Hope springs eternal

Not a good day, and a good day, and not a good day, so far. Pretty much SOP for the MS Highway.

I have definitely made not just peace with, but friends with, Alan (the bladder). Alas, I'm having bowel problems this week, and I haven't yet come up with a good image of, mentally or graphically, whatever entity it is that is both causing and relieving my problems. This is all I got, for now... The "guy" on the right, of course... He seems to have the appropriate attitude about "cooperating" with what will make things better for everyone. Especially me.

I was driven to magnesium citrate as my only option, because whatever issues there are, are far upstream of the gentler, more "mechanical" treatments. Lemon-lime flavor, because it doesn't have any funny-chemical colors.

However, besides magnesium and citrate, it's definitely full of really yucky stuff. Saccharine, for example, which I avoid assiduously. Most of the time.

This is a popular choice for people needing to "clean everything out," for example when doing intestinal scoping and such. I gotta warn you, drink a whole 10 oz bottle at once and get ready to call out "Man the pumps!" when It happens.

I did that once, drink an entire bottle at once. Never again. This time, I took about 18 hours to "split" my way through the bottle. It seems to be working, sort of, but without calling on Hindenburg-esque explosions.

I haven't made my peace with that part of the elimination system, yet. When I get a good image and a name, maybe things will get better. Starting to talk about, and to, B-san as "Alan" has actually made all sorts of things better. Yeah, he still spazzes and leaks, but cathing is becoming downright easy and pleasurable. Ah, if all I needed was a name, I'd have done that long ago. But it's hard to personify, say, your transverse colon instead of your sigmoid or descending colon. At least with Alan, I know where the problems--and solutions and workarounds--are.

Magnesium citrate ("mag cit", pronounced "mag sit," as my MD calls it) relies upon water, getting it into the colon to lubricate things from the inside, as it were. From what I read on the web, and friends, I gotta tell you there is no lack of NON-expert opinion about this stuff, like I need that, drink a ton of water to assist the mag cit; which, by the way, is confirmed by my MD as a good way of helping "things move along" with or without magnesium. Great. Well, I'll be keeping Alan busy and happy, and happy bladder is happy me. Well, it does keep me... busy. Like I need that, he keeps me busy all the time anyway.

Beautiful spring day outside; hummingbirds are totally into the geraniums. And tomorrow... with luck, the 15-plus-year-old washing machine which died monumentally and spectacularly a few days ago, will be replaced by a new one. Wife Karen took an audition this morning, at which I know she was thoroughly excellent whether they choose her or not.

And with even more luck, the mag cit will work, with a little help from wild pu-erh and other oriental herbs, and I won't have to have more of that nasty mag cit stuff.

And with even even more luck, tomorrow, I might even write some music.

Hope springs eternal.