1 Thorn & 2 Doctors

Last week, a tiny bit of a thorn which came off a plant that Mother handled got into Mother's palm. It became lodged somewhere below her right thumb.



By the time she told me, it was already about 2 days after the incident. She showed me the spot and asked if I could help her get it out - she said she was not able to do it herself because her left hand is not 'nimble enough' for the job.

I took a look at it and decided that it would have been better to get professional help. The thorn looked quite faint and it would probably be difficult to get it out. Mother also mentioned that CP had suggested to get the doctor's help to take it out.

So I called the lady GP whom I usually consult. She asked if it had been long since the thorn got embedded and warned that sometimes it could be difficult to get it extracted if tissue had already 'grown around' it. Nevertheless, she said she would examine Mother and see if she could help. So I suggested to Mother to go there.

I advised Mother against going to the Blk 51 Quack whom she was thinking of going to, because in my view, that Quack is a commercial-interest-driven doctor. And he has very unhygienic practices! (Imagine my shock when I saw him use the used pre-injection alcohol swab to wipe off ink marks on his various fingers after giving me an injection, when I consulted him previously! Yucks!)

About one hour afterwards, Mother called me and scolded me for recommending the lady GP! She was yelling away at me over the phone that the lady GP was a lousy doctor and had done a lousy job! After much digging and digging at the palm till it bled, she had managed to get only part of the thorn out! And Mother had had to make 2 visits to the clinic that morning, hor!

Of course Mother had scolded the lady GP, who offered to refund her consultation fee of $18. Mother decided that she would not take the money immediately. She told the lady GP that she would go and consult another doctor the following day and if that other doctor could get the other part of the thorn out, Mother would return to claim her refund. Otherwise, she would let the lady GP keep the money.

The next morning, Mother went to see the Blk 51 Quack. After much more digging and the making of a slight incision and with the help of 2 other assistants, the Blk 51 Quack finally got the other part of the thorn out. Phew!

So Mother went to the lady GP and claimed her refund of $18.