 |
Chemo (a liquid) enters the body via a PICC, a sort of tap, dangling freely when not in use |
 |
| The delinquent big toe, neatly bandaged |
 |
| PICC protecting sleeve and Tesco shopping bag |
 |
| Sleeve holds bag in place round foot |
All straightforward. But, one week later, here’s where things get “different”.
Pod: Did you remove the bandage?
RR: You said not to.
Pod: But how were you able to manage?
RR: By the simple expedient of not washing myself.
Pod: But that was one week ago.
RR: Your point being?
There is a shocked silence. A new bandage is put on. Tentatively Pod says, “But you will wash, won’t you.” The word “Please” is unspoken but almost tangible.
I discuss things with VR who is more familiar with my unhygienic ways. VR says, “When you were doing chemo you had a PICC in your arm (See explanatory diagram) yet you showered. You bought a special sleeve to prevent wetting the PICC.” I said, “Yes, but it’s open at both ends.” VR says, “So stick a plastic shopping bag over your foot first.”
Brilliant! It’s great being married to an inventive wife. I even decide to have a shallow tepid bath, revelling in the way my fevered toe was protected.
Alas, somehow the bathwater gets in.
My next Pod appointment is in two days.
What, exactly, should I say?
So sorry to hear about your toenail. I hope it heals well. I once had a serious wound on my foot and had to keep it bandaged for quite a while. I took baths and kept that foot out of the water.
ReplyDeleteNewRobin13: But reading in the bath (I also sing since the acoustic is so rewarding) can cause you to forget the toe-out-of-the-water routine. Another tip: I had the conventional screw-type taps removed and replaced with lever-operated taps. Much for amenable for the feet.
DeleteI had a severely ingrown toenail on my left big toe and had it removed a year ago last April. it's only half grown in now where it should be nearly completely grown in. my other big toe nail also tends to be ingrown but I am never going through that again.
ReplyDeleteellen abbot: The nail, I assume, not the toe.
Delete"Sometimes the bathwater gets in."
ReplyDeleteColette: My intial word was "Somehow". Thus your response seems slightly gnomic.
DeleteI had trouble, like you, in getting down to my feet for toe nail care and now have a 6 weekly visit from a "pod". to do it for me. It is sybaritic to lie back in a chair, feet on a stool to raise them as she sits in front of me working on the nails and massaging my feet afterwards with ointment (shades of the New Testament - no she does not dry them with her hair). Well worth the £30 per visit.
ReplyDeleteI occasionally get an inflamed big toe with gout, but drinking lime juice (recommended) clears it in 3 days.
Avus: Lime juice ought to keep scurvy at bay too. For forty years now I've taken one allopurinol pill a day and provided I don't aggravate the big toe in any way (rock-climbing with the boot perched on a vestigial foothold would be clearly a no-no) gout is reduced to a mere memory of the famous Gillray cartoon.
ReplyDelete