Little did I know then, it would still not be up when I returned home from work later today.
I decided that I'd better shower and prepare to go in to the office today, just in case. I checked again after my shower, and drove into work.
Today I was allowed only "a liquid breakfast, lunch and dinner. For example: yogurt Jell-O, milk shake, Boost or Ensure. Any broth is okay, including chicken broth, beef bouillon, cream of mushroom, or noodle soup."
On the way into work, in the cafeteria downstairs, I bought some
For lunch, I again went to our cafeteria, and used the ladle in the Vegetable Soup pot to get only the broth from it.
At about 2:30, I drank a
On the way home, I mailed Rebecca's birthday card at the post office on Highway 54.
While driving, I thought about how I could get my 30 minutes of exercise in, and still start my "colonoscopy preparation" by 6:00 as the instructions required.
I devised a win/win plan, and executed it:
| Walk from house to shopping center at the corners of Gorman and Avent Ferry Road. | |
| Get strawberry milkshake at Hardee's and drink it while walking to the Family Dollar store to buy a measuring cup that shows ounces. | |
| Walk back home. |
At 6:00 PM, I mixed 1.5 oz. of chilled Fleet Phospho-Soda with 4 oz. water and drank it down in one swallow. It really wasn't that much, and I purposefully swallowed it all in one gulp in anticipation of the horrible taste intimated by the instructions: "You can make the solution taste better by adding artificially sweetened flavorings (Ginger ale, Apple juice, lemon/lime juice, Kool-Aid, white grape juice, or Crystal-Light, for example, but nothing red or purple.)"
It really didn't taste that bad at all, certainly not enough for all of the fuss in the instructions. It was a little salty, but not terribly bad.
I fixed me some cream of mushroom soup for dinner.
At just before 7:00, my stomach starting making noises like those water bubblers do when you drain a paper cup full of water out of them. Minutes later, the first of a long night of John in the john began.
My alarm went off at 7:30, just 30 short minutes later, and I took two Bisacodyl tablets, which are the equivalent of Correctol or Dulcolax tablets. Yippee!
At a little after 8:00, Robert arrived, and the dear, dear man had a bottle of maple syrup for me.
Now this is what I tried to explain to my last partner about being thoughtful. I told him once that he wasn't thoughtful, and his feelings were hurt.
I'd said, "You're a very kind, sweet, gentle man, and you'd do anything I ask, but you're not thoughtful. Because thoughtful means doing things for someone else -- something they want -- without having to be asked to. You think of it; that would be the thoughtful part."
This simple gesture on Robert's part is "quintessential thoughtful," and one of the things I dearly, dearly love about him.
He read yesterday, in my blog, that I'd gotten everything I needed at K-Mart except syrup. And what does he show up with today?
Now that's thoughtful.
Thank you, my sweet.
Robert and I did crossword puzzles, as much as I could participate. I had done some of the USA Today one before he'd arrived. We finished that one, and then worked on the one from The Independent, which was a major bitch.
I drank my required three glasses of water before turning the lights out around midnight. I took it upon myself to define three glasses of water as three EIGHT OUNCE glasses of water, the smallest possible.
I set my alarm for 3:30AM, my next required "dosage," but felt certain that I'd be up well before that to tend to whatever these three glasses of water would bring between now and then.
In fact, I woke up at about 3:15, and all I really had to do was pee. Excellent, if not TMI.
At 3:30, I mixed 1.5 oz. Fleet Phospho-Soda with 4 oz. water and drank it. I then had a "chaser" of one Bisacodyl -- another laxative tablet. I thought, "My god, if there is any shit left in me, well, I would just shit."
And I did, right up until I left for the appointment at 6:40 AM.
