Noun: a horny covering on the upper surface of the tip of the finger and toe in humans and other primates.

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I’ve always had very tough nails.  Horses hooves my mum used to lovingly call them.  But one of the delightful effects of chemo is that your nails may make it look like you have either been cleaning chimneys or you have a nasty fungal infection.

 

I had suffered from neuropathy from about half-way into my chemo, but my finger and toenails managed to remain in situ.  Then, just as I thought I’d gotten away with it, after the end of chemo I started to notice black spots under my nails on my fingers and toes.  This got progressively worse until it looked like someone had been smashing my extremities with a hammer.

 

Both my fingers and toes were still numb, so it wasn’t painful, just very unsightly.  I do know of people who’ve lost their finger and toenails, some permanently.  So, I guess I am grateful that all I had was the inconvenience of having to paint mine to cover up the mould.

 

My fingernails took around 6 months to grow out, and I still has black spots on my toenails over 2 years later.  Or, maybe I just had dirty feet??