It was a quiet weekend, as most weekends are. We stayed home and just relaxed.
First thing on Monday was a CT scan. I get these in Stratford every two months in order to spot any melanomas in or on my body. I am still taking these heavy-duty cancer pills – BRAF and METK, morning and night, on an empty stomach. With a CT scan you are not allowed anything to eat or drink other that clear liquid. That means only water.
My wife drove me to the Stratford hospital for my 11:30 a.m. appointment. I only drive in Seaforth now due to dementia. At the hospital I checked in, changed into the appropriate clothing for the scan, and went out to the waiting room. There the nurse gave me a two-litre jug of something liquid to down in the next half hour. Then another nurse came along to put an IV into my left arm.
Time passed slowly, but at noon I was taken into the CT scan room. The scanner is a long bed that I lie on my back. At the head is the actual scanner that takes the pictures. I had a full-body scan on Monday. First is my abdomen, my lower body, this takes about two minutes. Next is the chest, upper body. For this scan they hook you up to the IV for injection of a fluid that gave me a warm feeling inside. Again, another two minutes. The last scan is a head scan that takes about one-minute. The total scan took about 15 minutes.
Then I got up from the scanning bed, and went into the changing booth to put on my clothes. Next, I am told to wait for 15 minutes and the nurse takes out the IV. About two hours from entering the hospital to leaving.
My wife was there to pick me up with a muffin and a small coffee. My first food of the day.
So far a normal day. We stopped in Mitchell (20 minutes from home) where I got a Tim’s breakfast wrap and a coffee. About five minutes before home I finished my wrap and started to feel a little queasy. Nothing abnormal. I regularly have an upset stomach mostly due to eating too much or the wrong stuff.
We rounded the corner to our house and pulled into the garage when my mind said to me, “Hurry up, hurry up!” Then I said to Leah, “Please hurry” and she did. When the car stopped, I ran for the door and headed to the bathroom. As I got near the toilet, I started to pull down my pants… but I was too late.
I’ll let your imagination fill in the rest of the story.
This was the first time I’ve experienced an explosion like this, and I found it quite funny. Leah, on the other hand, didn’t find this funny at all.
Bathroom humour isn’t for everyone.
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Bob Murray is retired from the graphic communication (printing) industry and has been living in Seaforth since 2015. Murray was diagnosed with Dementia in 2013 and works hard to stop the progress of the disease. Follow him on his blog entitled Voyage with Dementia – https://myvoyage553264702.wordpress.com.
