Crabs

crab, n "Any of various predominantly marine crustaceans of the division Brachyura within the order Decapoda, characterized by a broad flattened cephalothorax covered by a hard carapace with a small abdomen concealed beneath it, short antennae, and five pairs of legs, of which the anterior pair are large and pincerlike."

Well, I have eaten crabs, ONCE. Not bad when cooked right and covered in butter. I have seen them, small ones on the beach...but NEVER in my dreams could I have thought that I would come to HATE them. (But I might still eat them, if cooked right and covered in butter)...

Here's my rundown...with a crab.

Last Tuesday, we thought it would be nice to go out to Sandbridge, our favorite beach. (Sandbridge made it into the news a few weeks ago because during the hurricane it was hit hard and they even think a tornado whipped through there at the same time.)

We've been going there all summer, and thought it would be a nice day, not a lot of crowds, to take David out to "our" beach. So, we packed up the truck and the kids and headed out.

It was a really nice day, the water is still pretty warm and the sand is hot. There was a lot of debris and shells everywhere, churned up from the hurricane, I assume. We were walking on the beach and playing in the sand. It was fun!

David and Jacob were wading in the water and pulling up some pretty big shells. Jacob picked up what he thought was a big shell and it was a live lobster! I guess I didn't really think about the danger of bare feet around all that marine life and broken shards of shell.

Well, I found out. I waded into the water to find some shells of my own and as soon as I walked in to the shallow water, I placed my feet down about 8 inches apart and got STABBED. One hole on the inside of my left foot and one hole on the inside of the right foot, near the heel. I had planted my left foot and jerked away from the pain with my right foot and started out of the water to check my feet.

I immediately thought I was cut from sharp shell pieces. I got to our "camp" and sat down with some clear water and cleaned off the cuts, which were bleeding, but not a whole lot. I put some antibac on them and sat for a while. My feet were throbbing, but not unbearable.

After a while, we decided to get some lunch and get home. I hobbled off the beach, putting the weight on the front of my right foot, because putting my heel down was pretty painful.

We got home and I got a shower, but still couldn't put pressure on the heel of my right foot. The left foot was sore, but not nearly as bad. I decided that I better be safe and get to the hospital. We're talking about marine life and sea water here, so I didn't want to mess with infection or something.

I got to the hospital and got checked in. When the doctor came to get my story and I told him it was from the ocean, he left the room and the nurse came in quickly after that and gave me a tetanus shot and put a liquid antibiotic into an IV in my arm. I guess we aren't supposed to mess with chances with infection from anything on the beach or in the ocean.

So, then I had an xray. The doc came back pretty quickly after that and said, "yep, clear as day, a big bright spot in your foot that shouldn't be there. You've got a foreign body in your foot" So, next step...call ORTHO to take a look.

I ended up in the room where they put casts on broken bones. They put my foot under a little machine and I saw a tear drop shaped white spot in my foot. No mistaking it.

So, next step...LIDOCAINE. UGH. It's bad enough at the dentist, but 3 shots later, and my husband's hand squeezed to death, and my foot was finally numb. They start to dig. About SEVENTY minutes later, the doc informs me that he can't get "IT" out and will have to move me to the next room with better lights and surgical equipment.

Next room...well, lidocaine wears off. UGH again, 4 more shots to numb. Those are SO painful in my opinion. And more digging,a bigger incision and more squeezing David's hand. My foot wouldn't stop bleeding of course and the doc couldn't get a hold on "IT", so bring in the retractor to open the skin wider and the fake tourniquet to stop blood from going to my foot as much.

AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER (we're talking almost 3 hours here), the doc finally said, "I got IT!" About 5 medical people swarmed whatever it was he pulled out and starting taking pictures of IT.

He finally got me stitched up, 6 stitches, and told me there may be nerve damage from cutting the skin and stretching it like that. Great.

I finally got to see the culprit...see that little sharp pointed tip of crab claw in that diagram at the top????




YEP...the tip of a crab claw was broken off the owner and lodged in the tissue of my foot. OUCH.

Now...claw out, serious antibiotics for two weeks, crutches and probably nerve damage (my heel is still numb).


So...to close this epistle to the crab...I HATE you little crab. I know you were just defending yourself, but really? And, much to the chagrin of my beach going friends, I hate the beach, I've never really loved it, just "doing it for the kids" type of thing, so, no more beach for me. I've been told to just invest in some beach type shoes. To me, that defeats the purpose of enjoying the sandy beach with your bare toes. So, I'd rather get some good BOOTS on and find a gorgeous mountain to climb.