Listen to Nurses

I wear cowboy boots to work. 12 hours a day. Three or four shifts a week. No, they don’t hurt my feet; they actually feel great! But, my socks don’t come up high enough, and the top of the boots rub on my calves.

Photo by Will Porada on Unsplash

I’ve been wearing boots to work for years, and I’ve never had a problem. Until about a year ago. My calves started getting irritated with red bumps. They were itchy. I tried pulling my socks up higher, but they’d fall throughout the day. The irritation was annoying, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. I didn’t pay much attention to it, honestly.

My fiancée, Monique, noticed me scratching it. She’s not a hypochondriac or anything, but she’s the type of person who thinks she’s finally caught COVID every time she has a cough. She told me it looked like I had an infection or ringworm or something. RINGWORM. 🤣🤣🤣 It seriously was just an irritation from my boot. A few small red bumps.

After about eight months, the irritation had gotten slowly worse. At Monique’s insistance, I asked an ER doctor I trusted about it. She said she didn’t know what it was but to just…put some lotion on it…or see a dermatologist or something. I was reassured that it wasn’t anything bad and probably not contagious, as Monique didn’t get it. But it wasn’t an actual diagnosis, either.

I asked another ER doc I trust. He said, “uh, I don’t know…remember the old adage ‘if it is wet, dry it; if it is dry, wet it.’ Put some cortisone cream on it and see what happens.” Not a diagnosis, but a confirmation of the first doctor’s opinion.

After three weeks of cortisone cream, it wasn’t any better. Monique chimed in and echoed her original diagnosis. She reminded me how often she’d worked in the clinic part of the hospital (Fast Track). Ringworm, she said. We did a quick search and found that ringworm cream is available over the counter (it’s the same as athlete’s foot medication). I told her I’d try it just to prove her wrong.

Well, guess who’s boot rash is almost gone because of the ringworm cream? 😬

Doctors are essential. They know a lot. And so do nurses.

The point is: listen to your fiancée. Even more so if she’s a nurse, too.

Oh, and listen to your mom, too. She just told me that “fiancé” is for a man, while “fiancée” refers to a woman. Oops, I’ve been calling her a man for a while, now. 🤣

David I. Mancini is a Registered Nurse and a Licensed Paramedic. He’s a tech enthusiast, world traveler, and an eclectic eater. https://davidmancini.xyz