Feet - Human Paws

Bad picture of our Magnolia Tree this spring.

Dear Readers,

Todays post has nothing to do with Parkinson's Disease, but it is something you may very well be faced with in your lifetime - (Gasp!) Toe Fungus!   (Okay, you can stop reading here if you have any objections to this non-dinner conversation topic and come back again when I'm on a more pleasant subject.  he he )

I have had Toe Fungus for probably 20 years on one or more toes and avoided wearing sandals most of my adult life because of it.   At one time the doctor tried a dosage of Spornox on me to treat this problem, but I then broke out in a severe case of hives.   I stopped that drug immediately and just decided to live with the problem. Oh, I did mention my toes to my family doctor on occasion, and his comment was "Oh feet!"   It was very obvious he didn't want anything to do with the subject either.

Fast forward a few years and add arthritis to the toes and spine, in addition to the Fungus.   I recently had to go in search off a Podiatrist to treat the fungus problem and find one who could  cut back an ingrown toenail or a toenail that I felt was going to become ingrown.   That's when I found out that most of the podiatrists today don't want to see a patient for toenail trimming - or fungus nails.   Interesting!!   Why?   I don't know!

I finally found a Podiatrist that would treat my ingrown nail only (according to the receptionist).  (He would not trim the nails with the fungus.)   I grabbed the appointment while I could get one and went off to see that doctor yesterday.

Fortunately, he did decide to trim my horrendous nails that Don and I have trouble trimming because they are so thick.  I did not ask him to - he did it on his own,   He was hesitant to prescribe Lamisil (a medication to treat toenail fungus) because it can damage the kidneys and I'm already on lots of strong medication.   So we talked about removing the toenail covering the big toe.   I'm going to have that done - only will wait until early May so it's warmer outside and maybe I can wear open toed sandals while the toe heals.

I was really shocked when I heard doctor after doctor say that they don't do toenail trimming.   i'm fortunate that Don and I have each other, but what about those people who have no one to help them?   When you have Arthritis and get to be this age, it isn't always easy to trim your own toenails.   

Why is it that podiatrist after podiatrist office told me they were not taking any new patients for toenail trimming?   I know Medicare doesn't pay for that, and that's understandable.  But if a patient isn't capable of doing their own and is willing to pay to have it done, what is a person to do?  Yes, I could have gone to some salon for a pedicure, but I didn't want that.  I wanted to make sure the person doing the trimming knew how to work with toes that had a fungus and could maybe offer a solution to the ongoing problem.   I wanted a foot doctor!  Is that unreasonable?  

In the grand scheme of life, this is a minor problem, but it's very annoying.   

Does anyone else have that problem and have you also found it difficult to get in to see a Podiatrist for nail trimming?  

Mary