Huge and expensive bananas in Tokyo.
File photo dated January 17, 2006.

One of my dreads while travelling is either constipation or diarrhoea. Those would be a major nightmare considering the stench and mess if my bowels decide to purge at the most inopportune moment. On the other hand, being constipated would not be any less horrible as I do not fancy sitting in the toilet for four hours straight.

Worse still would be going to bed without fully clearing the constipated stool which would later make a grand exit messing up the hotel’s bedsheets, mattress, wheelchair and everything else. Thank God nothing of this has happened all the times I travelled. My treasured travelling companion in Tokyo had been a packet of pitted prunes. Those I took three religious every morning for breakfast together with half a packet of Ensure, two slices of bread and two bananas.

Bananas – those found in the supermarkets in Tokyo were exceptionally large. All were nicely labelled and packed, much like the imported fruits here and they cost a bomb - RM10 per comb of four bananas. Still, I chose bananas over other fruits because it was easy to peel, had no core like an apple and was delicious. It was also to provide bulk help move my bowels.

All was well in Tokyo. All was well in Bangkok. I had my bananas everyday. Likewise prunes. Therefore I was thoroughly surprised when Virgorat and Zara’s Mama left comments in Lactulose Did It advising me against having bananas if I was constipating. I am really really glad that it all went well in those two foreign cities. Lucky me. I would have been miserable perching in the toilet for hours and hours had the bananas acted as they should.

Among my prized acquisitions from Tokyo was a set of Sanyo charger together with four rechargeable batteries and two packs of four rechargeable batteries each. These are all for use with Wuan’s and my digital cameras. I favour digital cameras using AA rechargeable batteries over those using proprietary battery packs for convenience’s sake. If the rechargeable batteries go flat, they can easily be replaced with widely available alkaline batteries.

Sanyo NC-MR58 Quick Charger with refresh and battery check functions.

The Sanyo NC-MR58 Quick Charger has a refresh and battery check function. The refresh function is for conditioning rechargeable batteries. It discharges and then automatically charges the batteries to its full capacity. Each battery is individually charged. The charger came with four Sanyo (HR-3UG) 2700mAh Ni-MH batteries.

Top L-R: Sanyo HR-3U 2500mAh, Panasonic ZR6XT Oxyride, Sanyo HR-3UG 2700mAh, Sanyo HR-3UTG Eneloop 2000mAh and Panasonic LR6T Alkalines.

I also bought one pack of four Sanyo 2700mAh Ni-Mh batteries and one pack of Sanyo Eneloop Ni-NH batteries. The Eneloop batteries are unique. They come fully charged and can be used out of the pack as opposed to normal Ni-MH batteries that needed to be charged before use. The other plus point about Eneloop batteries is that they can be recharged one thousand times whereas the normal Ni-Mh batteries can only last approximately four hundred charges. When I last checked, the charger and batteries were still not available in Malaysia.

L-R: Wuan’s Sanyo NC-MQH01, Sanyo NC-MQR02U and Sanyo NC-MR58.

Sanyo chargers and batteries are reliable. I have been using them for nearly as long as I have owned digital cameras. My first charger was the Sanyo NC-MQR02U Quick Charger. I used it to charge two Sanyo 1800mAh Ni-MH batteries for my first digital camera, the Nikon 3100. The batteries did not last very long. I switched to 2100mAh and then 2500mAh.

Amazingly, the four 2500mAh used in my Canon A610 lasted over two hundred shots on a single charge. I had used the A610 extensively when I was in Tokyo and Bangkok with the 2500mAh and did not miss a single shot due to flat batteries. Now, I am itching to test the other batteries that are in my possession, namely the Sanyo Eneloop 2000mAh Ni-MH and Panasonic’s new generation disposable batteries called the Oxyride. Panasonic claimed that the Oxyride are good for 315 shots in the Panasonic DMC-LC43 digital camera as compared to 144 using Panasonic Alkaline Plus.

Constipation can be a pain, more so when my bowel control is impaired. My spinal cord injury is at C-5/C-6 (fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae). An injury above the T-12 (twelfth thorasic vertebrae) level loses the ability to sense when the bowel is full. It will empty by reflex or automatically. This is called the upper motor neuron or reflex bowel.

I follow a programme where I empty my bowel every third day with suppositories. This enables me to plan my routines and activities. My bowel programme usually lasts about ninety minutes - from insertion of a suppository into the rectum to the conclusion. However, for the past few weeks, I have been suffering from constipation. I suspect that Sangobion, the iron supplement that I have been taking, could be one of the causes. I have been spending two to four hours inside the toilet huffing and puffing without much success and have been feeling miserable lately because of that unfinished business.

To counter constipation, Wuan has been adding more vegetables to my meals and fed me with papayas, oranges and bananas. Additionally, I have been eating prunes. This is something that I do not fancy eating if not for its bowel easing properties. All that were in vain. Nothing worked. Laxatives and enemas could help but those are options that I would rather not resort to if I had other choices.

I first came to know of Lactulose when the doctors prescribed for Mum. She was taking Dihydrocodeine Tartrate to relief her pain during those last few months. One of the side effects of Dihydrocodeine is constipation and Lactulose was to counter that. Lately, I have also discovered that Lactulose has been prescribed to people with spinal cord injury. That made me consider it as one of the options to help ease the recurring problem.

Lactulose looks and tastes exactly like sugar syrup. It is a synthetic sugar, used to treat constipation. It is not metabolised or absorbed by the body. Bacteria in the colon breaks it down into acids. The acids draws water to the colon and softens the stool. A quick research with Google confirms that it will not produce adverse effects on people with chronic renal failure. In fact, Lactulose also draws ammonia from the blood into the colon where it is excreted with the stool which helps people with liver disease.

I had my first dose on Wednesday. As I did not know how I will react to it, I took the minimum recommended dose of 10ml. I increased it to 15ml on Thursday. A short while after I had my second dose, I had the urge to move my bowels. There was still some hints of constipation but as my bowel gradually cleared, it became easier. Today is the first time in many weeks that I have really felt relieved. And here I am telling the whole world about it.

Florist near Petaling Street.
File photo dated December 26, 2005.

No matter how hard I tried not to be bothered by the commercialisation, I was invariably drawn in to the excitement, and the remorse. Beautiful bouquets, delectable pastries and mouth-watering cuisine all beckoned. The yearning to go up to the counter and ask for one of those was irresistible but it would have been an exercise in futility now.

There are several recurring occasions in the year that I wished would never come. They remind me of missed opportunities, of procrastination and of beautiful moments that I will never be able to cherish again. Now, I can only live in regret that I did not put in that extra effort to carry it through.

“Next year,” I told myself. I was confident. I had it all planned out. I had promised myself that it would be the best that I could afford. A filial child I was not until those few months. The next year would be a good time to make up for the years I had been recalcitrant and callous.

I began to understand the fragility of life then but I was still too naïve to understand that opportunity does not always come knocking twice. Next year, next week or tomorrow many never arrive again. Mine did not. She left. All that I am left with now are the emptiness of an unfulfilled task and an ache that can never be healed.

Related entry:
One Year Too Late