Ouch....

    So, apparently there was some miscommunicating and assuming going on between Father and Son after the Labor day yard work fest (see post below).  Each thought the other was going to empty the lawn mower bag.  Yah, you guessed it....neither one did until it was pointed out the next day.  Thus, Chanon, without gloves on, proceeded to empty the lawn mower bag.  The grass was nasty after being in a hot garage, and of course he had to reach his hand in to get the grass out because it was crammed in so tightly (might I remind you....NO GLOVES).
     What do you get when you cross nasty grass with a hangnail?  That's right, folks---INFECTION!!!!!  Chanon's finger got infected and by Wednesday night (Sept. 7th) it was pretty bad....scratch that--REALLY bad.  In the space of only about half an hour the infection spread noticeably and Chanon was in serious pain (that's an understatement...he thought he was going to die); he also had red streaks starting up his arm.  Not good.  We decided that we'd probably have to take him to the ER because it would have to be lanced, which would not have been in issue if we: 1) knew where the ER was, and 2) had insurance.  Instead, we decided to take care of it ourselves.  Ya, ya, I know....you think we're crazy.  BUT, desperate times call for desperate measures, and at the time we THOUGHT we still had a huge hospital bill for Sarah to pay off and didn't want to add to our financial "woes".  Also, Chanon didn't think he could tolerate the possibility of having to sit in a waiting room for hours...too much pain.
      Having had an infected finger once myself years ago, and having watched the doctor take care of it, I knew what to do!  We gathered up the necessary medical supplies (thanks in part to a neighbor), and I went to work.  Blood and guts don't bother ME!!!!!  In fact, I thought the pus and blood rushing out was kinda cool.  I think I missed my calling in life...should'a been a surgeon!!!!  After the operation, I treated it with iodine, and we wrapped the wound in sterile gauze and let it drain over night.  Beginning the next day, Chanon treated it with hydrogen peroxide 3 times a day for a couple of days, and then only once a day after that.  Here is what his finger looked like 6 days later (SO much better!):

Pretty much the whole top third of his finger was infected and swollen (pre-surgery).  I wish I would've taken a "before" picture of his finger in all its nasty glory so you could see the difference.  Today it's nearly back to normal!  What a relief!!!!!  I have to say that Chanon was really brave to let me cut on him to begin with, and then also with no anesthesia (except for some "Orajel", which only took the edge off the pain).  That was the only thing that bothered me while "operating"....knowing it was going to hurt him!!!!!