As a young teen, I had to have surgery on both of my big toes. I’d had multiple ingrown nail infections and the doctor was going to perform a procedure to help my toes heal and hopefully not have repeats of the issue.

I felt terrible when it came time to have the procedure done in the doctor’s office. Turns out I had the flu — or something like that — so I had to be admitted to the hospital to get that dealt with as quickly as possible. Time was of the essence because the doctor was concerned I’d get blood poisoning from the infections in my toes.

I’m deathly allergic to penicillin, so they pumped my veins full of Keflex — which I am now also allergic to, albeit not in a life-threatening way, but that’s another story that no one cares about — and I felt just fine, thank you, for about a day … or several years, not sure.

When the more immediate problem of the influenza had been dealt with, the doctor could then focus on the serious infections.

Side note: Did you know that local anesthetic can sometimes wear off sooner than expected? Yeah.

Once the surgery was complete, I was bandaged up and given other meds and sent home to recuperate. Healing takes time and isn’t pain-free.

Many people today are taking to the platforms available to them to speak out in words and actions about how they feel on multiple issues. We are a country built in principle on the freedom to speak our minds, especially when it’s unpopular to do so. Dissenting views are accepted, even encouraged, ideally.

But only speaking out doesn’t solve the problem. It’s like a doctor telling you about your infections and illness. Solutions still have to be offered and action taken, sometimes swiftly because time is of the essence.

As a society, we still need step-by-step plans to solve our problems. Speaking out is the first step, because it means we’ve acknowledged the problem exists, and it demonstrates that we care.

But let’s not forget — healing takes time … and it isn’t pain-free.

News editor Brett Campbell can be reached at brett.campbell@dailyleader.com.