The saga continues...

BIRTHDAY: My next 49th birthday is tomorrow---I think this is the fourth. I was 39 for a number of years.

MEDICAL: Stopped off at Toronto East General Hospital yesterday to pick up instructions and materials for the next shot at a colon exam (the third) on Wednesday morning. This time there's no anaesthetic (too bad; it was kind of fun). I have to start fasting on Tuesday morning (Last Meal on Monday evening) and drink a number of laxatives. I was told to expect diarrhea for a good part of Tuesday and the whole night. Fun, wow. This is a BASELINE TEST, folks. The barium enema was invasive, uncomfortable (not to say painful), failed miserably, and the guff is that it's nowhere near the most efficient test. So why??

I do want to take issue with the doctor about an item on my chart: Why did he check "severe chronic constipation"? I take Metformin (a diabetes drug; "most common adverse effect of metformin is gastrointestinal upset, including diarrhea..."), and a few times a year I have to work at home because I can't go too far from the toilet. And 9 days out of 10 I have at least one good BM, because I eat lots of whole grains, vegs, and fruit. The only time I get corked up is when I visit my mother... Actually, now that she has had a second bathroom installed I don't even have to deal with that. Also, I have to stop the metformin for a couple of days before and after the test. This is actually a pretty good source of information on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metformin

BIRTHDAY again: In Ontario, older cars (mine's a 1999 Volkswagen Golf) require an emissions test from a certified garage ($35) every two years before the annual license renewal, which falls on one's birthday. I received the paperwork in June, and naturally I put off going to the MTO (ministry of transportation, ontario) until the day before I would get a ticket for not applying the new sticker by my birthday. I was nabbed once before. The ticket is $90 "plus $20 victim surcharge." I was a victim of procrastination---yeah, that's the ticket! Also I need to get a new DL photo. The last one was five years ago. I have new glasses, I guess that's why. I can't decide whether to get a haircut or not...