OK Mom.

You have to realize, I supervize a group of young men, and unless I show extreme toughness, they neither respect nor respond to me. Now that everyone knows that I do in fact have a broken bone in my foot, and I worked anyway, neither missing a day, nor asking for sympathy, they are showing respect for my ability to work thru the pain.
If you work in the world of men, than you have to compete head to head, and only the toughest win out. Sure, I wish that I had an office job, but I don't have the education or smarts for that kind of work, so this is my life. Another butch would understand.
In the family I was raised into, you did not see a doctor or seek medical help, or miss work unless you were dead or dying. It was simply not allowed.