Day 141 – CSI: Morrisville

Yesterday morning when I was making my breakfast, Jeff called me from upstairs, “Amy, can you help me?”  I turned off the stove and went upstairs to the bathroom where I found a scene out of CSI (only a slight exaggeration): blood puddles, low velocity blood spatter and bloody footprints.  CSI would have discovered that the blood had two X chromosomes and the DNA of Jeff’s female donor.  In the middle of the bloody scene was Jeff – the culprit - standing on one leg with the other balanced on the counter.  He was holding onto the wall with one hand and his big toe with the other.  He had finished his shower and was toweling off when he realized that he was bleeding – a lot.    

When Jeff’s toenail fell off on Thursday night, it bled just a little bit.  The odd thing was that the blood was now coming from the side of the nail which had long since let loose.  The side that only the night before had held the nail seemed undisturbed.  So strange! 

Jeff called Dr. Porter’s office and left a message about getting his Hickman catheter removed (wishful thinking).  He thought he would mention the bloody toe when the nurse practitioner called back.  He never heard back from the office.  That is now two contacts (a phone call and an email) that have gone unanswered by the staff at Dr. Porter’s office in the last week.  I guess he is close to being kicked back to Dr. Kennedy. 

The toe gave him some trouble – it bled with every step – but it felt so much better without the nail dangling.   After he took some time to rest and air it, he applied antibiotic ointment and skin crack repair.  The bleeding stopped.  Whew!