A Needle in the Haystack. . .

. . . or in this case,  Paul's heel.  Yes, Paul did it again.  He stepped on a sharp object which deeply embedded itself into his flesh.

Liz is feverishly sewing a dress which she hopes to complete and enter into the county fair this weekend.  Thus the needle on the family room floor--the needle that found its way into Paul's foot Tuesday night about 9.

After unsuccessfully attempting minor surgery ourselves (Matt with his reading glasses, me without--thank you very much), we realized it was time to consult the professionals.  The urgent care clinics in our area were closed for the night, so I gave Paul some Advil and told him to go to bed.

Yesterday morning, I left nearly 200 lbs of peaches waiting to be canned at home and took Paul to the urgent care.  Even though we arrived within a few minutes of opening time, there were already two laceration cases ahead of us.  When the doctor came in to see Paul, he explained that foreign bodies in flesh are notoriously difficult to retrieve, but he would give it a go.  I liked the doctor right from the start.  He was an older man with a pin on his white coat that said, "I treat.  Jesus heals."

First, the doctor numbed Paul's foot.  This was definitely the most painful part of the procedure, but Paul took it like a man.  As the doctor consulted the X ray he had taken to see the needle's placement, he cut an incision.  The needle had gone almost straight in. The doctor made a valiant attempt, but ended up referring us to a podiatrist. He warned us that surgery was a strong possibility.  Before we left his office, the doctor offered to pray with us and we gladly accepted.

The podiatrist was a cool guy, at least in Paul's book.  An avid hunter, his office was decorated with lots of game bird prints and not a few taxidermied birds.  He had a great sense of humor and put Paul at ease.  He told us that surgery might be the only answer, but that he would make an attempt to get the needle out then and there.  After more X rays, another injection and a deeper incision, the doctor managed to retrieve the needle, which he said was pure dumb luck, but I had been praying during the whole procedure :)

Paul now has stitches in his foot and orders to not shower for a few days.  Medical conditions do have their perks.  Not to mention the fact that his mom felt very sorry for him and treated him to lunch at Carl's Jr.  Paul also had orders to stay off of his foot for the remainder of the day, so his dad and younger brothers took over his hand line moving job last night

.  And Liz has been told to keep pins and needles off of the floor.  We shall see.