The Crazy Story of My Infected Finger

From 21/9/08

So, my finger got infected. It wasn't just some little thing, it swelled up to almost three times its normal size, and it turned bright green.

It all started around the time I went to see Shayla. It felt like I had an in-grown ail, so I just sort of ignored it. By Thursday it was starting to swell, and really starting to hurt. I knew I was going to Farjara on Saturday, so there wasn't really much I could do until then. By Friday night it was starting to turn green as well. I contacted PC on Sunday, and they told me to wait until Tuesday. (That Monday was Labor Day)

On Monday we had a bar-b-cue and a softball game. I of course wanted to play. I went to the field in a skirt and my crocs. Bad combination for any sport! By this time my finger was hurting badly, but I really, really wanted to play. I got to play first base. The first inning went really well. No one scored, and I even got a nice hit when I was up to bat. Running in crocs was quite difficult though! Then came the dreaded second inning. There weren't enough gloves, so we all had to share. (I had left mine at site) During the 2nd inning I got stuck with a really bad, thin glove. Someone hit the ball short, so the pitcher threw the ball to me. It came really fast, but I knew that I had to catch it. It was one of those catches that really burns your hand! I was really happy to have actually caught the ball, when all of a sudden my finger felt pain like never before! I threw the glove off onto the ground and looked at my bright purple finger. After that I was all-time catcher for the rest of the game.

I didn't want to look like a huge baby, so I waited until I got back to the stodge to complain to Amanda about my finger. By then my finger was even bigger, and the purple section had turned bright green. Now the entire tip of my finger was bright green. It was not pretty. I found some Advil and took it right away. A little while later some of us went out to get pizza for Amanda's Birthday.

On Tuesday I woke up early and headed to the med office. The head nurse wasn't there, so the second in charge said that I had to wait another day to see her. I guess that she wasn't able to make informed decisions. She tried to get the finger to drain, and she gave me some antibiotics. This was the day that I began my wonder medical hold experience. (aka PC pays your housing fees AND gives you a food stipend!) Jenni got med hold as well for some sort of lung infection, or a "tickle in her throat," as PC called it. I came back the next day and the head nurse was shocked. She told me to keep taking the antibiotics and to continue "swooshing" (aka soak while moving finger around) my finger in water regularly.

I came back on Friday and I actually got to see a doctor. This was a big deal because PC usually doesn't spring for a doctor. Jenni got to see him as well. The head nurse had talked on Wednesday about removing the nail. This made me nervous because some people at the stodge told me that one guy had his toe nail removed and it never grew back. I did not want to have a nail less finger! I vowed if they did have to take my nail, and it never grew back, then I would buy a fake nail for the finger.

When I saw the doctor, he decided not to take the nail. It did seem like the head nurse was pushing him to take it though. He peeled off the dead skin, and cut down into the finger until it bled. This seemed to make him happy. In those moments I wanted to take a scalpel from him and cut him as well. What he was dong caused quite a bit of pain! I got med hold over the weekend, and Jenni did as well. We ended up watching Alias all weekend and using the computers at the office. We both had a blast!

On Monday my wonderful dream ended and I was taken off med hold. Jenni got med hold for at least one more day. PC moved her from the stodge to the med office to see if the mold in the stodge was the cause of her infection. I was released by the 2nd in command, but the head nurse still wanted to see me again the next day. I told her that I wasn't planning on going home since the newest group was swearing-in in a couple of days. She told me that I could just sleep at the med office with Jenni. We were supposed to stay for two nights, but a girl came in that was pretty sick, so we got kicked out after only one night.

It took about one to two weeks, but now my finger is pretty much back to normal. As I type this on the computer on 6/10, my finger is back to normal. To this day I am still not sure how it got infected, but it did. Since then I've also had an infected toe, and an infected bug bite on my leg as well. Neither turned bright green, so I guess that they were okay.