Prep Day

Today is a day I've been dreading for three weeks. Tomorrow I'll have my second colonoscopy -- I was supposed to have had this a year after my last one, but have put it off not because of the procedure itself, but because of the day before, the "prep". After two attacks of diverticulitis in one month, my doctor sent me to the specialist, who remembered me from the last time. She just shook her head at my reluctance. "You can take pills this time," she said cheerily. "Okay," I said enthusiastically. When I got home I looked at the directions. I have to take 28 pills 15 minutes apart! I figured I'd be dead by nine that night.
I'll be staying away from the kitchen today. Yesterday, I cooked most of the day for my husband's parents. His mother is undergoing chemo and his dad is not feeling well, so I roasted a chicken with lemons and rosemary inside the cavity. I also tossed butternut squash and fingerling sweet potatoes and yams (all cut into same size cubes) in butter, cinnamon, salt and pepper and roasted them. I made his dad a mile-high lemon meringue pie with lemons I picked yesterday from the dwarf tree that spends its summer outside and winter in our sun room. Needless to say, the house smelled wonderful yesterday. My mouth is watering, my stomach is growling......
I realize I'm being selfish and ungrateful. I know there are children in this country who don't have enough to eat. I can do this for one lousy day.
The good news is that the procedure (a euphemism if I've ever heard one) is early tomorrow and the drugs she uses to sedate me are absolutely wonderful. (After the last procedure a very nice nurse asked me if there was anything she could do for me. "I'll take a six-pack to go of whatever you gave me, thank you.") Most importantly and all kidding aside, being an ovarian cancer survivor, I'm thankful for the wonderful medical care I receive knowing that others do not receive any care at all. I'll keep you posted.....