One more metronidazole pill left then I’m done.  All symptoms of the infection were gone two days into this, so I’m optimistic that the infection is really dead this time.

     Then it will just be a question of how long it takes to get my digestive system back on track.  I took three probiotic pills, one with each meal yesterday, and that really seemed to help.  Last night the pain level was only about 1/10th that of the night before and no mid-night diarrhea spells.  I actually got to sleep through most of the night.

     Slept very little the night before.  My wife called me “Mr. Grumpy” when we were out driving owing to my lack of tolerance of stupid drivers (You know, the ones that wait two minutes even through traffic is clear three miles in both directions, or the ones that pull out in front of you without looking, forcing you to slam on the breaks.  Seems they are invariably driving SUVs).

     I have two more of these evil metronidazole antibiotic pills to eat then I can hopefully start recovering normal gut function.  The nightly pain I’ve experienced while on these is horrid.  Probiotics aren’t helping as they did with clindamycin.

     Anybody that’s seen the retro-anal ingestion episode of South Park, I think that’s what my system is attempting.  Things don’t want to come out the back end and stomach contents are trying to come back up.  And it tastes like it originated at the other end of the pipe.

Our Daily Bread, todays Bible verses, Luke 2:14, so badly needed in the world today.

     See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Well_with_My_Soul for the story behind this song.

     We sang this often in the prison chapel. It brought me a sense of peace and thankfulness in spite of my circumstances there.

     Today it’s my ears that don’t want to equalize to changing atmospheric pressure instead of my sinuses.

     This is the one big thing I dislike about the Pacific Northwest, the highly unstable weather here, not easy on my head.

     I’m excited about the remote prospect for snow this Christmas.  My son Carl thinks we’ll have the cold but may not have the moisture.  Accu-weather thinks we’ll definitely have the moisture but not the cold.  If both are right on one element and wrong on the other, then we’ll have snow.

     The lab work came back, I have a group B strep and it’s apparently most sensitive to metronidazole.   There will be no spirits for me for the next ten days:

Do not drink alcohol while you are taking metronidazole and for at least 3 days after you stop taking it. You may have unpleasant side effects such as fast heartbeats, warmth or redness under your skin, tingly feeling, nausea, and vomiting.

     Well that sucks but if it succeeds in killing this stuff it will be worth while.

     When I was a kid we used to catch salamanders at a swamp on 8th Ave and about 105th NE in Seattle, (behind what used to be Waldo hospital). The swamp has since been drained and the hospital removed and a strip mall put in.