On April 1, 2011, I had a kidney transplant, courtesy of my beloved daughter, Sarah Lynn Deming.
I had lost kidney function from taking the bipolar drug Lithium for nearly 17 years.
Later in life, my bipolar did go away, as it often does.
Ten percent of folks who take the antirejection meds have insulin-dependent diabetes.
C'est moi.
I absolutely love , BUT I do not know how to publish several stories which I finished. If you wish to tell me, email me at Compass123@comcast.net. Thx.
FLUSHY THE MAGIC TOILET
Make yourself comfortable
Read a book if you've
got a long stay, meditate
for a quick one.
How far we've come
in the time we've been here
on planet earth
outhouses, forget 'em
with the crescent moon
above the door and
the unforgettable smell.
Porcelain the choice
of emperors of China
to hold their hot tea with
their long mandarin
nails.
I'm made of the finest
porcelain, kiln-melted in
burning-hot temperatures
that rendered me
strong, white as the
falling snow, and
durable as a young
girl's heart.
We like visitors. Come
prepared with what you've
got to offer me. Take your
time. We've got books
on the lid and a shower
curtain with trips you can
take all over the USA.
And when you flush, listen
to the quick sound. The
sound of gushing rivers.
Makes you want to raft
down the Mighty Mississippi
with Huck and Tom. Do it,
by God, before it's too late.
...
20 DROPS OF URINE
The clear pee-cup awaits
we must check to see if my
UTI has come back
Monday is my test day at Quest
but I have called Nurse Sue to ask
if I could forge the doctor's tests he
wants me to take, all because of that
'pressure to pee,' when only two drops
tinkle out on the upstairs pink toilet.
Yes, she says. Be sure to make the
checkmark like his - the balding man from
Lebanon, with the rolling stool and shiny
tasseled loafers.
After the check, you must circle
'Routine Urinalysis,' then 'Culture'
no mistakes or they'll know.
The entire being of this aging freckled woman
goes into action. I must pee on demand at Quest.
Immediately I quaff two
huge cups of Peppermint tea
a glass of water to wash my thirst
from my two-egg garlic mushroom omelet
then pull into my parking spot
at Quest.
The place is empty. Like my
bladder soon will be.
Pony-tailed Jane does the
rudiments quickly
my Prograf level - which
keeps my kidney pulsing like
a little pocketbook within my
lower right belly - here
kidney kidney kidney -
she's good and I don't feel a
thing as I see her "God is Good"
sign by her desk.
I tell her my fear about peeing.
First, I must choose whether to use
the little kid's word or the adult
multi-syllabic term that indicates
'you are no longer young - the best years
of your life are over' - pushing blond-haired
Sarah to the zoo in Austin where she'd lean
from her pram and wave at the chimps -
I don't let on my fear, but say simply,
"Sure hope I can do it, Jane."
It's like pleasing teacher.
Twenty drops is all I need, she says.
Twenty drops.
I sit in the waiting room. Read my book
for half an hour. 'How are you doing down
there?' I wonder about the clever elimination
system that is revving up for the splashes of
my mighty Niagara.
Sure enough, my cup runneth over.
HAVE A SAFE TRIP
I was young when my legs began to go
five years shy of seventy
I'll never see Paris
I'll never see London
I lamented from my bed
under the ceiling fan that's
never been dusted since I
moved in twenty-three years ago.
Sarah, who picks up languages
like others pick up pine cones
said she'd take me sometime.
On a whim, I called her and
to my everlasting surprise
she said Yes.
Under the ceiling fan
on the Sleepy's Mattress
guaranteed to last for
twenty years
she and I
fly across the Atlantic. I have the aisle
seat so I can walk the runway
back and forth stretching my legs
so I won't get clots and
smiling at all the seasoned travelers
with buds in their ears.
Suddenly the plane begins to rock.
Rather like a cradle I rocked when
Sarah was a baby whose big black eyes
peered up at me with innocence and trust.
Better get back to her, I thought,
and took my seat beside her as
the pilot's concerned voice roared
through the loudspeakers
and we plummeted out of control
down toward the sea.
Drowning was not as bad as I expected.
Sarah's long red hair billowed like seaweed as
we held hands, both of them, her palms not sweaty now,
and mouthed our I love yous.
I thought of the Eiffel Tower I would never see
and the Mona Lisa smiling at me.