paging doctor mom OR knitting needles aren't just for knitting

just a caveat. this is not for the squeamish.

liam has had an ingrown toenail for a while. he's been verging on it getting infected for a while. well, for about 2 weeks now, his toe has been puffy, and painful, and purple. he's been trying to deal with it on his own, and i've been letting him, because he's 15, and he needs to learn.

however, tonight, he came down and asked if it was normal for his toe to turn brown. so i looked at it. it's not brown, but it is pretty tender & puffy. enter doctor mom.

i happened to have a metal sock needle near by, so i made him fetch rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and a couple of cotton balls, and a bandaid. i rubbed the tip of the needle with rubbing alcohol to disinfect it. the goober went & got a rag to bite, because he was afraid of waking anyone up, lol. i made him sit on the floor, and was actually able to get the toenail worked out. then i took a tiny bit of cotton ball soaked in hydrogen peroxide, and tucked it under there. the doctor had told him to do that when he'd gone for his physical , and had mentioned his toe. he hadn't been doing it. then i took him in the bathroom, poured some more hydrogen peroxide on it, then put some neosporin & a bandaid on it, because it had bled a little bit. i'll make him soak it tomorrow in epsom salts, and d o it again. and chewed him out for not cutting his toenails square. some days.

oh, by the way? he didn't scream. liam is a drama queen, lol!