This May Have Been A Mistake

I procrastinate, I admit it.  This time it may come back to bite me.  No, not in the ass.  In the foot.

Famous last words from my doctor -- "Shell, if something hurts for a month, get it looked at."  He uttered these words after I'd put up with years of pain from an injured rotator cuff.  So did I take his words to heart?  No, I did not.

Back in May I developed a sore spot on the bottom of my foot.  Attributed it to using the foot, clad in inappropriate-for-the-task footwear, to push the shovel into the ground while turning my veggie garden. Then the sore spot got hard and I figured it was a callus.  Several times over the summer I thought, "I really should get this looked at."  But did I?  No, I did not.  When I was at the doctor in July for a routine prescription refill I thought, "I really should ask about that sore spot on my foot."  But did I?  No, I did not. 'Cause it wasn't bothering me that day.

This past week it started getting really sore and it's right on a pressure point on the ball of my foot.  "Hmmm," I thought, "maybe I should get this looked at before I attempt to walk 800 km on it across varied terrain."  And I actually followed up on that thought.  Toodled off to see the doc and he confirmed what I'd been fearing all along -- wart.  Plantar wart.  Very hard to get rid, he says.  But as it's a virus it will go away on his own.  No time frame for that though.

But, if I wanted, he could freeze it with some liquid nitrogen, may help to kill the cells.  When he assured me it would leave no hole in my foot I decided to go for it.  I've had liquid nitrogen and it stings a bit towards the end of the treatment.  But, holy shit, the pain a few minutes afterwards is intense.  I was standing at the reception desk making an appointment for round two when the burning set in.  OMG!  This freakin' hurts.  With a sly smile the doctor tossed me a packet of Advil Liqui-Gels.  Gee, thanks.

And now it hurts more than ever to walk on.  Of course I did the research on cryotherapy for warts after the treatment.  Most require one to four treatments with one to three weeks in between.  I have time for two with three days in between.  The pain can last three days and healing takes seven to fourteen days.  I've got seven days after my second treatment. When I got to the part about blisters and pus and infection I stopped reading. Now only time will tell if my biggest mistake was waiting to have it treated.

Or that I opted to have it treated at all.