Ecolab station – foto Smith
My wife refuses to feed me today, or most of tomorrow. How Cruella de Vil-ish of her, especially when I had to stand by hungry and unfed and watch while she made 4 sandwiches for this morning’s Occupy Cleveland info tent folk.
I can’t eat for another 20 hours, on top of the 14 hours since last eating thanks to my first ever colonoscopy tomorrow. I can drink clear liquids or eat non-red-non-blue Jell-O
What’s going to be worse is at 5 p.m. I have to start drinking this horrendous gag-inducing colyte mixture every 20 minutes which will keep me on or near the toilet the rest of the evening and all night long . . . until I’m defecating nothing but clear water.
It is going to be one long day and a half.
Reminds me of getting dysentery in Marrakech and spending 30-some hours spewing from both ends . . . Lady had the same experience doubled down in Mexico. Dysentery is a great rapid weight loss program, but with one heck of a physical and mental price tag.
I used to fast 3-5 days couple times a year, but it’s been 10 years since I’ve participated. I’ve been thinking of doing it for awhile now to chase some of the brooding self-whining thoughts from my head and getting back in the Universal flow, but I’ve hesitated because I’m down to 172 and I’d lose at least 10 pounds which would put me below my 17 year old weight of 49 years ago. Not sure a six foot three inch guy should weigh 160 . . . maybe I can enter a William Burroughs look-alike contest and growl some nasty prose.
I’m thinking of turning this from a negative to a positive experience — you know, the old bromide about taking brown waste water and making lemonade. Figure I’ll use it as a mental, spiritual, physical cleansing to get myself back to a higher plane. I mean, it’s got to be done, so I may as well turn it to my advantage, like a double coupon day where I get two benefits for the misery of one.
The odd thing about fasting for me is the first day and a half are miserable brain and stomach-wise cuz all you think about is food – but after around 36 hours the hunger dissipates and your body feels light, high, while your mind seems happier, less clogged . . . in fact you feel so good you think about never eating again. But eventually you do and inevitably I always eat too much and feel slow and hot and dense and stupid as food reenters my body process.
Weighed myself this morning. Will weigh again tomorrow before I go in and see just what percentage of waste I am.
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Nulvoid 1
You can eat your cake and have it too
You just got to save your shit
— Smith, 1975
Cocoa, milk, sugar – foto Smith
Oh no, it’s not the sadistically named “Go Lytely” drink, is it? The prep was worse than the procedure for me. But my doc told me that there was a new way to prep involving just Gatorade and Miralax, which would be MUCH kinder to your body. You might want to call your doctor and see if this is an option for you
My first colonoscopy was about 15 months ago and they removed a rare tumor. Had the follow up sigmoidoscopy yesterday and was very relieved that the tumor had not grown back. I’m so glad I had the first colonoscopy when I did.
I ended up doing both procedures “natural,” no meds at all. One of the drugs they usually give is an amnesiac drug and I wanted no part of that. Yeah, it was unpleasant and definitely painful in parts, but I got to watch the whole trip up my colon live on the TV screen, which was strangely fascinating, and I got to joke around with the docs and nurses. You’d be surprised at how many ass-related jokes you can come up with when you’re in this position. Plus with no meds the whole thing goes quicker. You can get up and walk out the door 20 minutes later. Of course, YMMV.
Either way, good luck, have fun, and good for you for taking care of yourself!