Hampered By A Hangnail

Okay so I am a little bit of a wimp. I am not a big fan of pain. Take my infected hangnail for instance….

I have an infected hangnail on my finger. I have been moderately working on curing it. I have soaked it in hot salt water and put antibiotic ointment on it, but it is not getting better. I am not over diligent about doing those things, mind you -just when it starts to bother me. Well, it is progressively getting more painful. Several times this week, I could barely stand to pump up the blood pressure cuff to check the blood pressure on my patients because of the pain it caused in my finger. I thought about telling my family that I could not cook and clean – but alas, even I am not that much of a wimp!

But JUST about the time I begin to think I am really suffering, someone shows up on my porch with an actual reason to complain! Honestly, it amazes me what people here can endure. Over and over, people of all ages come with burns. I am not talking a little “I burned myself on the oven” kind of burn. I am talking whole sections of bodies – a woman who was cooking topless and dumped hot water down her front, a little girl who tumbled backwards and sat down in a cooking fire, a little boy who accidently knelt down in hot coals. And what amazes me even more is that, often, the burns are days or weeks old. I cannot even fathom that kind of pain. So I dress the wounds and give them Tylenol and Ibuprofen and the relief that it brings is amazing.

I also see wounds – big, deep, gaping wounds that would level most grown men. But not here! I am currently treating a man who was attacked by a monkey and has 2 incisions on his calf from where the monkey got him – both about an inch deep. He is up walking around, even though it hurts. Other people show up with infected hands or legs or feet – swollen 2 – 3 times bigger than the other one. And they are still functioning! I treated one lady whose whole face and neck was swollen and hard from a tooth infection gone bad! It never ceases to amaze me what the human body can endure.

So, when I see those people, and hear how grateful they are for help, I try to suck it up and not complain. Really, what is a hangnail compared to what they have to endure. I try to be more grateful for access to medical care and Tylenol that I can dispense myself. This reminds me, I need to go take some – all of this typing is hurting my finger!