Crash

Sometimes I am too smart for my own good. Like this weekend past, I realized that I can eat lettuce and some raw veggies when they are part of a sub. I think perhaps I am getting better about tolerating the fiber of raw veggies, so I try an experiment. I eat a very small salad from one of those pre-packaged bags. Seemed to be fine!

So the next day, I cut a very tiny slice of lettuce from a fresh green head. It was just a baby slice, really. I swaddled it in my hand and ran water over it to wash any contaminants. Then I placed it on a saucer with a dab of dressing - a smidge really. Oooooo! It tasted soooo good. Like a breath of fresh air to someone who has been cooped up indoors for eons. I wanted more, but I resisted. I have had very bad experiences with trying to digest raw veggies. I know better than to push the envelope too far.

Or do I? Today it began, the cramping and pain, the distress. I know immediately that I have a blockage, that the lettuce is hung up somewhere high in my intestinal tract, that there will be hell to pay for my bold experiment. I do the usual. Walk around. Drink hot fluids. Massage the area where the pain is. Yup. It's getting worse. Breathing is labored. Pain is intense. This will not be a walk in the park.

I know the alternatives. Hospitalization is simply not an option I care to pursue. I must get this darn block to clear. I head home a bit early to cuddle a hot water bottle. Finally, things start moving. This is not fun. I am glad I am home alone so that the bathroom is mine undisturbed for long stretches at a moment's notice. Like every ten minutes. Sigh.

It takes half the night for the pain to move from high up to mid stomach. At least it is moving. And since I am resting a lot, I don't feel quite as wrung out. Mostly I sit in the blue recliner, buried in warm blankets and doze. I have no uumph for anything more. After I walk the dog, I am definitely aware that I am weak and energyless. Lord, let this pass. Please. I promise not to experiment again.