The foot doctor

At my first nursing home, when the foot doctor came, I was told I had to get on my bed. They took my shoes and socks off, put a towel under my feet, covered me, and I waited until the foot doctor came by and either cut or checked my toenails. I hated this practice. I'm not diabetic and I did not think I needed to have a podiatrist cut my toenails. I thought a nurse or an aide could do it.

I talked to the nursing home management and they agreed. So for years I did not have to go to the foot doctor.

When I came to this nursing home, I was told to go to the foot doctor. But here he does not come to my room. I have to go to where he is seeing patients and wait outside. Sometimes there are 20 residents waiting there for him. To me, I think it would be better if he came to the rooms. That way the mess would be contained, and a common area would not be soiled .

I usually only saw the foot doctor when my toenails needed shortened. Some aides shortened them with my small, battery-operated, nail drill, or an emery board. To me using an emery board is safer than using clippers. But if the aides did not get to it, sometimes I could get in to see the foot doctor. However, I would rather have the aides shorten them.

Earlier this year I started to get a lot of pushback about any of the aides shortening them with an emery board. Maybe they thought the aides were spending too much time with me doing toenails.

Since then, a nurse has been cutting my toenails once a month. That is she was, until the beginning of February. The day she was to cut them, the podiatrist showed up. Then, she said I should have him do it. I had already asked and the aide in charge told me I was not on the list. So I went back to my room and worked on my PC.

I headed towards the room where the psychiatrist was. I somehow thought going there would not turn out well. I'm not always able to get on the list after the foot doctor arrives. When I got to the front lobby, the last four people were waiting. I was at the end of the line. When I got up to the doorway, the foot doctor said it was 3 PM, and he was finished.

When the aide heard the podiatrist, she went into the nurse manager's office. The nurse manager came out and said, "You will cut her toenails. We have a contract." Then she walked away and I wondered how the foot doctor felt about being challenged within earshot of his last patient.

I went and offered a sort of apology for causing him to stay longer. Even though, he seemed to shake it off, the situation was uncomfortable.

Then, he took his clippers and gave my toenails a cursory shortening. Since I had not seen this foot doctor before, I asked if he could smooth the sharp edges with a drill. He said he had no drill, and picked up a well-worn, thicker cardboard file. As he moved it towards my toes, I cringed. Afterwards, I said, "Is that all you're going to cut them?" He told me that was as short as they should be. I wondered why he could not just make them a bit shorter, which is the length I like.

When I asked how often he visits, he told me every nine weeks. I said I had never let my toenails grow for nine weeks. He said, "Well, you will if I'm cutting them. If I do them sooner than that, Medicaid will not pay and you will have to."

He's right I will not be having him shorten them sooner. I do not want to have to pay for that service. If I am not able to get an aide or nurse to shorten my toenails, then I may HAVE to wait.

To me, it's amazing how choices are taken away willy-nilly after moving to a nursing home. I just think I should have some choice in it. I cannot just shorten my own toenails. I have to ask someone to do it. Being told when it will happen makes me feel like an Army grunt who has no choice but to follow orders.

I have no idea how long my toenails will grow in nine weeks. But, they will probably be an exotic length, long enough for sandals or flip-flops. That's way too long when you wear sensible shoes like mine.