Infection (?) & Remi

Sorry I haven't been around much...

DS has what I think is an infected toe - a hangnail gone crazy kind of thing. I haven't taken him in to the ped yet and he has Remi tomorrow. Do you think they'll hold Remi because of this?

On a slightly different note, he's had a really sore throat, fatigue and headache the last two days. Maybe this is more concerning than the toe?

You need to let Gi know
And the toe needs to be looked at after two days when on biologics
He might need oral abx
Or anti fungal /prescription abx cream

my little penguin said:

You need to let Gi know
And the toe needs to be looked at after two days when on biologics
He might need oral abx
Or anti fungal /prescription abx cream

Click to expand...

I agree.

Yeah, I would call ahead. Our GI will do Remi when there's the sniffles, but not if there's an infection, fever, etc.

Thanks, everyone. I'm a little frustrated because he just told me before school today about his toe and I won't see him again until after 9pm tonight, so no time to get it checked out by the ped before tomorrow. And, of course, it's his GI's day off so I'm going to have to talk to a GI who doesn't know him. That's always fun.

I would get that toe looked at before the Remicade. Not that it is a serious concern but if they want to treat it a certain way it could mean putting off Remicade for a bit.

I would also have him checked out for the sore throat, headache, fatigue thing. Kill two birds with one stone. Could be strep, sinus infection virus etc. Any way you cut it, better to know and then you could give GI all the facts.

Good luck!

Hope it doesn't cause any issues with the Remicade. I know my son had no issues carrying on with mercaptopurine and an infected toe.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to get kids to stop biting/ripping their fingernails and toenails as opposed to using clippers? This might be his wake up call, especially if it's infected. He does it so absentmindedly when he's reading or watching TV. Drives me nuts... and it's yucky.

I managed to get him an appt this afternoon. Not sure how we're going to swing it, but we have the appt (been a little crazy around here).

He's biting his toe nails? I'm impressed with his flexibility! :ylol: JK I know you meant biting finger nails and ripping toenails.

hasn't been a problem in my house but....

For finger nails they sell that bitter stuff you can paint on their nails. Although I have a friend who said her daughter didn't mind the taste.

For toenails...socks?

The bitter stuff worked for my older daughter. I can't remember which exact brand we used, but it was nasty! She did really want to stop biting her nails, so that helped.

We were also told nail polish but that did NOT work (not that your son would use it!).

M had a slightly infected toe recently - we used a topical antibiotic and it cleared up. But I agree, someone needs to see him.

Wish I had an answer for the nailbiting - S is notorious! Not only is it so full of germs , I worry that little bits that are swallowed could scratch his intestines?? Don't know if this is really possible but just doesn't seem like the kind of fibre you want! :lol:

We tried the nail stuff years ago, didn't work for S.

But, what has happened over the years, is the constant biting/grinding has weakened the tips of his front teeth and caused tiny, tiny cracks (you can't see them but they are there) and, coincidentally, he is going to dentist tomorrow to fix two small chips in his front teeth! Maybe this will be a deterrent to all our nailbiters!

I wouldn't postpone the infusion - they generally only say to postpone if they are on a systemic antibiotic, but worth following up with the GI/pediatrician. Could soak the toe in some hydrogen peroxide and apply neosporin. The fatigue and headache could be him needing the infusion is all, or a virus coming on.

Hope the appt went well.

It's an ingrown toenail that needs to be watched. Yuck. I'm not a "foot person". I couldn't even watch the exam hardly. He's supposed to let it grow out, soak, and stop picking at it (!).

They also tested for strep since his lymph nodes are swollen and it was red inside. Thankfully, it came back negative.

Thanks for the support today. I'm still not super fond of the new GI nurse. While she's good at calling back, she never has info and says she's calling me back to tell me she'll call me back later. Oh well.

Jack's a nail biter too, drives me nuts. He had his infusion when he had MRSA infection I think as long as there was no fever and it wasn't systemic they were good.
My younger son has issues with ingrown toenails, had to have procedure a couple of years ago where they removed part of the nail on the side and then put some kind of caustic solution on it so nail won't grow pack. Nurses were impressed since I guess grown man scream while having it done and he didn't make a peep. Still gives me the heebie jeebies as I watched the whole thing. It fixed him from picking at his toe nails though, doesn't want it to happen again.