No Pain, No Gain!

Sometimes children will just not listen to their parents. Why is that? Dumb question, b/c there was plenty that I didn't listen to mine about. Anywho..... Blake has had terrible problems with ingrown toenails. He loves to hike, play basketball, and run. He also cuts his toenails tooo short. His dad warned him. So for the second time in 6 months, we took a little trip to the podiatrist.

I must say they doctor was pretty good. It's Dr. Mark Rogers. I met him once while working at the BYU Health Center, where he donates one day a week to the students at BYU. So after looking at a terribly infected toe for about a week, I put my foot down (no pun intended) and took Blake back to Dr. Mark. He looked at the toe and said, "Do you want me to treat it just for today or make it so it never comes back?" Blake answered, "Which doesn't involve a shot?" I said, "Take it out."

Of course, this was not what Blake wanted. His goal was to avoid the needle at all costs. So, like a good nurse/mom, I held him down and let the doctor give him the dreaded needle. Not only once, but both of his big toes had to be surgically prepped. As Blake is holding on to me and squeezing for dear life, I couldn't help but laugh. This teenager who is tough and mouthy, suddenly became my little boy again wanting to be held. Instead of cry, the only emotion that would come was laughter.

So, after the toes were numbed sufficiently, he removed 2 of the biggest ingrown nails I have ever seen. No wonder his toes hurt. The only thing Blake wanted to know was if he could still go camping with his Teachers group this weekend. Much to his relief, he was cleared for take off. His mood improved tremendously and we walked out 20 minutes later, though it is difficult to walk when both big toes are numb.

Although not a bad day, the whole thing could have been avoided had he listened to his parents. Chalk it up to another life lesson in the Ellis' household.