Sunday, June 19, 2016

Symposium and Stomach

It would have been a good day except for an ungood--in fact, double plus ungood*--factor: I woke up with a stomach ache. This is practically unheard of for me; in fact, I honestly don't remember the last time I had one. The cause? Beats me, but it may have been the cherries, followed by raisins and walnuts I ate before going to bed.
Even so, I was determined to follow my planned activities. The "Aging for Women" (sounds like instruction for...) symposium started at the harbor Mariott at 7:30 am. I actually got lost, annoyingly enough, because I took a route I never had before, so I was about fifteen minutes late. Found Carole and Sue looking for me, as they know I'm usually early.
The program consisted of power points and talks by various physicians and included a very nice breakfast spread of bagel, fruit, yogurt, juices, coffee, and so on. All this was provided by Community Medical and usually, would make a big hit with me, but although I had chewed some TUMS, I was still uncomfortable. I didn't have breakfast before I got there, so just had half a bagel with butter.
The presentations were scheduled until noon, but I left when they were winding up, about quarter of. Stomach still hurt and when I got home, I took some Pepto Bismo. That helped for a time, but I had to keep taking doses through the day.
Even so, I wanted to follow my plan to see Open Meeting Closed, an original one act at the Elite Theatre in Oxnard. My acquaintance, Angela DeC., is one of the six women in it, so I drove there and paid my fifteen bucks. It was in the so-called "south side room" of the theatre and was very makeshift. There's a stage of sorts and ordinary--I think kitchen chairs--set out for the sparse audience. (The "north side," which I assume is spiffier, will be staging Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, one of the most produced plays in history, until the middle of July.) The playwright/director of Open Meeting Closed bounded onto the stage and welcomed the audience, said a few words and on went the show.
Boy, was it bad. To put it kindly, the script stank (the comedy part wasn't funny and the dramatic part wasn't interesting), the set was mediocre (the pretend door kept shaking and wobbling and threatening to fall, although it was supposed to be locked), the actors were lousy (several times, not just once, somebody clearly forgot her lines and there was a deadly silence), and it was a chore to sit there for the whole crappy thing.
I think I can take pride in performing with the Little Egg Theatre Company; we would never have put on something like that. Anyhow, I suffered through it, my stomach still hurting, until it was finally over--the show, not my stomach. I greeted Angela after, said hello to the other actors, then made my getaway.
Went home to change, then to El's to feed Sebastian (she and Greg were at a wedding of one of her colleagues in Santa Barbara). Stopped at Ralph's to get some things I had read on the web were good for a stomach ache, including bananas, applesauce, and white bread. I ate half a banana, but it made me feel worse, not better.
I was able to sleep most of the night, but had to take another dose of Pepto Bismol once. Tummy is quite a bit better now, although I still can feel something just vaguely uncomfortable in that area.
Addendum: Well, goes to show how good my memory is: I put "stomach ache" in the search engine and this blog immediately came up with about ten instances when I had a stomach ache. The other times were never explained either, but went away before long. Hope this one does.
*With apologies to Eric Blair.

2 comments:

iloveac said...

BRAT diet is often prescribed for diarrhea....Banana, Rice, Applesauce and Toast. Not sure it works....I guess it lets the colon rest...since it lacks fiber.

Most often the bug just needs to exit your body. Imodium, Pepto bismol not really a good idea. If diarrhea is caused by a drug e.g. chemo etc....yes imodium, Pepto bismol are good. Otherwise let it alone. In either case...drink lots of fluids so you don't get dehydrated.

Hope by the time you are reading this you are feeling much better.

Mimi said...

Pat, I probably wasn't clear: I don't have diarrhea (bowels working normally), just the sporadic pain. At any rate, I do feel much better now (6:20 pm on Sunday). I hope it was just a "bug," as it seems to have exited. Thanks for the comment!

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