Earlier this week in Sydney I finally tried to figure out what was going on with my right pinky toe. It’s been itching for awhile now and had begun to bleed a bit near the base of the nail. So, like any redblooded male I woke up at 1:30 am and, equipped with what little tools I had at my disposal, began to “dig around.” What I discovered was that I have been carrying around a parasite of some kind that had burrowed into my toe and taken up residence. The little guy (who consequently had gotten big) had created a cave for himself in the upper part of my toe and had been there for I’m not sure how long. By the time I got to him he had numbed up the better part of my toe and become about an inch long.
I am saving you more details and certainly pictures of the event. Suffice to say it was a tug of war pulling him out with tweezers and both of us lost: he got broken up into pieces and I got left with parts of him still in my toe. Field surgery can have such complications. But I seem to be healing up well, though in the back of my mind is the sneaking suspicion that he’s still in there regenerating. A round two of Casey v. Parasite Toe Worm may very well be in the making.
We’re in Buenos Aires now, recovering from a long day of air travel. Sydney, Auckland, Buenos Aires in one leg. Our little apartment we’ve rented for the nine days we’re here is settling in nicely. More adventuring awaits. Parasites or no.
Hope that piggy toe toe gets to feeling better!
Sweet! Post pics!