My foot isn’t broken. I didn’t think it was, I just thought it hurt really, really bad. About 72 hours after the nalgene lid slammed into my metatarsal, the pain mostly went away. It’s still a little angry if you start mashing on it, but I can deal with that.

Swelling generally maxes out at about 72 hours post-injury, so as soon as my foot stopped throbbing three days later, I knew I was money. I also gained a personal appreciation for the mantra of “72 HOURS” my clinical instructor has been barking at us for almost a year now. You have to watch for swelling for 72 hours. And if when the swelling goes away, the pain goes too? You’re golden.