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The film “Groundhog” starring Bill Murray is one of my favourites and in some ways, we all have Groundhog experiences in life, mine and for over a year has been a personal saga of in-growing toenails which hardly sounds that exciting which, it isn’t to an outsider but both painful and crippling to the person living with them.

The truth is, like a latter day Boston Tea Party, my two Big Toes have risen up in rebellion against the rest of my body. They are demanding one to one attention on an unprecedented scale and will brook no negotiations upon the matter, their war of attrition continues unabated as they take it in turns to cause aggravation !

The History of the Uprising

In simple terms, in-growing toenails are not that difficult to deal with and most GPs Surgeries will have a “Minor Operations” clinic to do so. All it requires is under a local aesthetic, split the sides of the nail away and letting it grow back naturally. Unfortunately, there is always a waiting list for these clinics and by the time your turn comes up, the toe has become infected and they won’t do it until you have had a course of anti-biotic so, you end up at the back of the queue.

In part this describes why this has dragged on for over a year but there is also another aspect which is that there is a far more radical treatment and having had both toes done several times and the problem return, I needed to have that done. Basically it is a Hospital day job, they completely remove the nail and paint it with a chemical that stops the nail growing back.

A Nasty Infection

Last September the leg that needed the toe doing, started to swell and blister, it turned out to be a bacterial infection called Cellulitus. I am now experiencing a return of the Cellulitus infection but in the other leg where that toenail is now playing up – back to wearing sandals. The Hospital were not doing appointments prior to Christmas, no doubt a budget saving exercise and I have no idea as to when I will be seen.

Their ‘target’ is apparently 11 weeks but rather like Gordon Brown and the election, I am sure that they will go ‘full term’ which is likely to mean around early/mid February before I am seen. Doesn’t help me much, the last dose of Cellulitus was at its peak, very painful and I have a good tolerance of pain (Not a wimp where a runny nose if Flu !), but overall, very very uncomfortable for weeks, no sleep, peeling skin etc. in short a totally disgusting experience.

So I phoned up the Vet for an appointment and got lucky, they had a ‘Locum’ sitting in for one day and what a splendid chap he was. Showed him the toe – “Urg ! Put that away he said, what do you want ?” “Loads of Anti-Biotics” was my reply, “Shed loads” was his !

When I went into Boots, the Pharmacist insisted on speaking to me before he handed over the prescription; “It is unusual to have a 5 week course of these…” he said. The child in me wanted to say; “That’s OK, I’m selling 3 packs to pay my rent this week !” But I manfully resisted and told him the truth – “Not 5 weeks, 5 separate weeks, if required !” He was happy with the explanation.

A Consequence…

As I was walking back to the Car Park having done some food shopping whilst waiting for my prescription to be made up, a couple of lads and in a good natured way, commented on my shorts and sandals. I eyed them sternly: “It is the seaside and at the seaside, shorts and sandals are mandatory, the only exception being Gay people who are allowed to wear long trousers, so how long have you two been a ‘item’ ?” They fell about laughing… I did further explain …”That on the other hand, in-growing toenails and an infection are a good reason to wear shorts and sandals on a effing cold day !”

There are some things that I would not normally buy over the web such as clothing and shoes however and for reasons unknown to me, possibly good quality control, CAT industrial boots always fit me so, I have ordered up a pair a size larger than I normally take in the hope that I can have a pair of wearable ‘all weather shoes’ because wearing sandals at this time of year is just a bit more than ‘eccentric’, it’s total nuts !

However and perhaps there is a benefit in all this because whilst it does mean I cannot ride and take new photographs, it has forced me to do something sensible that I’ve been putting off for some time, properly cataloguing and organising the many, many thousands of images I already have and in the process, pruning some. I always believe that every set back some how offers an opportunity to make serious progress and this is one !