Good afternoon!
This past Saturday I went to Stonehenge and Bath. It was a rather dismal day, it poured at Stonehenge, to the point that the wind was blowing the rain sideways and it stung as it hit you. It managed to clear up for a little while, just long enough so that we could snap a few photographs. Bath was nothing too impressing in my opinion. I think I am more of a nature girl. I'm not so interested in seeing ruins that lie in the middle of a city. But nonetheless the trip was worth it and I saw some interesting sights.
Sunday was basically a resting day I didn't do very much work. However, today I was supposed to be writing my paper but that didn't exactly happen. Last night I noticed that my foot was hurting a little bit and thought that maybe I had stepped funny or something and brushed it off. This morning I woke up to a stiff, swollen, and painful left foot. I decided to call my parents, although it was 4:30AM for them, and asked what I should do. The pain was quite severe and I couldn't even put my foot on the ground to walk. Luckily there was a pair of crutches in the basement and so I used those to go to the local health clinic with one of my flatmates.
Upon arrival at the clinic we were told that all the urgent care appointments were taken and that our best option was to visit the A & E (accident and emergency room). We called a taxi and headed there. We got there I registered, which consisted of giving my name and addresses (both here and the US) and then answering what kind of ethnicity I was from a chart comprised of listings such as: Irish white, British white, other kind of white (me) and so on. It was quite surprising. We then sat down and watched another 10 people come in and register, one of which was a pair of girls. One girl said she had a rash and I believe I heard the nurse ask if she had taken any drugs and then the girl said LSD. I'm not positive I heard this correctly, but I did see her take something out of her pocket and give it to her friend.
Anyways, I got an internal viewpoint of the universal healthcare system here and can't complain too much. I was triaged within 10 minutes of arrival and waited about 2 1/2 hours to be seen. I was with the doctor for about 10 minutes I would say, and while he was rather nice I left questioning his diagnosis. I was originally told they would take blood work but then the doctor told me that this wasn't needed. I wasn't even given an x-ray because the doctor didn't think it was a break. So basically I went back sat on a bed and he looked at my foot and said I think it's Morton's Neuroma. Which he told me basically means that the nerve in between my bones is inflamed or crushed. They aren't sure what causes it but say that years of wearing high heels or excessive pressure can be linked to it. Well I don't wear high heels very often at all and I'm not fat so I don't think I put excessive pressure on it. I would have to say that on the bright side my visit was free (not that they actually did any tests or anything).
And so I am let uncomfortable and in pain. Tylenol is what I was told to take even though I said it didn't help. So now I must hobble around Oxford until my foot magically heals itself, I am a bit skeptical of this whole diagnosis but I will take it at face value and hope that my foot gets better soon so I can actually walk. I'm not thrilled about using the crutches but taking a taxi everywhere is going to get costly and pretty old. But I guess if it's what I have to do then it's what I will have to do.
With that, I must say that it is nice to visit an ER and not pay a dime other than the cab fare to get there. However, I am left with the uneasy feeling that the diagnosis I got was rather unfounded. But, I have the reassurance of my mother that once I get home we will see a proper doctor and have it checked out. :) I hope that it won't still be swollen and painful by then though. I hope you are all well and I can't believe we are finally into the teens! Only 19 more days until I am home!
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