Toenails And Tiger Tales

I think (hope) we are making good progress on my ongoing toe problem. As I have mentioned before in the blog, I had an ingrown toenail on the big toe of my left foot several months ago, and a doctor in Alabama removed part of the toenail on each side. Shortly after that procedure, I got an infection in that toe and was prescribed antibiotics, which seemed to clear it up. But a day or two after the antibiotics had run their course, the problem came back. Since then, we have tried several different things, including three different courses of antibiotics of anywhere from five days to two weeks, and still had no success in keeping the infection away. And every time it came back it seemed to be worse.

Finally, when we found a new primary care provider here in Arizona, they did a swab of the area, and lab tests showed I had a staph infection. I was prescribed antibiotics that are supposed to take care of it. At the same time, my primary care provider gave me a referral to a podiatrist named Dr. Ryan Hall at White Mountain Foot and Ankle. I had an appointment with Dr. Hall on Tuesday and he quickly diagnosed the problem. The doctor in Alabama had cut the sides of the toenail away but had not removed the nail root, which was the cause of the infection to begin with.

After x-rays to determine the infection had not invaded the bone, which it fortunately had not, he numbed my toe and removed the offending nail root. He also prescribed a different, stronger antibiotic that he said should clear up the infection quickly. I sure hope so, because this has been going on for a long time.

Now, about those tigers. Author Gayne C. Young reached out to me a week or two ago to tell me he enjoyed my books and asked if I would be interested in receiving an autographed copy of one of his. I told him I would enjoy that, and it arrived the other day. How do I describe Tiger Tales? When a book begins with the line “I awoke to lemurs licking my face,” it’s darn sure going to get my attention. When it includes a Mexican cartel, bizarre things like watching pandas blow up, people being fed to tigers, a woman who will stop at nothing to collect the main character’s student loans, a hairless chimp named Patty, a beautiful call girl, and a waitress with her jaw wired shut, it’s going to keep me reading. Tiger Tales is the first book in Young’s Jett Turner Misadventure Series, and though I’m less than halfway through, I’m completely hooked. Give it a try. I think you will be, too.

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an autographed copy of RV Chuckles and Chuckholes – The Confessions of Happy Campers, by Darlene Miller. It’s a fun book full of amusing anecdotes, jokes, adventures and pot-hole experiences while traveling in an RV throughout the USA and Canada. It includes stories about sleeping in a real bed when visiting relatives, how to get rid of your husband (for a little while), and special RVers such as the gentleman who had a complete heart transplant 19 years previously. Darlene shares RVing tips and RVers’ secrets and advice and off-the-road experiences. Witty, poignant and insightful, this book gives you a delightful view of life on the roam.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed. After 30 days, unclaimed prizes revert back to the drawing pool for a future contest.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – Always laugh when you can, it is cheap medicine. – Lord Byron