I’m middle-aged.
And anal retentive.
I gotta get more exercise.
My liver needs to go on a diet.
There’s a polyp on my gall bladder that needs to be checked again in three months.
Looks like I won’t be doing the ultra-dramatic “I have intestinal cancer from years of off-and-on smoking and only have three months to live” podcast.
I feel like a hypochondriac.
eww.. eww… but that really sounds bad…I hape you get better… be glad that it isn’t ‘the cancer.’ Hope you feel better. (First to comment!!!!!*probably because of the time zones, being in the same?/close to time zone as Japan))
Thank god, it doesn’t sound *too* bad..
It’s not bad at all. I just have to get used to my body not being able to take so much neglect and abuse anymore.
Yesterday I watched a video from a 41 year old vlogger whose wake-up call was a heart attack. Having trouble pooping doesn’t even compare to that.
http://www.unitedvloggers.com/2007/03/02/february-13-2007/
I’m sure you’ve had all the suggestions you can take, but the gunpowder in my wife’s and my daughter’s poop cannon is bananas…. Something about them. We were in Japan (asakusa) and my daughter hadn’t gone for 3 days. We gave her a banana and out everything came in like 30 minutes…
I can’t image caffeine is good for this situation (green tea) as it’s a diuretic and will dry you out…. Of course coffee is my gunpowder, which makes for interesting work days sometimes…
Something about discussing poop on the Internet makes everyone want to chime in.
OK, my turn. The 10 prescription-only laxatives I took yesterday that didn’t work? They’re working. I might need to wear a diaper to bed tonight…
Congratulations on your poopi- wait hold on, I’m not actually saying that am I?
Eww…
Wanna get fit the “Web 2.0” way? Google ‘fatblogging’ amd join the, er, fun!
Too bad my liver can’t type.
I love this place 🙂
Yay, the laxatives work. I’m so happy for you!
Hope everything comes out OK!
wakka wakka wakka..
No really. Get well soon!!!
You’re not a hypochondriac Rich – your body is telling you that you’re stressed. Living in Japan as long as you have will do that to a person. I doubt its lack of exercise because you already walk and bike a lot more than the average American. Sounds like you need to take care of your head. In a past podcast you were strongly anti-marijuana, but I think you need a bong hit 🙂 Take it easy man!
So, uh, Rich, Yakult and Yomiuri tied 6-6 today. The new guy, Gaiel, singled. I hate to say it, but the Swallows fell apart pretty quickly after a good start.
(Baseball is always a way to change the subject, right? Takes your mind off the good and the bad, even shit.)
Speaking of baseball, know of any good English language resources for Japanese baseball? I’m heading back to Tokyo from March 27 – April 2 and I would like to take a game in while I’m there.
@Dave #2(no pun intended): The average American is an obese blob, so not a good benchmark of health. I freely admit I need more exercise, and I have the liver to prove it.
Japanese says constipation ‘Benpi’.
Benpi= 便秘in Japanese
便=number two in English
秘=secret in English
Why secret?
Japanese is interesting.
There are many kind people in this site.
Friends are treasure.
Rich I just did this diet which changed my life and if you have a courage will change yours too. The diet is all about your liver and looks like that’s what you need. It’s called Fat Flush by Gittleman. Buy the book and good luck (because honestly you are half dead).
My mother just e-mailed me with the liver/gall bladder flush recipe–apple juice for a few days, then a big delicious glass of olive oil and lemon juice before bed with an epsom salt chaser to force your liver and gall bladder to release all kinds of pent-up nastiness. Wikipedia says it’s unproven, but so far I haven’t read anywhere that it can do any harm, so I’ll probably give it a try. I like the idea of freaking my body out with legal, natural ingredients.
Exercise is golden and Americans are indeed obese blobs. I do an hour of daily cardio at the gym & feel relatively fit for a middle aged guy (now that I said that, I’ll have a heart attack on the eliptical machine). But my daily travels consist of garages and parking lots. When I lived in Tokyo, walking or biking to & from home /station / work /shopping (especially with all the stairs) was much more exercise than I can get today at the gym. My point is that your symptoms (including sleep disturbances) appear psychosomatic, which are real disorders caused by mental processes rather than immediate physiological causes. I had some of the same issues as you and after learned to control it after figuring out how intense the the mind/body connection is. Thanks for sharing all this and good luck.
@Dave #2, I’m sure that if I exercise more I’ll feel less stressed, sleep better and digest better. I’ve done it in the past and I definitely felt the difference, but for the past few years I’ve gotten into the habit of sitting down all day except for a few times during my commute. And now that I quit smoking, I’m even more sedintary because I don’t even get up to go outside and smoke.
I’m really not that stressed out. I’ve been stressed out–really stressed out–and I know how it feels. What I need is more balance and harmony. I’m working/commuting too much, it’s taking too much out of me and I’m not putting enough back in.