... a toenail growing out after a fungal infection (one of the things that looking back was an indicator of my diabetes).
I had that, at diagnosis, but it was caused by a pair of bad walking boots (wrong size) and appeared on both of my big toes after a long hike in the beautiful Hampshire countryside several years earlier.
For the following few years I ignored the issue apart from taking an antibiotic (prescribed by a podiatrist) to get rid of the original infection. It was rather ugly but not painful. On T2D diagnosis I read about the importance of annual foot checks and booked an appointment with a podiatrist.
He used clippers and various other tools to get rid of the excess nail matter, and prescribed an antifungal. He said that the problem is that the toenails grow, then get the fungus, then die, and then another toenail comes along, in a kind of conveyor belt. At least that is how it presented, with me.
It is an example of a "small thing" that I should have paid attention to, but did not. That of course has changed now that I have T2D and know about the importance of foot care.