The story? Well, my right pointer finger got an infection and ballooned up. There was inflammation and redness. I didn't really paid much attention to it except occasionally put on some antiseptic lotion. That was either on last Thursday or Friday. On Saturday, I was out the whole day with classes and at night, a wedding to attend.
Finally, Sunday came. I bought some antiseptic cream from the pharmacist and obediently applied 3 times a day as prescribed. By then there was a tinge of greenness near my finger nail and I frantically sms-ed my brother for advice. He adviced I took half MC off the next day to visit the doctor. He said it's most likely paronychia. I didn't take his advice and waited till after work. (Even though he scared me with stories of my finger turning black-gangrene and needing to be amputated. Sounded too "kwaa cheong" to me.)
Monday night, the doctor gave me MC (medical leave) the next day and advised that the doctor the next morning will help me do a small incision to remove the pus. Sounds ok to me.
Tuesday morning, the doctor looked at my finger and told me she had to removed the entire finger nail so the pus can flow out completely. No point cutting the nail half. Might as well pull out the whole nail.
Panicked... but proceeded. It hurt!! I think I sort of panic at the idea of mutilating my little finger nail but it had to be done. Somehow, I felt the anesthetic didn't flow from the base of my finger to the finger tips. So when she pulled out the nail, I was whimpering from pain. Now, I need to go to the clinic daily these few days for dressing.
I sms-ed my colleagues about it- they pitied me. I sms-ed my dad, he replied, "You should have gone to see the doctor earlier." I sms-ed my bf, he called around lunch time and gave me a response equivalent to "serves you right".
It is so true when "If one part suffers, every part suffers with it..."(1 Corinthians 12:26a) Because of this finger, I have to be careful with what I eat. I cannot let it get wet. I cannot really write nicely. Thankfully can still type with the other fingers. I'll be driving to work tomorrow with a finger pointing upwards. Ha!
Therefore, in short, I am guilty of negligence on looking after my finger. I've posted the pictures I took of my inflamed finger (pre-minor surgery) and bandaged finger(post surgery). If I dare later, when the bandages are taken out, I'll post the progression of how my finger nail grows back. :P
p.s. My mum saved the nail for me... err i'm not in the mood to take pictures of that yet... and I was wondering, if my bandaged finger was the middle finger, when I show everyone my finger, does it mean I'm showing them a bad sign? :p
June 9, 2008. This is how my nail looks now. It looks deformed and most likely, I suspect my nail is smaller than its original size now. :(
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