Who Needs Fingernails

After I got the hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), which is a form of the enterovirus, from Caitlyn a few months ago, I figured that the worst of it was behind me. My blisters have all peeled away and healed. Even my bout with epididymitis is all but a distant memory. Things were starting to look up. Little did I know that HFMD was far from done with me. As an added bonus and parting gift, HFMD has now decided to make my fingernails start falling off. You read that correctly. My fingernails are falling off.

Several weeks ago, the wife noticed that Caitlyn’s fingernails were slowly cracking and splitting apart at the base. Not knowing what was happening, she took her to our pediatrician, who said that HFMD was the culprit. It turns out that in certain cases, HFMD can cause the fingernails to fall off. Sure enough, within a week, Caitlyn’s nails were slowly coming off one by one. Thankfully, this didn’t seem to bother her too much, with more of her energy directed at picking at her fingernails and requesting them to be cut.

Around the same time, I began to see a weird discoloration in my fingernails. At first, I wasn’t sure if HFMD was affecting me too, but when one nail completely came off and the other nails slowly beginning to chip off, there’s really no doubt that I have to be one of the unluckiest fellows in the world.

As I said before, when you find out that your child has HFMD, get the heck out of Dodge. You, your epididymis, and your fingernails will all thank me later for it. 

One down, four more to go!