See, since the early part of 2014, I've so far had three "visits" involving a certain "procedure", for which one has to do something referred to as "prep".
Any of you who have had this lovely experience will know exactly what I'm talking about. It's something everyone should start doing after about the half century mark, but of course, I procrastinated just a tad, and then there was that whole European thing, and I didn't really want to get started on something in Austria. As it was, I did have another issue investigated when I was in the Netherlands, and that diagnosis was somewhat inconclusive.
But that's another story.
And this ain't a "medical" blog, so that's enough of that.
Anyhoodle, there's much more than a hint of a family history of colon cancer (Mom had a colostomy, my Uncle Ernie had a colostomy, should I go on?) so needless to say, these "visits" could be considered somewhat life saving. At least in my case.
I don't mean to be overly dramatic, but really, them polyps can eventually kill ya.
Just saying.
Last Thursday was the day of my "visit", which was scheduled for eight a.m. The instructions direct you to take the second package of that nasty powdered stuff at five, but (and this is where past experience comes in) I decided to get up at four and get that started. It really blows to be feeling somewhat "stressed", shall we say? on the way to the procedure, or looking for a bathroom when you're waiting to go in.
And again, for anyone who has done this, I ain't just kidding when I use the term "blows".
Wakka wakka!
*Ahem*
Anyway, the Doc did say he found three little guys, but depending on the pathology, I won't need to go back for three years. Oh ya, baby! Under the category of, "what makes you happy?" That one's right up there. That and beating the spread in the football pool, but hey, if I suck at making my picks, ain't gonna kill me.
Meanwhile, T.C. and I put the truck to use this week, as we headed in to Toronto to the "Tile District" for lack of a better term, to fetch all the tile I'll need for my bathroom reno.
When it became evident that I had a truck, we were asked to hang out at the warehouse door for a few minutes while they put everything on a skid.
I suppose this is the first time T.C. has ever been with me in a truck when something somewhat heavy is loaded into the back, since she was ever so slightly wide eyed when I got back in after checking over and signing for the skid.
I did a little quick arithmetic, knowing that each box of tiles weighs at least 50 pounds (52.5 actually) and came up with a conservative load coming in at 1100 pounds.
So needless to say, the truck did "squat" ever so slightly, which was just enough to freak out T.C. just a tad.
Initially, we put it all in the garage, but over that last day or so, I've managed to bring it all inside and stack it in the room across from the bathroom where it'll eventually end up.
The only other little job this week was to put in a couple shut offs for the tub, so that I can isolate the water when I rip it out.
The shut off with the green handle is for an outside hose bib.
This is an area that is in the garage ceiling, so it's entirely doable, but a bit of a tight spot just the same. You'll notice my "heat shield" up in there. Burning the house down wouldn't be good. I also keep a spray bottle of water on hand, and give the wood a bit of a bath after I'm done. It wasn't easy getting all the water out of the lines to get the brass up above its "kindling" temperature, but the valves are in and tucked up out of the way.
We're still waiting on the rest of the components to come in, which means I'll mostly only be working at taking out the old tile. We'll use the bathroom for as long as possible, and then "move" downstairs to the basement. The bed in that bedroom is the one we had in Vienna, and I'd dare say it's better than the one we sleep on now, it being a King size and all.
Stay tuned.
And thanks for stopping by.
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Yeah, it's a nasty couple of days, but especially if you have a family history, it's gotta be done. Bill's dad died of colon cancer... our doc in Ohio had Bill get a colonstomy every year... the doc in Texas says every 5 years. So far Bill has had noncancerous polyps... Didn't mean this to be an old folks medical chronicle, but hope all your readers do the preventative medicine thing.
ReplyDeleteGlad that you are taking care of that thing. My doc actually talked me out of it because of no family history. But I think next year I will insist on having it done.
ReplyDeleteYou have yourself a major project with that bathroom. O have done a few myself over the years, but is so nice when its all done.