The conventional wisdom in content is to niche down. I don’t have a niche, but I gravitate toward stories I find interesting and strange in the world of medicine and science. I also have cognitive issues and learning disabilities, and I write about those as well.
I have a weird sense of humor, and this story is right up my alley. There’s a medical procedure called, “Fecal microbiota transplantation.” It’s a valid medical procedure that has benefits when performed by a doctor, and hilarity ensues when people try to do it themselves.
Don’t DIY It: Leave the Poop Swapping to the Professionals with Fecal Microbiota Transplantation!
Please don’t do it, because it’s gross
It’s a medical procedure, not something you can do at home with a turkey baster
I don’t get it myself. The fecal transplantation is a medical procedure. It’s used to treat recurring infections with c.diff. A harmful bacteria that can grow in the colon after antibiotic treatment.
It has to be prepared in a lab first before it’s introduced into a patient
The poop isn’t transferred to the patient from the donor. Not without preparation because that would be gross. For some reason, people don’t think things through. As I said before, I have never been that desperate.
Some people in pain and discomfort read about FMT. They decide they want to do the treatments themselves. In the hospital, the doctor will use medically treated feces. It’s doubtful that the people thought of that.
I bet they didn’t see that coming
Some of her symptoms improved. She got her brother’s acne and she developed depression like her boyfriend. In another case, a man in his mid-thirties with Crohn’s disease did DIY poop transplants.
He used his mother as a donor for years. The transplants appeared to ease his gut symptoms. He experienced his mother’s menopause symptoms. He had hot flashes, sweating, and mood swings. That had to suck.
I can’t imagine anything worse than chronic pain that has gone on and on for years. There are reasons for patients who have battled Crohn’s disease for years. Reasons they would get desperate enough to insert another person’s poop into their bodies. But there are some things you should think through before you try them.
Final Thought:
We all have had friends and loved ones who endured debilitating pain.
Don’t try to play doctor. Desperation causes people to do things without thinking them through. Talk to your Doctors and listen to what they have to say and don’t put someone’s poop up your butt because that’s gross.
Diabetes is a serious disease, that needs to be taken seriously. My wife is Type 2 Diabetic, and she didn’t take it seriously, now she’s a sick woman. She has good days and bad days, but it didn’t have to be that way.
Diabetes & Gastroparesis: A Double Whammy for Your Digestion (Symptoms Included)
You don’t need either disease, trust me on this
You’re lying on the sofa. You have a bloated and distended stomach. You’re uncomfortable and in pain from constipation. You have no appetite, but you know you need to eat, you try to eat the soup your husband warmed up for you. You eat a spoonful and vomit it into the bucket next to you on the floor.
Knowing what to do, but not doing it will lead to a trip to the hospital
You’re depressed and all you want to do is sleep, but your concerned husband keeps waking you up. It won’t be long before he calls 911 again. The frustrating thing for your husband is that you could have prevented it.
And that’s how the past three or four days have been for me. I’m at my wit’s end. I’m feeling powerless, so I’m writing to clear my head and share information that will help people.
Two competing diseases warring in your body
My wife has no appetite, but she tries to eat because she doesn’t want her sugar to drop. When the gastroparesis is bad she vomits chunks by the bucket-full. I’m running back and forth from the bathroom. I’m dumping and cleaning a bucket of foul-smelling vomit.
It’s hard to watch someone go through it
My wife needs to control her glucose level, to do that she needs to eat properly. Small meals throughout the day are best. The past few days she hasn’t eaten enough. She doesn’t confide in me like she should so she gets depressed and sleeps a lot.
When I wake her, a lot of times she won’t eat
She sleeps too much and doesn’t eat and drink like she should. I try to wake her and she doesn’t want to wake up. And when she eats and blows chunks.
She sleeps too much and doesn’t eat or drink enough. When I wake her to see if she’s okay she will ask for food and hardly touch it. Bottles of water will be untouched on the table by the sofa.
The symptoms can be controlled up to a point, but she has to try
Gastroparesis and Diabetes are serious conditions, but the diabetic can control the symptoms. She can do that by eating and drinking the way she should. She’s not doing that, and it’s killing me.
Before she went to the hospital Saturday night she yelled for me constantly. I would wake up from a dead sleep to heat some food for her or help her get to the bathroom.
Heat the soup and watch it get cold because she wouldn’t eat it
I would sit with her to make sure she was comfortable. She would go back to sleep. I would go back to bed only to have to get up a few minutes later. We would go back to sleep sometimes for an hour or more, but she still would call for me to help her with something.
I had to get on her about trying to go to the bathroom by herself. She tried to and woke me up screaming because she fell and hit the floor. Thank God she didn’t hit her head.
As I write this she’s still in the hospital
She’s still in the hospital. I should be getting some rest, but I’m having trouble sleeping. I have been awake since two or three this morning. I’m worried about my wife but I don’t know what else I can do to help her. It depends on her.
I can’t heal her depression and lack of interest in taking care of herself. She doesn’t listen to me when she’s feeling good and she sure as Hell doesn’t listen to me when she’s sick.
She will go weeks and months doing the right thing and then the cycle of 911 calls will start again. I love my wife and I take my vows seriously. I will be here for her regardless, but I wish I knew what else I could do to help her.
Final Thought:
Gastroparesis happens as a result of mismanaged diabetes. The symptoms are all-consuming and painful to go through. The symptoms are painful for the spouse and loved ones to witness.
Gastroparesis is preventable. You don’t have to lie there in pain and discomfort. Eat the way you’re supposed to. Drink plenty of water because you don’t want to go through what my wife is going through.
You also don’t want to put your spouse through what I’m going through now. It’s hard to look after my health because I’m so concerned for my wife. It’s a lose-lose situation, but I don’t know what to do about it.
Do the right thing, for yourself and your spouse.
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When I was homeless in Minneapolis Minnesota, I had State Insurance and was under doctor’s care. I underwent Neuro-psychological testing and found out things I didn’t know about myself. I knew about Learning Disabilities, but I didn’t know why I had trouble in other areas, in Minneapolis I found answers.
The Correlation between Agenesis and Avoidant Personality Disorder: An Investigative Analysis
It’s a logical assumption
When I was homeless in Minneapolis, I had State Insurance, and I was under a Doctor’s care. I was also seeing a psychotherapist. The psychotherapist recommended I get neuropsychological testing.
I sent the report to the Advocate who was helping me apply for Disability
I took photos of the report from the doctor. I sent the report to Social Security with my Disability Application. Social Security approved my request a few months later.
It wasn’t the first time psychiatrists and psychologists have tested me. I have been in several programs in as many States. My parents encouraged me to do it in a misguided attempt to help me succeed in life.
A surprise for me, but not for my family
Twenty years earlier, I was in a rehabilitation program in Florida. The pre-screening involved visits to a psychiatrist’s office and a psychologist. They diagnosed “Avoidant Personality Disorder.”
It always bothered me that I had difficulty being outgoing and social. I never understood why I was awkward around girls and never had close friends. When I told my family about the report, my brother said, “ No Shit.”
It looks to me that one leads to the other, but I could be wrong
I thought of that report after I read the Neuro-psych report twenty years later. The report said I had agenesis of the corpus callosum. Cognitive Impairment can be one of the varied symptoms of ACC.
I was big for my age, and I was a clumsy oaf. I was also teased and bullied for being “slow.” Looking back and thinking about it. I learned to distrust people, and I never knew how to make friends.
I’m not aloof or snobbish, I’m terrified
Things were better in middle and high school, but I never could let anyone get too close. I’m a little better now. I’m sixty-four, and I’m married. It’s surprising because I started dating late in life.
I read that ACC is a chronic disorder, and I know that to be true. I felt bad about my inability to get close to people. As I get older I don’t care as much.
I’m better at getting over the fear, but I’m not as outgoing as I want to be
I have learned late in life that I can write my own story. I’m more likely to say hello and start a conversation in a coffee shop or while waiting in line somewhere.
In my teens and twenties, I would have died first. I have conversations with people all the time. I even enjoy the company of other people sometimes. It hasn’t been easy to break out, but I’m, getting there.
I’ve had a lot of “AH HAH” moments as I’ve read the report
Since I found the Psych report, I have been searching the web for information about the agenesis of the callosum. my research explained a lot about the cognitive and personality problems I have.
Despite my issues. I have come a long way. The Doctors told my parents when I was an infant that the prognosis for a happy life was grim. They said that I would be institutionalized.
I have avoided long-term care so far
The Psych report when I was in my fifties stated that I should be in a long-term care facility. I’m married and I live in an apartment. The point is I fought through it.
You don’t have to lie down and quit or die. I didn’t when I learned what I learned about myself. You can follow my lead. Keep trying and learning. Challenge yourself and push the envelope.
I could hold a job after all
For someone who wouldn’t amount to anything I was employed for twenty years. I owned a home once. I’m married and pay rent and bills in an apartment.
Final Thought:
We all have struggles. Never quit. Keep living and trying and failing. You will find success and it will be sweeter because you worked harder for it. I still get down on myself at times, but I don’t wallow in it.
Never quit, keep on trucking until you get to where you want to be then set a higher goal. I’m glad I never quit.
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The Intriguing Consequences of a Lack of Communication Between the Two Hemispheres of the Brain
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Invitation to writers: How to become a writer for the Health and Science publication on Medium.com
I am an editor of the Health and Science publication owned by Dr Michael Broadly, a retired health scientist and healthcare consultant. You are welcome to join this publication to publish your relevant articles. Here is the link submission guidelines. Dr Broadly also shares the distilled versions of stories from the publication on Substack via his newsletter Health Science Research By Dr Mike Broadly. Writer inquiries for all ILLUMINATION publications are via this portal. Please send your Medium ID.
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