WARNING: The following contains graphic content and could be considered gross if you do not find “potty humor” at least mildly amusing.
OK. I warned you.
The next time you sit down for a BM (that is a bowel movement for those of you whose mother’s were not a nurse and who may not have taught you that term and words like flatulence) consider this: this natural body function is a life saver. You don’t, you die. Of all our natural body functions it can not be taken for granted…but we often do.
When we were kids in India we used to travel all over North India by bus and train, often alone. We lived in an era and area where this was OK. Really it was. We had caste iron stomachs, could fend for ourselves, spoke the language, and had a blast. But one thing that mom sent with us was a small bottle of paragoric. If we got cholera or had bacillary real bad, we were to take that bottle. Paragoric is derived from, I believe, opium, and what it does is shut down the bowels–paralyses them. This prevents you from dehydrating and gives you time to get medical care.
When you have your ribs peeled back and have 2/3rds of one lung removed you are going to be in a bit of pain. And Cammie has had some pain. But what the hospital offers is some pain medication. One of the side effects of pain medication is that they tend to stop the bowels from functioning normally and you develop, sometimes (like last surgery) severe constipation. Or, as my Chinese friends would say, “hung chow” (get it?).
So then they have to give you medications to counteract the constipation. And sometimes that gets out of sync and you get diarrhea. Cammie has had both. And right now she has diarrhea. And today she had something of a miserable day.
So, the next time you, ah, “sit there”, would you consider going to the throne of Grace for Cammie to have normal bowel movements. Real, real basic and mundane. But real real important.
Bless you,
Steve
PS Hopefully, she will get out this weekend. But they want us down there in the Houston area for perhaps two more weeks. More on the why of that in my next missive.