Painless?!?

For the last few years I've had a plantar wart. Ewww, gross (how dare someone admit that on a public blog). I've tried all the over the counter remedies and they just pissed the wart off, so it fought back and got bigger, not to mention the fact that they painful as all get out. I tried putting fresh garlic on it. I even tried the duct tape remedy. All duct tape did was to make my big toe look really funny and keep the wart from splitting and being painful. It did not make the wart better.

I finally decided it was time to do something about my wart. I'm sick of finding excuses not to have a girls' day at the spa complete with pedicures. I hate walking around with a big silver toe or choosing closed toe shoes over sandals. So, armed with good insurance, I made an appointment with a local dermatologist.

The dermatologist was took a look at the wart and decided that because of the size and location, I probably didn't want to freeze, cut, or burn it off. Rather we would take it off chemically. I was all sorts of excited for the chemical solution. I had expected to have a huge blister and pain and no shoes for a week, but, as the doctor explained, the chemical removal is PAINLESS. I'm a huge fan of painless and love to disprove the "no pain, no gain" theory. The doctor wrote a prescription for me and I almost skipped (pain free) from his office. What a wonderful day--I could get rid of a wart and suffer no painful side effects. Or so I thought.

My euphoria over the pain free removal lasted as long as it took to get to the Target pharmacy. I gave the pharmacist my prescription and did a little shopping while they filled it. As I was shopping I began to look at the sandals and think how wonderful it will be once I get to wear them wart and pain free. Aaahh, the daydreams.

My daydreams were interrupted when I went to pick up the prescription. The girl that gave it to me said something to the effect of "humm, this prescription is normally five ninety six, but with your insurance it's only one thirty seven." Great! I love insurance that pays for most of a prescription and I only have to pay $1.37 for it. HA was I wrong. The girl behind the counter scanned in the prescription and lo and behold $137.00 shone in bright green numbers.

Standing there in the check out line, I had a mini heart attack. All my dreams of open toed shoes and pedicures almost shattered. For $137.00 I could almost wear duct tape for the rest of my life. But no--maybe I'm too vain. Or maybe I'm too stubborn to say "never mind" I don't need that prescription. Or maybe for a second, I just didn't care about the cost. I numbly handed over my debit card and paid $137.00 for 24 little packets of Aldara.

My drive home was riddled with questions. Should I take it back? Should I tell the doctor to just burn it off and be done with it? Should I succumb to a life time of duct tape and/or garlic? No, I decided I'd use the prescription and hope it worked quickly enough that I didn't need a refill. I also learned a lesson. Something may not require physical pain, but it can be far from painless.