8 August 2024
It is time to bring out the big guns for my constipation. Eight days and all I’ve managed is a tiny little fecal pellet aka turd. Joel encouraged me to eat prunes and Judith encouraged me to drink prune juice. I decided to go with both. It may get messy at 2451 SW 16 St.
I’ve always enjoyed dried prunes as a snack. If this doesn’t work things will get drastic and use mother’s treatment – an enema.
I had a 2:15 pm follow up with my primary care physician and he removed my staples and reinforced that he thinks my problem was dehydration from diarrhea. He doesn’t think my echocardiogram had anything to do with it.
In reviewing the notes of my hospital stay, I find the echocardiogram was not 50-55% ejection fraction but 40-45% which is not much of an improvement from the low of 40%.
I had a whole list of names of consults for my hospital stay. Everyone wrote somethings that never occurred. I think they have the system down pat and simply cut and paste their responses. Out of all the doctors I saw, I think the best was the emergency room doctor. He plotted out my stay with a CT scan and X-rays which found the compressed Thoracic 12 vertebra. He took me seriously and listened when I presented to the ER.
I now have prune juice, orange juice, peach juice and Gatorade to keep me hydrated. I’ve stopped the blood pressure medicine and will only go back on it if my systolic pressure is consistently 140 or above. It’s sone less pill to take!
My back is a little better and I admit this piece of armor is helping, albeit uncomfortable. You sweat in it and the center piece rides up and hits your throat. The discharge notes only specify for a couple of weeks.
I’m sleeping like crazy. Perhaps to make up for such little sleep in the hospital. I’m not complaining about the sleeping. I think it’s good for me.
Stay tuned for the big blowout!