I went to a salon I trusted. I felt that the technician did a wonderful job but I failed to inform her that I was in treatment for cancer and that she needed to be extra careful with clipping my nails.
When I think back, I don’t really know why I didn’t say anything. I had gotten pedicures before during the summer and each time I was very adamant that the technician be extra careful with my toes. And they were. But this time, I think I was upset about something (can’t recall what exactly) and I didn’t want the pitying looks that always follow… “I am in treatment for breast cancer”. So I didn’t say anything. I just sort of watched her closely.
I can recall the snip that probably caused all the problems I would have later. I felt it when she tugged at that nail. But…I didn’t say anything. I just prayed it would be okay. It was…for about a week. And then things started to get a little janky.
Kill me now…
So…when my toe started looking a little crazy, I dismissed it. Started doing my own thing with it. Kept it clean and bandaged. Kept putting my trusty Neosporin on it…and didn’t think much else about it. I figured it would heal shortly. And when shortly stretched out into a little longer…I figured that since my immune system is still slightly compromised that maybe the healing would take a little longer but it wasn’t a big deal.
By the time I realized that the toe wasn’t healing and that maybe it was a big deal about a month had passed. I called the oncologist’s office and he seemed rather cool about it. Well, let me put it this way – he didn’t seem too stressed about it. So, I took that as it wasn’t a big deal and I went about my merry way. He suggested I go to see my primary care doctor and left it at that.
I didn’t call my doctor for another couple of weeks. I could run off a litany of excuses but the real thing is that I didn’t want another bill showing up at my house. For one little ol’ janky toe? (waving hand) Chile cheese… couldn’t be that horrible, right? It’s just a toe. Again…wrong. So very wrong.
So…about two weeks ago, I finally get in to see my primary care doctor. He was kind as always and when he looked at that toe – I could see the laughter in his eyes. That thing was ugly – not horrible but definitely in need of attention. He wrote a prescription for some antibiotics and gave me a referral to a podiatrist and sent me on my way. He told me that my infection was pretty common. Folks get infections from pedicures all the time. And he also reiterated that I am not supposed to get pedicures while I’m in treatment.
Y’all do realize that I am a hard-headed knuckle head sometimes, right?
I took the prescription but didn’t go see the podiatrist. (yeah, yeah…I know…I suck) Normally, when you take antibiotics, they kick in right away and things are all better halfway through the prescription. Not this time. That’s when it finally hit me that I was in a little bit of trouble and I needed to get on top of this.
Now… to clarify the timeline… I got my pedicure at the beginning of September. I saw the podiatrist at the beginning of November. That’s TWO WHOLE months later. See the issue? I had made all sorts of excuses, had ignored what was going on with my body…and basically put my head in the sand and refused to see that there was a real issue at hand.
A hard head makes a soft behind … everytime.
The podiatrist was pleasant but he was not pleased that I took so long to come and see him. My infection wasn’t that horrible but still it was bad enough. And it could have easily become much, much worse. He had to numb my toe, freeze the skin, clip the nail and cut away a portion of the infected area. I walked like Frankenstein for the rest of the day. (serves me right)
The podiatrist told me a frightening story about a little boy with an infected toe that wasn’t treated properly or within a reasonable timeframe and the infection ate away the bones in his toe. Yikes! Caused him to be hospitalized for a couple of weeks… double yikes! And ended up costing his family over $35,000! (And this was about 20 years ago…so imagine that hospital bill today.)
Sigh. Ms. Nic/Fancy Pants has learned her lesson. (again) I am not as healthy and strong as other people. I have to take extra precautions – even when I don’t feel like it – because the slightest problem can become a major issue. And the longer I wait to address a problem, the worse the problem becomes.
Today, I had to show my crazy toe to my surgeon because she was worried that if the infection was too bad, I would have to reschedule my surgery. (I may do that anyway depending on the results of the mammogram film review but we’ll see) She looked at me with that same pitying look that I was trying to avoid initially… But this one was all on me. (shaking my head…)
So to be clear… NO PEDICURES while you’re in treatment for breast cancer. No matter how pretty the toes could be, the risk of infection is truly not worth it.
