Dr. Gott:: Tell cherry-loving sister to spit out the pits

Dear Dr. Gott: I enjoy your column very much. I have a question that I haven’t seen before in your column. My sister, who lives in the Midwest, eats cherries with the pits in them. She eats about 10 pounds of them during the summer months. She said that it is too much of a bother to take the pit out of each one. Her doctor doesn’t see any harm in it. Besides the potential for choking, could it harm her body? She is in her mid-40s and has been doing this for years. She agrees to abide by your decision.

Dear Reader: Cherry stones are indigestible. Except for the risk of possible intestinal blockages, they are probably safe to consume. Nonetheless, I would advise your sister to spit out the pits.

Dear Dr. Gott: I have one more footnote to add about the use of Vicks VapoRub. I use Vicks for fungus on my toenails, jock itch, insect bites, small cuts, insect repellant (yes, it works for me), etc. But for more than 20 years, I had a large wart on the end of my right index finger. It was about the size of three or four match heads placed side by side. I am right-handed, and the wart was in my way for practically everything I did. It would bleed, crack open, throb and more. Over the years, I spent over $2,000 trying to get rid of it. Surgeons performed operations four times trying to cut it off, and it was biopsied for cancer. (It was never malignant.) Dermatologists tried to freeze it off 12 or 14 times. Nothing worked. In March 2006, the wart was so large it cracked open, bled and hurt so much I had trouble sleeping. After a few nights of this, I had had enough and put Vicks on it just to try and relieve the pain. It worked, so I continued to put it on eight to 10 times a day. The wart started to shrink, and within two months it was completely gone and has stayed gone for 14 months. Vicks cured in two months what doctors couldn’t in 20 years. My dermatologist just shook her head in amazement.

Dear Reader: Your experience is, to say the least, astonishing. I am publishing your letter as a public service for patients with warts.