Saturday, April 24, 2010

Peiducre on our toes, toes

As I mentioned in a previous post, my pregnant friend S has a hurt foot. I might have even mentioned it in the post about her baby shower a few weeks ago. I have to tell you all the story in hopes that you will learn from her mistake as I have and NEVER GET ANOTHER PEDICURE!


Like women all over the world S and I enjoy being pampered and having someone else do the tricky task of painting your toenails. When I moved to San Diego and had to take on more responsibilities financially, that lovely pampering and colorful toes was one of the first things to go. S has kept up with pampering her tootsies.



A few weeks ago, S got a pedicure. While she was getting the pedicure she and the woman doing the pedicure noticed she was bleeding. For those of you that don’t get mani/pedis this is actually kid of normal. That is the part that should make everyone cringe! The woman put a band aid on her foot. S paid and went on her way. There was a lot of traffic getting out of PB and she didn’t get home until late. When she got home she took the band aid off her foot and got a little worried. But it was late and she figured her foot would get better.



She sent pictures to her family and when they all came down to see her for her baby shower they made her go to urgent care. We saw her Friday night and the foot was nasty! Her foot was swollen compared to her other foot and the wound was a huge gaping black hole. The geniuses at urgent care gave her antibiotics and weren’t able to get a culture. They told her they thought it was a spider bite. Geniuses.



When I heard the story about she bled while getting a pedicure I had that gut feeling it was an infection related to that. When I told my mom (emergency room nurse) about it she said it is probably a bacterial infection. People (aka so called doctors at urgent care) often think they are spider bites.



S went to a dermatologist and they told her it is an atypical mycobacterium. I found one website that has pretty good info on the bacteria. http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/3963 It says, “The infection, caused by a fast-growing microbial cousin of the tuberculosis bacterium, left some of the customers taking antibiotics for months, and even that did not always clear the infection. Some women suffered scarring or have needed skin grafts, and estimated medical costs for some have exceeded $10,000.” S has been told she would have to take SEVERAL antibiotics for a long time. This would be a disaster alone, but let’s not forget, for me the scariest part, she is PREGNANT.



Right now it sounds like she has a good specialist doctor that she visits weekly to watch the infection. It is currently not being treated because the antibiotics she is supposed to take can be harmful to little Ethan. She is pretty much in constant pain. You might be thinking this could never happen to me, the place I go is clean. Her doctor told her this common bacterium can’t be sterilized with the stuff they use in nail salons. They need to be using medical strength stuff. My advice, give yourself a pedicure. Save money and stay healthy!




















This is not a picture of S. This is a picture I got from this article. In August of 2006 a woman DIED from the same thing that happened to S. Ok?

12 comments:

  1. omg. ew ew ew. i dont get pedicures, but this is just terrifying!!

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  2. Makes me feel so much better about not being able to afford pedis!

    That picture is sooooo nasty!

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  3. Wow! That picture is horrible. :( I feel so bad for your friend and for the lady in this picture. Good thing I don't mind painting my own toes! :) Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Ohmygosh. That is so sad. I was just about to go get one too...I think I'll skip it!

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  5. wow, this is awful!

    the place i go to more my mani-pedis is suuuuper clean and sterilizes everything!

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  6. This blog post totally needs to have a warning at the very top that says "put down your breakfast, you're about to see something that's going to kill your appetite." ;)

    This is pretty much the very reason I don't go get pedicures or manicures anymore. I used to have acrylic nails and got a very minor infection after one visit and decided that was it...I was playing with fire. I feel horrible for your friend because they really do have to be selective about what they give her. How miserable. Excellent public service announcement, though, girlie! I hope everyone heeds the warning. Painting one's own toes is really very easy and much, much safer!

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  7. That is horrifying and disgusting..I love me some pedicures but not at that cost.

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  8. omg that picture is terrible!

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  9. This is a horrible thing to happen! Thanks for sharing it though. I rarely get mani/pedis -only very special occasions, but I will def think twice next time!
    Thinking of S and the baby and I hope everything is ok!

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  10. Yikes! Good thing I don't get pedicures. My feet are too sensitive. I hope your friend gets better, that is really scary.

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  11. I am so glad I stumbled on your blog! I love getting pedicures, but I am NEVER going to get it done at a nail salon anymore. The thought og that happening to me is terrifying! I feel horrible for your frirnd, I hope she gets well soon!

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