My Week - So Far!

Okay, so this is Wednesday and so far I've hit a few "bumps" in the road. You might have noticed my last post about Sunday which seemed to have started the week out a little shaky. Well, Monday was no better.

I had a sore finger which started on Thursday last week. I had been working in the garage that day and thought I probably just got a splinter. It just kept getting more and more sore and by Monday evening the pain was really bad. It didn't feel like any splinter I had ever had before. The pain was so intense, I could not even sleep! A finger!

Michael went at 10:30 on Monday evening to the pharmacy and got some ointment to put on it hoping to help, but it really didn't help. It was swelling and the pain was steadily increasing. I then began to think that it might be a spider bite - since I had been working in the garage. I started soaking it in warm salt water and keeping antibiotic ointment on it.

Tuesday the pain was no better, but I just continued my "self-medicating" hoping that it would help. By Tuesday evening, it had begun "streaking" - redness from my finger was also moving in a line up just past my wrist. That's when I became more concerned. I have a heart condition and have to take antibiotics - before dental procedures-including cleanings, surgeries or anything that causes bleeding - to avoid infection to my heart.

I called the doctor and Elizabeth took me to the emergency room. The doctor decided to x-ray my finger to see if there was a foreign body causing the infection. There was no foreign body. He said it was some kind of infection and decided to "open" it to get a culture and hopefully drain some of the infection from it. Well, of course to open it - he needed to numb it. With a needle. Smack dab in the middle of the swelling.

Oh, my goodness! When he put the needle in - they heard me down at the nurses station! It was so incredibly painful! It did drain. He did get enough to sample for the culture and of course, it was still numb! Feeling pretty good now!

He said it would take about three days to find out the type of infection that grew from the culture, but he gave me a prescription to start on antibiotics and a prescription for pain medication. Still numb - still feeling good!

He told me that if it was still swollen and red by tomorrow (Thursday), I needed to come back in and a surgeon would have to look at it. The infection could be deeper than what he could handle in the ER. Great! That was a little scary - but okay.

Before we made it out of the ER and into the car, the numbness had worn off. The pain was now intensified as a result of the work on my finger and it was even worse than when I first arrived! I was crying before we made it to the pharmacy and then home! First thing I did when we got home was to take both the meds he prescribed. Once the pain medicine was working again, my pain decreased and I was able to relax a bit.

Today the streaking is gone, but my finger is still very swollen and sore. I have had to take pain medication again today.

I'm praying that it will show marked improvement by tomorrow so I don't have to meet the surgeon. I'm sure he's a great doctor and a nice man, but I really have no desire to meet him in this capacity!

You can see from the pictures what was causing the pain and you can also see the treatment. Oh yeah, the finger beside the swollen one - the one with the big white patch on my nail? A few months ago I was closing the garage door (two car garage size) and got two of my fingers between the panels as it closed! I was alone and had to actually open the door up again before I could get my fingers out! I don't know for sure, but am beginning to wonder if should avoid the garage!

In His Love and Blessings
annb