I Just Had to Have That Strawberry Pop Tart!

My third week of chillaxin has not gotten off to a great start.  As you know, last Wednesday, I held my work out in the yard, trimming my palms and oaks.  Fresh air, exercise...it was great!  I did not mention something that happened when I was trimming my Robelinni Palms, because, honestly, it has happened before and was no big deal.  If you have one of these palms (aka: Pygmy Date palms) in your yard, you might want to pay close attention to the rest of my story. 

Robelinni Palm
If you have one of these, be very careful!!

Anyway, these palms have very long spines coming off the base of the fronds.  I have been poked by them before and it does swell and hurt for several hours.  Well, I had one go into the knuckle area of my right hand, straight to the bone and break off in my right hand.  And yes, I am right handed!  I finally dug out about 1/8" of the spine from my hand and cleaned it up good.  As usual, it didn't hurt right away.  I went to my hair appointment, came home and worked on my blog.  While I was typing, I noticed that my knuckle (at the base of my pointer finger) was starting to hurt and lock up on me.  I called David and asked him to get some peroxide so that I could clean it out real good, which I did, and put the triple antibiotic ointment on with a band-aid.  I was good to go.  That night, it was keeping me awake.  In the morning, David said I should call the Dr. and get a tetanus shot, just to be safe.  So I called my Dr. and asked if I could come in and get the shot.  No, he wants me to come right in so he can check it out, "these things can get infected".   "Well, it is a little red", I said, "but really, I think all I need is the shot."  Nope.  So, into the Dr.'s office I go.

He told me that I had an infection going and asked if I looked at the spine when I pulled it out to be sure I got it all.  Darn!  I knew he was going to ask me that!  Of course, I didn't.  "We will need to get an X-ray to be sure you got it all."  Okaaay...   He picked up on my apprehension right away and said that if I didn't get it all, he was going to have to get it out.  Fair enough.  Had the x-ray, nothing there, time to go home! 

Not so fast.  He proceeded to tell me that he was going to put me on a very strong antibiotic and that I was to check in with him daily for a report.  Now, I have to tell you that my Dr. is not an over reactor, which is why I like him.  I hate taking medicine, preferring instead to let my body fight things on its own.  He knows this and before I could get a word out in protest, told me, "Aven, I am serious here!  You know I don't over react, but I have seen these things turn very ugly.  This is not something that you want to treat as an it will get better tomorrow!"  My "about to start laughing" smile was gone.  He had my attention in a "come on, you are kidding me" kind of way and told me that these thorns on these things were like taking a hypodermic needle and injecting  yourself with bacteria.  Now he had my full attention!  I was told to check in with his office tomorrow morning with an update, and that if I started a fever after office hours, I was to go straight to the hospital and not wait to call him in the morning.

So I went and got my antibiotics, went home and started doing the things he told me to do to keep it from getting worse.  None of these things relieved the pain, however.  But I made it through the weekend, which wasn't easy since Friday and Saturday I had Julianna for Granny Camp again.  Luckily, she is walking quite well now, so I was able to manage until Grandpa came home and helped.  She was the best medicine!

I got up this morning and decided my hand was doing good enough that I might try to get back out in the yard and finish my weeding that I was not able to do.  After all, my left hand was perfectly fine.  But first, a quick trip to the grocery store to get a few things for tonight's special event.  The ladies Bible Study I belong to is having their last meeting before summer break.  We are having a salad supper over at my house.  So I ran to the grocery and while there, gave into a (somewhat embarrassing) weakness I have, frosted strawberry pop tarts.  Disgusting, I know.  But I can't help myself!  Sometimes, I just crave them.  And let's face it, there are worse things I could do.  Seriously, read the box next time you are in the store.  It isn't that bad!  :)  However, I am not encouraging such behavior.  But let's be honest, we all have our disgusting little food weaknesses.  Mine just happens to be Strawberry Pop Tarts...and french fries.  But fries are not disgusting, only a weakness.  I know, you are saying,"yeah, whatever helps you sleep at nigh, Aven!". 

When I got home, I decided I needed to toast (and butter!) a strawberry pop tart to get me going before I headed out to start weeding.  When I went to get it out of the toaster, the frosting had started to burn and melt.  The burning hot frosting stuck to my fingers burning them to the point of blisters.  But wait, it gets better!  Since I still can't use my right hand to pick up things, I used my left to get the pop tart out of the toaster!  So now my left hand has three burnt and blistered finger tips!  The good news is, my tetanus booster is only one week old, so my burns are protected!  The bad news is my guests will have to look at weeds when they arrive tonight.  But, hey, my palm trees look great!!
David said that he is going to have to send me back to work, it is safer there!  Funny guy!!  I learned two lessons over the last several days.  #1- Stay away from the Robelinni palms!  They are outta here next week!  #2- When you are toasting a frosted pop tart, don't over toast it!  Sugar burns hurt!!!  (Did you really think I was going to say they were outta here, too?!)