me.
Sure enough the nurse said I needed to go to the hospital. The manager of the Gurgaon branch came with me, which was good because only the doctor spoke English. The hospital was more like a clinic, I am sure Delhi has a bigger hospital but this was probably the closest one. It was dirty, and I wouldn't ever eat in a place like that, so I was terrified. I saw a nurse right away who cleaned up my foot. Everything is very unsanitary but she seems to be doing a good job regardless.
Then the doctor comes in and says I only need one stitch. I am paying a lot of attention to make sure only new needles are used. She seems to be getting the needle and thread ready, so I get a little scarred that they won't use anesthesia. I ask her if it will hurt and she says it won't because they will be using local anesthesia. The anesthesia shot is a little painful, but not to bad. She then immediately starts stitching up my foot.
When I was in a car accident and got 37 stitches I could not feel the needle entering and exiting my skin, but I did feel the thread pass through. It was a weird feeling, but there was no pain.
So when I felt the needle go through my skin I started getting really freaked out. Another doctor tried to explain why I felt the needle, but he did not convince me that it was supposed to be like that. The anesthesia did have some effect because the pain was not excruciating. It felt like I was getting a painful shot, but I was crying out of fear not pain.
The doctor then said I needed another stitch, which I was not happy about. I cried through it and then it was over. Two nurses bandaged me up and gave me a Tetnis shot. I need to come back in seven days to take the stitches out.
The head doctor took a long time talking to me in his office and prescribed three medications, which seems unnecessary. He gave me his cell phone number and told me to call him every other day because he wanted to change my bandage personally. I have no idea why a head doctor would want to change the bandage of a patient with 2 stitches, so I can only assume it is because I am American. Although the offer was really nice, I am going to change the bandage myself because going to the hospital is a hassle and because it is unclean.
I will return on Thursday to get the stitches out, unless my wound shows signs of infection before that.
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