You Know You Have a Bad Doctor When You Come Out of the Office Worse Off than You Were When You Went In!

I went to my doctor because I was developing a slight fungal infection in my big right toe. For some reason I am prone to these, so I had been through the required process before. The first time I had it done was by a specialist. I asked my doctor to refer me to a specialist to have the procedure done again. What happens to me is that the infection causes my nail to rise in such a way that I end up being in constant pain by never ending ingrown toenails. The procedure is to remove the toenail.

When the specialist did it, he gave me four shots in pretty much symmetrical locations on the top of my toe as well as behind the toenail. Apparently these are where the major nerves to the toe are. These shots are to numb the toe so that the nail can be removed. While this procedure is not any fun, it is not overly painful when done correctly.

At any rate, my doctor told me he would not refer me to a specialist because he could do the procedure himself right there in his office, which happens to be pretty close to my house. Of course, since he is a trained professional and was so close to my home, I went ahead and made an appointment for the procedure to be done in the office.

Let me just say that about 15 minutes into the procedure I would have happily walked out and considered myself fortunate to just be in some amount of daily pain rather than allow them to continue what surely was going to end up as the ultimate butchering of my big toe. The funny part is that normally the procedure doesn't even take 15 minutes. But here we were with me in agony and the doctor arguing that I could not possibly feel my toe.

As I mentioned before, this procedure requires four shots. That’s four, not six or eight. Perhaps someone should have mentioned to my doctor. On about shot number five, he attempted to pull the nail. Through my teeth I asked that he please numb the toe before proceeding further. He shook his head in doubt because apparently though the toe is attached to my body, he knows better than me what I can and cannot feel. He prods it with a needle to prove his point. I cannot see what he is doing to my toe because I am laying down. So, through teeth clenched so tight I know my jaw is going to get a cramp soon I mention that if my toe were numb I would surely not be able to feel that needle he is poking it with and could he please stop that because I was only in minimal pain when I came in and the ultimate goal was to decrease it, not to increase it. Perhaps this was a time when I should have been more polite but I suppose I didn't realize the eventual pain that would be inflicted upon me. Though he tried to pull the nail a couple of times before my toe was numb, I eventually did get numbed and the nail got pulled.

I was not happy when I left the office, but I was glad that the worst was over. I was also wrong. I was told not to change the bandages until the next day. So, the next day I changed the bandages. I cannot express enough what a horrible experience this was. First off, when I unwrapped the wrapping, I was horrified at the state of my toe. From the point where my toe met my foot to the tip of my toe it was so dark blue that it was almost black. I could see each and every puncture wound. My son cried for me. Then the fun started. Now, when I put a bandage on an open wound, I use the nonstick kind to avoid further damage and pain. Apparently no one had conveyed this concept to my "doctor". When I found that the gauze was not going to come off easily, I soaked my foot in warm water to hopefully loosen the stuck bandage.

Eventually, parts of it did come loose. However, there was no avoiding the final horrific moment. When I finally got the entire bandage off, it literally tore a chunk out of my toe. I mean, there was a literal cavity on the top of my toe! And oh yea, let's not forget the piece of meat actually hanging from the removed bandage. Today, my nail is almost all the way grown back. It would probably grow faster if I did not have to keep trimming it at the top. You see, when the nail grows back, it seems to think that this cavity in my toe is the end of my toe and so it tends to curve down slightly. No big deal if it actually was the end of my toe, but since it's not, the nail actually tried to grow INTO my toe.

At this point, I think I will simply deal with the pain because I am afraid to entrust something as simple as a nail removal procedure to anyone in the medical profession. I think if I had to have it done again I would probably sooner contemplate dropping a dresser on the toe to remove the nail than to ever trust a "medical professional" again.