Tales of Swamps, Slivers, & Staff Infections...

March 14 was a GORGEOUS day. A beautiful Sunday where we 'sprung forward' and had an extra hour of daylight upon us (although it cost us an hour less sleep, not sure if this is worth it!). Tyler had been cooped up in the house for the weekend with another case of tonsillitis, so when I came home from church, I decided it was very, very important that we get outside and breathe some fresh air and enjoy the gorgeous weather!

We have talked and talked about going to Jean Lafitte several times, but just hadn't made it there yet, believe it or not. So we figured it was time--perfect little Sunday afternoon drive and a walk through the swamp. The nature preserve has walkways built out through the open swampy area and you can do all the walking and exploring that you want, provided that you stay on the walkway/boardwalk. :) It was our first time there, so we weren't sure which was the best trail to take, so we just picked one and went for it. We thought it was beautiful and look forward to trying some other trails again soon.

We were about two weeks too early to see any alligators. They start coming back out after the Winter in mid-March, but we had a colder year than usual, so they weren't quite ready to see us yet. And yes, you really an just walk along and see can alligator right there--in the wild. The boys were disappointed to not see one, and so was I! That's why I want to go back.

But we did see a few other creatures, and the beautiful swamp so close to blooming. Another reason to go back--all the plants that were budding when we were there would be in full bloom now.

So here are some pictures of our adventures...

(Tyler was explaining something to Garrett. His use of hand gestures is getting quite entertaining lately!...)

One of the gorgeous butterflies we saw...

Just taking a little break (and making sure not to fall in backwards)...

We got up close and personal with this little lizard. Oh, the boys were in heaven!

The 3 of them, checking out some little fish in the swampy water.

Something pretty...(I don't know what anything is called!!). :)

Those stumpy things are called Cypress Knees. I love them.

And Tyler determined that everyone needed a walking stick. Everyone. But I'm pretty sure Sam's was much closer to something like a spear than a walking stick.

See, I was really there too!

OK, and check out this picture above. And yell "NO! Don't do it!". OK, I hear you loud and clear. The biggest--no, HUGEST--mistake of the day/month/year. Yes, Tyler took his sandals off when we were heading back to the car. We weren't really prepared to walk 2.5 miles and the kids were wearing flip flops and he was starting to get a blister, so I agreed to let him walk a little while without shoes. In my defense, though, :) the area we were walking on at the time (and pictured above) was actually wood look-a-like, kind of like plastic, if you know what I'm talking about. So I figured the only thing it would result in would be some dirty feet. So I wasn't worried about it and figured if it cut back on the whining and we had no blisters at the end of the day, it would be worth it.

Wrong. So Tyler & Garrett walked ahead while Sam and I were taking our time a little bit. The end of the path turned into regular wood planks. When I got to the car, Garrett and Tyler were already there and Tyler was crying so hard. He said he'd gotten a sliver of wood in his foot. Oops. I felt bad, but also just figured a sliver is a sliver and Garrett said he's pulled a really really big piece out. So I figured we were fine and that he was just tired and was overreacting. Wrong again. We got home and he wouldn't even walk on his foot or put any weight on it. I washed it up, put some Neosporin on it, and a BandAid and figured all would be well. More whining and wincing throughout the evening and I took another look at it before he went to bed and realized things were not fine.

His entire foot was red, hot, and swollen and he had a purple streak down the center of it. (The sliver had entered in at the ball of his foot and went down toward the heel. It was big, so we were starting to wonder if something was left inside. So, I'll try to make this story as short as I can... I kept him home Monday and soaked his foot over and over and over again trying to see if I could get something to come out, but there was no change and there was no way he was walking on it. So I knew I needed to take him to the doctor. The doctor was initially concerned that something else was left in there also, and knew that it was obviously infecting quickly. She put him on an antibiotic right away and sent him off to have an x-ray. And she wanted to see him the next day. The x-ray apparently showed NOTHING to be left in his foot. She saw him again the next day and although things hadn't changed much, she felt like it was slowly responding. She said to expect it to take a few days. So, okay, I guess I just had to expect it to be slow...but by Friday (day 6) when he still couldn't fit a shoe on his foot of any kind of put any weight on it, I was ready to take him back in. I figured I'd call Saturday morning and go in again.

But Saturday morning (day 7), he woke up and could put weight on it and put a shoe on. He still favored it a lot when he walked, but I figured the doctor said it would be slow, so I had to take this as a good sign. At least it was some improvement! So I decided not to take him back in at that time and just assumed that it would still continue to improve as he stayed on the antibiotic. But he really didn't change much from that day. He could walk and was able to go back to school, but he still winced if you touched it and limped a little when he walked. And after two more weeks, I noticed that there was still a pretty dark purple line down the center of his foot and it was starting to develop a hard lump at the bottom of it.

So, again we took him to the doctor. A different doc this time. She took one look at it and said the lump we had noticed was most likely an infected lymph node and that the infection was spreading and she really felt like something was probably still in there. But remember, there was an x-ray that showed nothing??? She said it wasn't uncommon for wood to not be picked up in x-rays. Hmmm, so taking those results to mean something was a big mistake. So this was on a Friday (day 20, if you're keeping track) and she prescribed another antibiotic as she was certain it had turned into a staff infection and told us to soak it religiously over the weekend and come back Monday. A staff infection??? Seriously! So we soaked it and soaked it and took him back in on Monday (day 23) and she really thought something was trying to come out, as it had finally started draining infection (something it hadn't done AT ALL in the 3 weeks since it happened). So she at least felt like meeting with a surgeon wasn't necessary at that point, which was good. But she said to keep soaking it and come in again Friday. So on Tuesday (day 24), after a lot more soaking, I took a look at it and really thought I saw a small piece of something trying to come out. I got my tweezers and begged Tyler to let me try to get it. And I got more than I would have ever expected. I put a little pressure on it and out slid this huge piece of wood:
I was in shock. I couldn't believe this sat in my child's foot for almost an entire month. Just causing pain, festering infection, and costing me a ton of money in co-pays, prescriptions, and that lousy x-ray!!! I was relieved it was out, but I was also feeling pretty angry that it had been missed and could have potentially been very serious. I mean, staff infections can be really nasty and we're lucky we took him back in. If wood is often missed in x-rays, I am surprised the first doctor would be so insistent on the results of the x-ray. But deep breath, I'm moving on now. :) The picture really doesn't do it justice, though. It was a HUGE piece of wood to see sliding out of his foot. It was an inch long (yes, I measured it) and slightly thicker than a toothpick, I would say. So it still kind of creeps me out to see it, but there you have it... I took it in when we saw the doctor for the last time (the FIFTH doctor visit for this ordeal!) and she was rather surprised herself! All of this hoopla for a sliver--who would have thought! (ok, and I realize that wasn't really a "short" story, but I'm not sure if I'm capable of that after all!)

So we learned our lesson. We will go back and visit again, but we will definitely keep our shoes on next time!