Matthew actually came to me a long time ago to show me this odd bump on his finger. I assumed, since the boys play with sticks ALL DAY LONG on a weekend and sometimes after school, that it was a splinter.
It's a terrible thing to admit but an absolute reality that if we as parents are not reminded or kept up to date with this sort of thing, without managing it ourselves, things go beyond repair or just get horribly worse. For instance, poor Meren didn't even have a maths text book for half of grade 8. B the time we found out t was already a disaster. He recovered well, but it was touch and go for a while there. They also tend to wear broken shoes, which could be repaired by @zakludick with very strong glue, but by the time we find out that there is even an issue, the shoes are utterly destroyed. I'm sure you see the pattern here 🙄🙄
Any way, when it came to the "Splinter" I tried to remove it using tweezers but to no avail. Since it was so close to the surface, I told Matthew his body would probably naturally reject it. If not, I'd need to dig around with a needle to get it out. That's most likely why he hid his bump/s from me.
This is a great resource btw:
Warts and its Leading Causes and Treatment Methods
He came to me about a week ago and actually showed me his hands properly as he realized it d gotten out of control. It turs out it was never a splinter, but a wart! And the wart made babies! 7 to be exact. Luckily, most of them were on his non-dominant hand, so he didn't have to miss too much school after the doctor's visit.
After taking one look, I know we had to go straight to the doctor. My sister and I battled terribly with plantar's warts, which develop in public showers like the gym. I now avoid even the changing rooms like the plague and dress home. just make sure I wear something I can slip on and off so I'm still presentable to the public and I have dedicated gym flipflops so my feet almost never tough the ground. Plantar's warts grow inward which is horrid. I remember having long sessions of liquid nitrogen treatments to get rid of them and sometimes it took a few repeat visits. My sister still has a gaping hole in te front of her foot, just below the toes on the underside of her foot, where she developed the motherload of plantar's warts. It was terrible.
So back to Matthew, these were definitely not plantar's warts, but they were warts none the less and I wasn't going to bother with any over the counter medication which would have been a waste of money and time. I told Matthew we'd head straight to the doctor and I let him know a little about liquid nitrogen, trying to prepare him without scaring him and he was such a brave boy.
I took him for an enormous and ridiculous ice-cream with bubblegum dip, sprinkles, a Cadbury's flake and a proper sugar cone! shame, I had to help him from time to time as the digits he relied on were so sore.
He was in good spirits throughout the process and I got the doctor to book him off today to recover. Poor thing.
I also had some demons to face. So the practice I visit is run by two doctors, Dr Randal Rinkwest and Dr Cara Rinkwest. Both of them have really looked after me over the years, especially with my knee injury. Unfortunately though Dr Rinkwest put me through hell in 2023, which was quite possibly the shittiest year of my life, and prescribed Venlor to me which, as I told him SSRI's and SNRI's cause horrible serotonin syndrome in me.
Of course this happened over a weekend so there was no one to help me. When I tried to get hold of the practice on the Monday and Tuesday, I was told they were fully booked, even though I clearly stated that it was an emergency. I spent the weekend listening to the prerecorded voice recording that was available on the NHS suicide prevention line. It is incredibly sad that although my of these 24 hour suicide lines say they are available 24/7, they just aren't. There are simply not enough resources, money or trained professionals to manage the case load and that leaves desperate people in horrible position. nd this is the case in so many countries.
Anyway. I was furious with the Doctor and went to see my original doctor in Sea Point who put me back on my original meds but on a higher dose, which is exactly what I requested in the 1st place.
I spend the next year an a half avoiding Dr Randal and only consulting with Dr Cara, but she went on maternity eave just as I needed a repeat script! They hired in a locum doctor who was awful to me on the phone. But I knew I'd eventually have to face Dr Randal to finally clear the air and boy was I nervous.
It all went really well, of course and I had overthought everything, as I do when I'm in panic spiral.
I think I also deserved my glorious chocolate dipped , sugar cone ice cream - with a Cadbury's flake too!
In a way, having Matthew with me was comforting, just like it was for him having me there. All in all we were brave and enjoyed every bite of our well earned prize!
