Trampled Underfoot (title of Led Zeppelin tune)

Oops. A few weeks ago I was awakened by the sound of glass breaking. I thought it was coming from the kitchen, and also thought I heard the sounds of someone throwing away large shards of glass. I rolled over and went back to sleep. This was the first mistake.

Later that morning, TeenE came to show me that her toe was bleeding. She mentioned that she had stepped on some broken glass In Her Room. That was my first clue that it hadn't been an accident in the kitchen. The radiator covers in each room are topped with granite slabs, so the glass of water she keeps at her bedside had somehow run afoul of the stone. The general slovenly state of her bedroom floor meant that she couldn't see all the tiny slivers that were now embedded in the berber-style carpet.

I told her to wash her foot, stick a bandage on her toe, and be on her way to school. I went into her room, removed the piles of clothes from the floor with a backhoe, and Hoovered the heck out of her rug.

Cut to two weeks later. She comes to tell me that her foot hurts. This time it is the ball of the foot, not the toe, and it looks slightly puffy and tender to the touch. She tells me that she "thinks" that during the intial incident, she "may" have had a second cut in that exact spot, but that she couldn't find anything there at the time.

It is now the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving, and I have visions of waiting in a hospital ER for hours while we are supposed to be in church or dining on turkey. Also, TeenE is supposed to sing in a choir for a special T-giving service (more on that later) and really shouldn't miss the last rehearsal on Wed. night.

Fortunately, during a bus trip to Blenheim Palace a week before, I sat with MomT. I remembered that I had recommended our fabulous Dr. D. to her a few months back. I enquired if she had followed up on that. Yes, she had, and was happy to report that the ubiquitous Dr. D. had done some minor surgery on her toe and was absolutely brilliant at both that, and in giving a painless flu shot. Aha!! Through the wonders of the internet, I was in touch with him within a few hours. He said it didn't sound too bad and that it might be able to wait. Phew.

The next day there was no school at ASL. By the time TeenE got up late and then showed me her foot, it was mid-day. The affected part was a little tender to the touch, but it looked fine. My intuition said "make the call", however, so a quick call to the secretary had us booked in for later that afternoon.

TeenE was scared and quite freaked out when Dr. D. said he might need to make a small incision in her foot and "poke around" (I believe that's the medical term he used) to find any "spicules" of glass. Now there's a word I've never heard before. He gloved up and wielded the local anesthetic. Within a few moments he declared that she had an abcess, and spent quite some time exploring. I was asked to assist, by opening a drawer and finding the right kind of swab, then opening the package and handing the swab to the gloved-up professional.

One stitch later (which really freaked her out, too) and she was ready to go. She couldn't get out of there fast enough. Of course I left the good doctor with a plate of pumpkin-nut "bikkies", short for biscuits, which are cookies.

I'm off now to retreive TeenE from school to go back and get her stitch taken out, as well as receive a "painless" flu jab.