The Splinter Incident

The GodChicks Conference was absolutely wonderful! I enjoyed Holly, Chris Caine, Sheila Walsh, Sherri Shepherd and Viola Davis (via video). And Sunday morning was amazing too! Worship and the message from Chris Caine were highlights of the day...and...I can't forget to mention the "Splinter Incident."

Sunday morning seconds before walking to the front of the platform I picked up a piece of paper from the back of the stage. Except it wasn't a piece of paper. It was a little piece of wood that was white on one side and black on the other. And it had little shards of wood shooting out that were camouflaged into the stage. When I picked it up, I jammed 2 splinters of wood under, that's right, under my index fingernail. Ouch indeed. As blood started oozing, I threw the wood chip down and walked forward to worship. What a funny moment. (I did go back and pick up the wood chip later in the day.)

The blood dried up and I didn't really think about the splinters until the 2pm service when my finger started throbbing. My friend Jenn and I tried to ascertain if the long splinter under the nail went to the tip of my nail. If so, I could grab it with her tweezers and pull it out. We couldn't figure it out because there was dried blood at the tip. After looking up how to get the splinter out online, and having a little cry, I headed towards home and stopped by Walgreens to get a few things:

Epsom salt to soak my finger and try to work the splinter out
2 types of numbing cream. The pharmacist was only slightly helpful and told me it would be trial and error so just buy both and bring one back
Hydrogen Peroxide
Strawberry Twizzlers and Gummi Bears - so I could chew something while I was digging the splinters out.

I called my friend Marquita and told her I needed "some help" and went to her place. My friends Jocelyn and Carmella were there too. Soaking my finger didn't do jack but make it sting. The Lidocaine cream didn't work too well, so I used the Benzocaine cream. I really wish it didn't say "Pain Reliever Cream FOR BOILS" so largely on the side of the tube because I intend to carry the cream around with me for a bit. Perhaps I should use a sharpie to black out "For Boils."

Marquita suggested I ice my finger, so I did that and then re-iced it often. I cleaned my nail and then took nail clippers and clipped my fingernail down past the quick (way past) and was able to dig under with Jenn's tweezers and get the little splinter out. Sadly, it was apparent the long splinter couldn't be reached like this. Since the nail had been soaked, iced and had creams applied, it was pretty soft, so I used Marquita's tweezers to scrape through layers of my nail. Then Carmella got one of her razors and Marquita pulled out the blades for me. I then carefully and slowly cut through my nail in a V shape to expose the tip of the splinter. This took about an hour. Can someone say "OUCH!!"

I gently tried to pull the splinter out, but to no avail. I realized I had to put the big girl panties on and be a woman about it - that meant it was time to dig and pull. I took a deep breath and pulled it out, along with a loud scream. (I screamed a few times during this process)  I'm VERY thankful to everyone who helped during the day...I'm afraid I got a bit too emotional before leaving church as the thought of having to cut through my nail was horrific. Actually it was the thought of going to urgent care and having them do it. I mean, let's be real, they weren't going to be all gentle, nope they would have sliced - slash, slash, and dug it on out. There'd be no twizzlers or gummi bears or supportive friends cheering me on or sending me regular text messages. Just blood and tears.

I wanted to post a picture, but the camera doesn't really capture what my finger looks like now. It's actually not awful, and my finger is just a little tender at the tip and obviously, where the nail is cut away. Writing about this I find it kinda funny and indicative of this season. I mean the weekend was so incredible and not even some splinters jammed underneath my finger and oozing blood was going to stop me from praising God - my magnificent God. My dearest friend of all!

So let the splinters of life come, or go - God is the reason I'm living and I will choose to have joy every day, no matter what!!