Sea urchin spines and the podiatrist

My foot started swelling about two weeks ago...one month after I stepped on the sea urchin down in Mexico. It doesn't hurt badly, but it hurts just enough for me to wonder how it will do once I start surfing in Nicaragua. I finally decided I needed to see a doctor, which resulted in a visit to my primary care physician, an x-ray at the Memorial Hermann Imaging Center and a visit to a podiatrist. My doctor recommended Dr. G as my podiatrist. Amazingly, after I made the appointment, I got a text message from a friend of mine who insisted I visit her boyfriend podiatrist. As it turns out, Dr. G was her boyfriend. So I packed up my x-rays and headed to Dr. G's office. He explained that the sea urchin spine has little thorns on them. Sure enough, once we looked closely at the x-rays we could see where it had come off. He explained that it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack if he were to go in looking for it. So, the best we can do is treat it with super-strong antibiotics. I asked if he thought I'd be able to make it on my trip to Nicaragua and he said that as long as I don't feel pain in my groin muscle and that my foot was not swollen to the size of a grapefruit, I should be okay. Of course, immediately I thought my foot was bigger and the pains started shooting up to my groin muscle. :-) I started the medicine immediately, and after four days, the swelling has gone down considerably. I am, however, still having some pain. I sure hope it goes away soon. I'm on my final countdown to the big "Surf Nicaragua" dream trip. Four, three...