Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!

That was me crying out a little while ago as I tried to perform minor surgery on myself.
You see, as I was building Elena's "big girl bed" last Friday in the hot, hot Texas sun, my foot began to swell up. I'm sure you all know that I had pretty major reconstructive foot surgery last December (exactly one month before we loaded our truck to move to Texas. I highly recommend moving cross-country with two small children 4 weeks into an 8 week "non-weight-bearing" surgery recovery.) As it turns out, the surgery I had to fix the pain I had been having for 10 years may not have been the right surgery. It was necessary to move bones that were so far out of place that my foot was not structurally sound and had begun to fracture (which is why I couldn't postpone surgery until after we moved and got settled), but maybe not actually the surgery for the pain I was having. All that to say that I am still having at least as much pain/swelling as before surgery and have been seeing an orthopedic surgeon here for post-op care, etc to address that.
Sooooo, (whew- that was a lot of backgroun info to get to the real point, huh?!), when my foot swelled up a week ago, the side edge of my big toenail began to cut into the skin. As it became infected, and I sank deeper into denial that anything would have to be done about it, I started "operating" on myself. Tonight was about the third time, and as I poked and prodded with tweezers and needles, I think I sounded a bit like I was in labor. You know, the heavy breathing, the holding your breath, the "ow! ow! ow!" Kind of funny because I was doing it to myself. It obviously feels a lot worse now than before I messed with it (hello jen- have you forgotten that you did NOT go to medical school?!?!?!) And I desperately wished that I hadn't thrown out all of the narcotics they gave me in December (they made me itch, but I would SO rather itch than hurt right now!!!)
I did talk to my doctor Friday and he instructed me to come in at the beginning of this week for him to cut it out. Obviously the worst part of that will be the novocaine shot to numb it. Ugh. Last time I was there I had a cortisone shot in the bottom of that big toe joint (which Elias told me I should get a sticker for because I was so brave), so I think after this I am due for a big fat Starbucks & some narcotics (with some Benedryl on the side for the itching)!