After today’s appointment at National Jewish: 

The more I learn about how Biology is supposed to work, and compare it to how my body worked (and still works), the more I realize just how bad my health really was, and how tenuous it still is. Just today, my doctor and I discussed my GI-tract issues. To put it crudely, I’m quite literally full of shit. Rock-hard shit, too. 

“This is a common problem for people like you.” Dr. Saavedra said, “Good news is, there are lots of ways to treat this without surgery.”

“Such as?” I asked, ready to take notes. 

“Medications. CF-specific GI tract medications.” she smiled, “They’re kind of like Miralax, but much more targeted. You’re a BioTech major now, right?”

“I am.” 

“Well, let me give you a little technical lesson on what’s going on with your colon.”

Long story short, Dr. Saavedra explained to me (in much more technical terms) that due to the dehydrating nature of Cystic Fibrosis, my colon’s slowly been collecting shit like arteries collect cholesterol. Miralax, a common laxative I know all too well, takes to that collection of shit like an ICBM. It may help clean me out, but it will disrupt my daily life and make me feel crappy in the process. 

However, there are gene-specific medications out there that target the CFTR gene (the gene in my code that’s fucked up and causes CF in the first place) in the cells of my colon. These medications may help my colon cells retain more sodium, so there’s more water and energy for those cells to move the shit out of my system, and keep more from piling up. 

“Basically, these are like blood-thinners, but for my colon?” I asked Dr. Saavedra after her little lecture.

“Exactly!” 

“Cool. When should I try them?”

“How about over Spring Break?” my doctor suggested, “It could take you a while to figure out which of the three medications work best for you.”

“Perfect!”

“Alright. I’ll get that prescription for you.” she said as she scribbled down a note, “In the meantime, start experimenting with smaller doses of Miralax. We don’t want this issue getting any worse. But we also don’t want to disrupt your studies… Especially since you're working on becoming a lab rat. We always need more lab rats!”

“That we do…” I nodded, feeling my eyes widen.