In-grown toenail update

For fear that failing to post the following would violate journalistic integrity, or at the very least that it would mean passing up a great opportunity at self deprecation, I now conclude the ingrown toe nail story.

As you may or may not have read, I performed minor surgery on my own left big toe a week or two ago, and claimed victory over the putrid wound that had been weeping and oozing and throbbing for nearly a month.  Well, the victory was short lived.  Not only did the swelling not go away, but it seemed to get worse.  While the surgery had decreased the overall size of the infected area, it had failed to solve the whole problem and as a result up until last Monday my foot continued to get worse.  On top of that, a few days after my little surgery I stubbed my other big toe on a large drinking mug that I’d left on the floor in the living room, an accident that not only hurt like crazy, but induced a second ingrown, puss filled, weeping ingrown toe nail.

With a set of matching swollen pink toes, I decided to call an expert—Jason, my brother, whose skill with a razor blade and needle nose pliers is legend, at least to me.  He regularly removes ingrown toe nails using the ‘medieval method,’ as I have decided to call it, and has also been to the doctor several times to have ingrown toe nails removed.  After describing my situation to Jason, he declared that the only thing left to do was go to the hospital.  So the next morning at 8am I kissed my wife good by, and headed off to Marugame Rosai Hospital, a state-of-the-art facility located a few minutes east of the castle.

Despite the busy waiting room I got into the doctors office after only 15 minutes and got waited on by a doctor and a nurse.  The tools they have at the hospital are wonderful.  They have whole drawers full of pliers, clippers, tweezers, and other stainless steel implements all individually wrapped in sterilized packaging.  The doctor rested my foot on a small bench and he poked and prodded and gently worked his magic with the steel gadgets in front of him, and 10 minutes and 4000 yen later I was healed.  Or, at least I was on the way to healing.  He gave me a prescription for a topical anti-inflammatory/antibiotic ointment and told me to come back if everything didn’t heal up.

So maybe sometimes it is better to let the men and women in white coats have the fun.  After all that schooling, I wouldn’t want the talent to go to waste anyway.