Warts in the New Year!

I finally made it back to Hanoi, and though this trip to Nha Trang and Saigon was as good as a two week trip can get (in-country), I am glad to be back.  Mostly because I felt I was losing all of the progress in my physical fitness program I had made just before departing.

Before I left on the trip I had been battling this huge plantar wart on the end of my second toe on the left foot.  I ordered some bandages from Drugstore.com before I left that had an acid that would gradually eat the wart away while I slept (at least that was the promise the company made).  The thing is, the bandages didn't arrive before I left and this thing was so viral, it would grow back in a matter of a day or two after I cut away the affected skin.  It was a losing battle and I could feel the root going deeper.  I had a wart on my toe before when I was a kid, but that thing was like a pet compared to this monster I am currently hosting and it eventually went away on its own after I picked at it enough.

I was desparate for something to hold it off until I got back home and I started looking for home remedies.  After a little research it appeared I had two choices: 1) apple vinegar and 2) garlic.  I opted for the garlic because it was much easier to get. Remarkably, after two weeks of intermittent applications (no accounting for drunken applications in poorly lit hotel rooms), it has reduced in size noteably and the pain has subsided greatly (not counting the tenderness caused by the garlic itself).

My bandages arrived while I was gone and I have them here at the apartment now, but I think I will try to finish out the garlic to see if it will totally get rid of it; especially now that I am more able to attend to the area. I feel positive that the garlic will win out in the end, but I do have to admit I am a little sick of the smell of garlic now.

On another note, I have been neglecting all electronic messages and correspondence while I was away.  Megan had too much control over the computer and I just didn't feel like squinting over the netbook anyway.  I will try to catch up, but I am sure I will have some missed responses.

It is unfortunate that we have our office email on the phone. Even if I have no intention of answering any but the most important emails, I still see them all go into the queue and I hate that.  The burden of technology!