You can’t really see tetanus, which is part of why it was so hard to get it treated. That and the fact I was in poverty at the time.

What I’m showing is the site of the needle puncture many weeks after it happened on August 14, 2004.

It was several weeks from the time of the puncture till I had an undeniable symptom of tetanus on September 29, 2004. Up until then I’d had a stiff neck, but I was extremely stressed at the time so I thought my neck was stiff from the stress.

After it was clear that I had tetanus, it took me several weeks to organize to take pictures.

Sadly my camera was not very good. Probably even worse was that fact that my photos, developed at WalMart, were saved on disk as gifs. Pictures that you want to show clear details should be saved as jpegs.

All the little white dots in the pictures seem to be flaws related to the fact the images were saved as gifs.

What the pictures illustrate is that the “injury” was tiny in comparison to the disease I suffered as a result of that tiny injury.

Pictures: 2nd week of November, 2004

Left toe with puncture is more red than right toe.
Red dot on left toe at site of puncture.

 

Even when the picture is very large, the red dot is hard to see. My camera was not good.

 

 

 

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As layers of skin peeled off my toe became shiny.
As layers of skin peeled off my toe became shiny.

 

Although I did not have a fever, my toe must have been “hot” causing the skin to peel off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures: 3rd week of November, 2004

The red lines go...
The red lines go…
only to return
only to return

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red streak on left toe, none on right
Red streak on left toe, none on right

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pale circular pattern around an ear shaped reddish area
Pale circular pattern around an ear shaped reddish area

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures: End November, beginning December

Clear ~ No line.
Clear ~ No line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following pictures are the most disappointing because it’s impossible to clearly see the white dot. In real life it was obvious. It was also one of the most distinct changes that took place as a result of soaking my foot in Epsom salt, so it’s sad that I can’t show it to you clearly.

But just a few days earlier a tiny white dot in the reddest bit would not scrape off. It appeared to be the top of something embedded in my toe. Could it be the poison drawn out by the Epsom salt?
But just a few days earlier a tiny white dot in the reddest bit would not scrape off. It appeared to be the top of something embedded in my toe. Could it be the poison drawn out by the Epsom salt?

 

A few days before this picture was taken there was a tiny white dot in the middle of the very red bit. It would not scrape off, as if it were part of something embedded in my toe. I felt it was the “poison” being drawn out by the Epsom salt soaks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day after the tiny white dot there was lots more white stuff, lots less red.
The day after the tiny white dot there was lots more white stuff, lots less red.

 

I continued soaking my foot in Epsom salts and saw that as more white stuff appeared, the red bit lessened.

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