6-25-10 0645 Musining, MI. Well, we're back to Central Time, which meant that I was lying on the municipal pier at what I thought was 7:30 PM yesterday wondering where all the other people who should be going on the sunset cruise to the Pictured Rocks were...it was a gorgeous early summer evening, cool but not cold. The wind that had been blowing in across Lake Superior had abated, the water was clear and you could even see fish near the bottom off the end of the pier. Now that I was thinking about it, the parking lot had been full of cars...and so....it suddenly occurred to me to look at my iphone, which of course keeps the right time. Yup...it was EIGHT thirty...and we had missed the cruise!
Sala teaches me that there are no mistakes. No wrong turns. No late appointments. No bad days. Yes it may be raining...it is just now..but this is not a mistake, or cause for distress.
Yeah....well...I did have my more than several moments of distress..but she's right. As Jon has made famous, 'Wherever you go, there you are', and having a small dog who is delighted that you are coming back to the car, no matter what the reason for it may be. And it was a gorgeous evening; we drove out to Miners Castle, which is on top of one of the more famous of the Pictured Rock formations. The rocks themselves are the result of layers of variously permeable sandstone resulting from beach formation back in the Permian and other periods. The colors result from minerals, of course. Copper, Manganese, and Iron, principally. And the visitors center at Miners Castle is really well set up. As everyone who visits Amurica as a tourist, we are becoming critical observers of the way the National Park system does things, and this one is a stylized wooden pole cabin, with exaggerated overlap angles making a very pleasant gehstahlt..the paths are safe, there are benches on steep ascents, and the overlooks are...well..overlooks.
So, I was able to stop cudgeling myself for the stupid (no stupidity!), unforgiveable (no unforgivable!!), typical (no typical!!!!) mistake (no ....well, you've already heard that there are no mistakes, right?...) within a few minutes, helped by Salas purchase of a new set of genuine mooseskin Minnetonka moccasins, and Fuji's uncritical love. Fuji and I had already spent the afternoon galloping up and down the beach at Sandy Point north of Musining...she to bark at the waves, I to appreciate the wrack tossed up by Superior's winter storms, which are truly epic.
Remember, the Great Lakes were the extraction route for all those things that turned out to be more valuable than the spices that Columbus was looking for. Specifically, Lake Superior is connected to most of the iron deposits, and, via Sault St Marie and 'The Soo Locks' to Gary, Indiana and from there to Pittsburg. Swimming yesterday, it was cool and tasted sweet...as fresh water does to those used to salt. Fuji danced around on the beach, but declined to come in. The birch trees whispered in the wind.
Well, we might stay around and go for the Pictured Rock cruise this morning. In a minute, I will crank up the La Pavoni and make a cup of coffee for each of us, and we will do some planning, together. With a little effort, I can investigate the possibilities of travel without doing any stone cutting...and really make the planning a more cooperative process. When I dont, even on a short time base, its problematic. I mean, for my own process. For example, yesterday I had decided to call up and book a motel in Grand Marais (pronounced Marie). Sala hadnt objected, but we didnt discuss the reason. On arrival in this area of the upper peninsula, we discovered that the boat tour started from Musining, not GM. This caused me some internal chagrin...I had booked the wrong city! That meant that when Sala calmly asked me why we were planning to stay 40 miles away from where we wanted to take a boat trip from, I had already piled up enough sense of mistake Mistake MISTAKE to feel it as an attack, not a request for clarification. So I snapped at her, and hated myself, and felt badly and decided we needed a divorce and thought I might kill myself. Luckily, all this lasted for a few seconds, even the worst parts. The reality of a small dog who is waking up from a nap and wanting to go for a walk is a good antidote for self hatred and anger. And yet, I still have the reaction. So...in a few moments, we will look over the information I have found, and Sala will be appreciative that I have found it, and I won't be attached to what we will decide to do, and it will be another wonderful day in Paradise. One way or another.
I've started posting these missives via email. But I encourage you to check the blog, if you want more pictures, and a more detailed discussion of travel constipation and how I have been successfully dealing with it.
So, about Travelling with Human Digestive Systems over age 50.
This is the outline of a chapter for the yet unpublished book 'Travelling with a Partner after age 50' by Sala and Alan.
1. Travel Realities...regularity, irregularity, changes, and so forth
2. Physiologic Realities..the guts outlook on life, its twists and turns, its juicy moments, and the ultimate result.
3. Problems and joys
a. problems
1. diarrhea
2 constipation.
For travelers older than 50, constipation is way more real than diarrhea. Diarrhea is usually the result of eating outside the box, and older travelers are often wiser travelers. We've already experienced the ecstacy of mango ice cream in the Zocalo, and fried banana on the Beach...and the resulting days of gut grinding clothes soiling butt cheek clenching misadventure. So, instead, we fall prey to under hydration, low bulk in the diet (all of the salads are out) and long stretches of inactivity. All these things tend to slow the digestive process. A slow digestion (vide section on physiology) leads to more fluid absorption, and as a result more compact (aka painfully hard) poop production. Aka constipation.
Constipation in kids is a transitory process that the gut usually cures itself of. The distension produced by the compacting mass of poop stimulates the large intestine (see normal physiology) and and produces a reactive increase in motility throughout the gut. If there is an obstruction, there is vomiting. There may be discomfort. But the net result is usually a passage of the poop.
Us older people have less reaciton to the stimulation, and less motility response. As a result, the poop can pile up into quite a lump without our having much pain. A little diffuse discomfort, a little loosening of the belt...and days can go by without any cause for worry.
That results in a solid mass of poop filling up the colon...growing so big it can't fit through the anus, and creating a message to the gut so strong it finally produces pain and nausea and vomiting etc etc.
By that time, its too late. Without some help, eventually the poop and the bowel will interact in a way that lets bacteria make their way from the poop, where they are normally present as part of the digestive process, through the lining of the gut, and into either the blood, or the peritoneal space. And that creates what is generally known as sepsis...or more popularly blood poisoning.
That leads to death.
Sepsis is a leading cause of death in people our age.
So, OK, what to do?
About two days into this trip, I realized I hadn't pooped ( I am using that word rather than defecation, or shit...the boundary words defining polite and impolite usage. Poop is a kind of midway term...not compltely acceptable, not gross and unacceptable.) This usually happens when I travel, no big deal. Morning of the third day, and I tried a little harder. And increased water. Morning of the fourth day, a tiny hard pellet, and the beginning of some mild discomfort in the abdomen. Bought psyllium and started stirring 2 tsp of the powder into 8 oz of half strength juice twice a day. Morning 5 day, better diet and still no urges. Usually, coffee and a walk with the dog will produce...but now now. Discomfort more noticeable, and I just wasnt enjoying life as much. So I added Magnesium citrate and checked to see if Ex Lax was still the cheapest source of sennacides...the active ingrediant of the herb senna. Senna seems to stimulate bowel activity. Magnesium probably helps by holding water inside, and also relaxing some of the stress induced tightening of the bowel muscle. And psyllium adds bulk, keeps in water, and generally helps reassure the bowel its time to move along.
Well, this time, that all worked. The steps I suggest, in order, roughly, of days without a poop, are like this
1. Add psyllium 2 tsp twice a dayin 8 oz of water each time. NEVER use capsules without taking that much water.
2. Continue psyllium
3. Add sennacides
4. Add magnesium salts
5. Add osmotic agent (OTC long chain alcohol or sugar)
6. Add enema, repeat magnesium salt, increase osmotic agents.
More on this at a later date.
alan
later
alan
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