11.09.2004

So I went to the health center on campus the other day. My self-toe-surgeries had finally gone wrong, and I'd gotten an infection in the toe and couldn't get a chunk of nail out of one of the farther reaches. They referred me to a podiatrist, and today I had the appointment.

I explained to him what had happened and he did not show the expected consternation. In fact, once he got in there and started looking at the toe, he said I'd done most of the procedure correctly.

What had I done wrong, you ask?

Clearly, my tools were not sterile, and hence the infection. Worse? There's a procedure that he could have done, had I not been so thorough at removing the excess flesh, that would have killed the section of root responsible for my troubles! Had I been but a little more temperate, he could have finished off the in-growing portion of the nail for good. As it was, I'd yanked out a bit of flesh bewteen cuticle and nail, overexposing the root. Had he done the procedure, it'd have killed a huge portion of the toenail.

So I had to settle for him clipping it back all the way to the root (the offensive section), and made an appointment for the permanent business next tuesday.

The moral of the story: (at least some) podiatrists aren't as arrogant as you might expect (well they do work with feet all day), and my foot hurts.

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