Further foot follies

According to my schedule, this should be a long post week.  However, between the upcoming Heroscape tournament and the foot disaster, it’s been a pretty hectic week.  I only physically made it to work once this past week, and can only claim about 2 days’ worth of work completed.  So it’s been crazy around here, and there’s just no way I can do a full post this week.

As a stopgap measure, I’ll give you an update on the Smaller Animal’s condition.  After being told it by 3 doctors in a row, we’ve finally started believing that having a chunk of graphite embedded in one’s foot isn’t an emergency which has to be handled immediately.  Apparently, graphite is no big whoop: we should all have great chunks of it skewered deep into our flesh on a regular basis.  In fact, it it wasn’t for the fact that long chunks of graphite in the middle of the arch of your foot just might impact your ability to walk straight, we shouldn’t even consider taking it out.  But, you know, it might, so therefore we probably will.

Our pediatrician thinks the graphite will come out on its own.  Our first podiatrist thinks surgery will be required.  Our second-opinion podiatrist thinks it’s possible it’ll come out, but it’s not bloody likely—it’s just too deep at this point.  But the one thing everyone agrees on is, there’s no downsides to waiting, and only good things can come of it.  If by some miracle it comes out on its own, then we don’t need the surgery.  If the large piece breaks up into a bunch of little pieces, then it might not need to be removed anyway: as long as it doesn’t interfere with walking (which smaller pieces are less likely to do), then it’s easier to just let the pieces break down naturally and be reabsorbed by the body.  In the meantime, we’re using some drawing salve (unlikely to help, but can’t hurt), neosporin (certainly can’t hurt), antibiotics (because, above and beyond the graphite, there’s also a giant hole in his foot), and he’s sort of walking on it again.  Still not putting his full weight on it, but it’s a major improvement nonetheless.

He has an MRI scheduled for Tuesday evening and an appointment with his cardiologist Wednesday morning, and, if a surgery is required, it will most likely be after the next blog post.  Which will be another short one, as it’s coming the day after the tourney.  Which all my children will be in attendance for.  Unless someone manages to do even more unscheduled damage to their extremeties.