There’s a worm at the bottom of???…:🐛🌹

I’m sitting on a train heading to ‘that there London’ (AGAIN!)* and I’m feeling rather queasy…. in fact it’s entirely possible I may lose my breakfast…. and it’s absolutely nothing to do with the hot chocolate with enormous whipped cream topping…. mainly consumed by Minx anyway. True story.

I’m not travel sick and NO, before any one asks, I’m definitely NOT pregnant! So what’s the reason behind the dodgy tum?

A phone call I’ve just taken from one of our lovely children’s community nurses (CCN’s).

Before I continue, I want to make it clear I can’t fault our fabulous community team in anyway. They are truly awesome & go above and beyond to support and assist, buoy me up & go into bat for us when necessary. But today….. after the obligatory hello’s and chatting, 3 very ominous little words came out of the CCN’s mouth:

“I’ve been thinking…..”

There are many, many ways these oh so innocent musings could be interpreted; For example, Mr DNTW’s will tell you that hearing me utter them strikes fear, dismay and unease, swiftly followed by him sighing and asking “what do you need me to do and how much is it going to cost?!” I am after all rather partial to a bit of DIY and a Pinterest protégée. 😊

Sometimes the brilliant ideas I have are a little bit far-fetched and carried away. Sometimes it might be said I’ve been a tad over-enthusiastic about both our capabilities and availability of resources but generally speaking, they turn out alright & even the ever-doubtful Mr D usually stands back surprised and pleased with the ultimate effect. Who knew I would so successfully convince him that ‘lagoon splash’ paint would look strikingly effective on the garden fence; so much so he is insistent that we do the new panels in the same shade? Anyway I digress.

So back to the vomit-y inducing words of the CCN this morning. Alas, she was not debating with me the intricacies of distressing furniture versus sponging it, nor musing the right colour of blinds for the bathroom window (things currently being mulled over by yours truly… 1st world problems and all that) No.

Apparently her week’s break away from work, exploring the delights of Scotland had induced a light bulb moment in regard to G Man’s frankly grim surgical site which still hasn’t healed post op from June. Further more, recent swabs (I’ll spare you the ins and outs) have shown G-Man has a really nasty staph infection in the site itself.

Staphylococcus bacteria live harmlessly on our skin most of the time but if they get in to cuts or bites, it can potentially lead to very serious, systemic infections.

It’s not something you want to under estimate; a seemingly healthy individual can deteriorate rapidly and the threshold for hospital based treatment and admittance to prevent sepsis is low.

He’s already been on a strong course of antibiotics but it’s not really showing much of an improvement and I strongly suspect that given we have just finished a course, after a few days off, we will be right back to square one.

We are already mindful that any raise in temperature, the smallest signs of being unwell or the operation site looking worse, means rapid access to our local children’s ward for proactive management. Frankly brilliant though our local hospital is, I’d rather stay away, thank you.

So I too was eager of ear to hear the CCN’s revelations, albeit I did remind her that time off from work is *supposed* to be a break and flattered as I am that my urchins were on her mind, she really needs to get out more!

Whilst ‘distressing’ the furniture might currently be occupying my mind, it’s fair to say that the words she uttered after the ubiquitous ‘I’ve been thinking’ were very distressing to yours truly: ‘what did I think about larvae therapy?’ 🤢

My first thought was that I tried very hard NOT to think very much about larvae at all really. I tittered on nervously on my very crowded train & asked hopefully if I had misunderstood her words and she actually meant ‘lava’ therapy or even ‘lather’ (better yet, lager therapy?!😉) but it was an empty, clutching at straws kind of a query.

I suppose it’s logical really. I remember in history covering this ‘delightful’ subject when we explored medicine through the ages. Even Casualty (the TV program not local A&E!) devoted part of an episode fairly recently to the magical, restorative properties of maggots thriving on poorly healing wounds. Gip. 🤮

And there’s no doubt that some of the more far-fetched/rumoured old wives tails do have their foundings in facts, even if the science side wasn’t necessarily quite understood back in the days of old.

In the more (allegedly) evolved and enlightened world we live in now, with the widespread and ever-growing concerns about antibiotic resistance and in combination with our fears of pollution, climate change & such like, it makes perfect sense to consider a more holistic, natural approach. I just wish it didn’t have to involve my family…

My stomach churned uneasily as she continued to extole the virtues of our mealy-mouthed little fiends friends. I squeaked a bit, giggled nervously & blew my cheeks out a lot. By this point, even though I was trying to be discreet, it seemed half the train carriage were eager to learn more about the source of my discomfort and I don’t think I was imaging the gimlet eyes of those around me boring in & edging closer as I listened, equal parts intrigued and revolted.

As the CCN warbled on, she attempted to persuade me that they are in fact the insect equivalent of being on the Debrett’s honours role. Allegedly their pedigree from back in the day boasts something to do with the making of Princess Diane’s wedding dress (I’m not ashamed to admit I did google trying to find the somewhat tenuous connection but I think that was a family of the Silk-worm variety) no less. Clearly my non- committal “uh-huh” demonstrated my ongoing ennui with the subject matter.

The CCN remained undaunted and in a bid to reassure me she wouldn’t be rocking up at the house with an old ice -cream tub full of wrigglies that she had collected from around the neighbourhood, she continued to outline that IF (& I have to stress, it really feels quite a bit IF…. I know, I know, I need to put my big girl pants on 🙄) we went down the larvae debridement route (posh hey?!) the larvae would be teeny, tiny little things encased in a perforated tea-bag like structure that she would apply to the skin…..for a week….. 😬. If this was supposed to make it more palatable, I can’t say it worked…. certainly don’t want to get one of these mixed up with the Earl-Grey & PG tips of a morning….would definitely count as a rude awakening!!

So I have been left with the task of doing some further research and seeing what I think before we proceed further. Ultimately I know I should be very grateful for anything that *hopefully* prevents the need for surgical management and I know that it’s quite an expensive ‘last hurrah’ so I guess it’s a case of Hobson’s choice really isn’t it?

All together now, I await your rousing chorus of “there’s a worm at the bottom of the garden and it’s name is Wiggly Woo, please!

* As usual it’s taken me a while to finish this post, rudely interrupted by hospital appointments as I was, so it’s now afternoon….& I’m still feeling icky!!