For the first time in my life I saw a podiatrist today. I know, I must be getting old if I’m talking about my medial ailments. That’s what old people do after all, right? Well this one relates to my cancer journey, so why not.
He was very personable in spite of calling himself an introvert, and the best news is he made my big toe stop hurting. Why was it hurting? A combination of factors, really, but the bottom line is this. There was fungus among us. (Insert rimshot sound effect in your own mind.) He said tennis players and runners get it as well as chemo patients. It is common when there is trauma to their toe from sliding into the tip of their shoes. Tennis toe, runner’s toe, chemo toe … it’s all the same to him.
When chemotherapy runs through your veins, it can wreak havoc on all sorts of smaller body parts. It made my toenails weak, and more susceptible to injury. My fingernails are also brittle, and split sideways all the time. I won’t go into all the gory details, but I recall the moment it happened. I stubbed my toe while visiting my mom in her Hospice room more than two months ago. I remember it vividly because it was so painful I nearly fell to my knees. You know the feeling, right?
I waited because I kept thinking it would grow out on its own. As it turns out, much suffering could have been alleviated if I had gone in sooner. I’m a little slow. Suffice it to say that stubbing my toe traumatized the toenail. It lifted from the nail bed just enough to allow fresh water and some type of bacteria to grow beneath the nail. It is highly contagious IF I share my clipper. Guess I won’t have to worry about someone borrowing my clippers!
“We’ll do this the easy way,” he said. Easy for him, maybe, but it was quite painful for me! He clipped and clipped and dug and dug until there wasn’t much nail left on my big toe. This, he said, was easier than performing minor surgery on the toe. OK, I’ll take the easy way out.
Now it’s like the moment you remove a piece of glass from your foot. Ahhhh! Relief! The pain is gone, the redness and swelling is gone, and the healing is just beginning. Now if you know how I can strengthen my fingernails, I would appreciate your comments!
The moral of the story is this – watch where you walk! And if you stub your toe, seek the help of a professional. It can be more serious than you think.
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À la prochaine (Until next time) …