BUGS

Hey, friends, I got bed bugs. Or did the doctor say, "Bad bugs." The name they use around the clinic is "C. Diff" which I think stands for the Spanish ca-ca dificil or in English, a difficult bacteria that is hard to get rid of.  It showed up in  my colon and I don't know how it got there.  As the crude crowd says on its bumper sticker, it just "happens." After three weeks of diarrhea, I got weak and dehydrated enough to go to the emergency room. They pumped bottled water into me, gave me tests, and an antibiotic called flagyl to stop the growth of the unwanted critters. Two days later I returned with Martha for our regular checkups with our primary care physician.  We went two hours early to get lab tests for the doctor. I had just sat down in the waiting room when the doctor's nurse came in, whispered something to Martha, and kindly whisked me off to isolation. After several hours there I was beginning to wonder what bad thing I had done to deserve isolation confinement. Finally, the doctor came and discussed the above mentioned issue. I am to keep taking the flagyl and keep everything I touch spotlessly clean.  I am to continue on the liquid diet that has been my practice for a week. Keri, our professional food server, fixed me what she proudly called a three-course meal (ginger ale, bouillon, and jello for desert). Already my trips to the bathroom are less frequent. Guess that makes me a distance runner.