The C Word

When it comes to medicine there's a lot of words that can make us cringe, cardiac catheterizing, colonoscopy, Picc line insertion... The list goes on.  I get to write about one of the big C words.  Yes, I'm going to mention constipation.  It's okay, you don't need to hide under your bed. No one is going to burst in saying, "I'm here to give you a pink lady." I found out the hard way that it has nothing to do with apples.

After my incident in the ER last year due to being full of crap (quite literally, there's an X-ray to prove it), I've been working really hard to avoid another encounter with the "pink lady." I have learned that exercise and lots of fluids help things run smoothly. Having a fiber rich diet. And Raspberries and Blackberries do a great job of cleaning you out when you're stopped up.  Plus they taste good on ice cream (adds calories).

Now with feeling sick and having no energy, I started getting that stopped up feeling.  It can get pretty bad.  For me, I get stomach cramps after one day of not being routine. So I can't let that feeling build up for more than a couple of days. And with me being back on IVs, I really want the rest of me working properly.

There are plenty of over-the-counter remedies. The best way to choose is have your doctor recommend one or two that you can use (don't mix them unless he okays it). In my case my doctor is fine with all the foods that can help clean you out.  He isn't a fan of most of the laxatives out there.  There is one he'll recommend so that's the one I use. It's tasteless, you mix it in liquid and drink it.  I just have to remember to really hydrate because that stuff pulls a lot of water into the intestines.  Don't want other organs suffering from lack of water.

Of course the next day I get pretty cleaned out.  It's not a fun process, but it is much better than going to the hospital for a clean out. As for me, I've gotten my clean out at home.  I'll probably be eating Craisin Bran for the rest of my IV treatment, just to be safe.