WHO'S A BABY NOW?

About a week ago, my daughter Veronica was complaining about her toe hurting. I thought she stubbed her toe, or that it was rubbing against the shoe she was wearing. I didn't think much of it since things like that happen to kids all the time (well, at least to my kids).

Fast forward a few days and she's still complaining about it. I had no idea it was still bothering her since she was still playing and running around like she normally does. So, I look at it and notice that it looks bruised, like she either bumped into something, or something fell on her foot. She said none of that happened, but it was very tender to the touch. I barely caressed it and she was saying, "Ouch!" My husband ended up looking at it and said it looked like an ingrown toenail.

I jump on Google right away, and click on images to see if it looked like her toe, and sure enough it did. I called the advice nurse and she told me to soak her foot three times a day, 30 minutes at a time, blah, blah, blah. We didn't need to come in..blah, blah, blah.

After a couple of days, I'm thinking, "What is the point of this?" I called the advice nurse back saying it looked worst, and that I'm worried it might be infected.

They finally made an appointment for her to come in the next day.

So, here we are, in the pediatric waiting area, and my daughter was "observing" this other child..lol.

And here is a picture of her toe. It doesn't look too bad in the picture though. It was darker around her toenail and puffy on the side. The doctor said it didn't look like an ingrown toenail, but that her toe was infected because she probably pulled the skin on the side of her toe. The technical term for that is called "Paronychia."

Definition: Paronychia is an infection alongside the fingernail or toenail. It usually occurs from an opening in the cuticle or an ingrown toenail which lets bacteria under the skin.

I was actually relieved it wasn't an ingrown toenail because it would have been more painful to treat.

Turns out, she needed to go to minor surgery so they could get the infection out. All the puss inside was making her toe poofy. In short, they need to cut it open!! I was kinda stressing because I felt so bad for her!

Registered & ready to go!

The doctor comes in and explains the procedure. She was very sweet, so I felt comfortable with her immediately.

They have to give her three shots in her toe to numb it, and explains that that is the most painful spot to get a shot. Now, just picture me sitting there with tears in my eyes! I couldn't stop! Then Veronica is looking at me totally worried. I know, I wasn't making it any easier! I told her I wasn't crying because I was scared, but that I felt bad that she had to do this. I also said that we had to do this or it would get worst. Anyway, she was fine. She totally understood.

The doc sprayed some numbing medicine on her toe before she gave her the shots (that's why her toe looks yellow), and you can see the little red dots on her toe where she got pricked afterward.

And I have to give my daughter major props because she DID NOT CRY AT ALL, she whimpered a little bit, AND she watched them do it!! I couldn't even watch them do that part! The doctor and nurse were so impressed because normally kids are screaming!

They wait a few minutes to let the numbing medicine kick in. You can see how dark her toe is in this picture.

So, the worst part was over! Now, all they have to do is cut it open and let the puss out. Okay..major props again to my daughter because she sat up the entire time watching them do this!! And I'm sure the doctor thought I was a psycho for taking pictures!

All done! They literally had the blade underneath the skin, and blood & puss were oozing out! At one point, Veronica said nonchalantly, "That looks disgusting!"

Soaking in iodine bath.


And three hours later, we were all done. I was super proud of her!

The reason the title of this post is "Who's A Baby Now," is because she is my youngest, and sometimes she will still whine and pout. Her siblings will say, "Stop acting like a baby." I admit, I still baby her alot because she is my last child, and she will always be my baby! LOL. But, ultimately, I know it was the Lord that was comforting her the whole time. We prayed together even before we got to the hospital, and right before her shots, I reassured her that Jesus was there and taking care of her.

Anyway, I told her that they should have seen her there because then they would not be calling her a baby. In fact, even though my boys are pretty rough, I know that they would be wailing and screaming if this had to be done to them. So, that is another reason I took pictures, so that they could see what she had to go through (oh, and for blogging purposes too)..hehee.

And all she wanted after all of this was a milkshake from McDonald's!!!!