By 1:30 there was no call back from the triage nurse, so I called my PCP's office just trying to get an appointment with him, and got put on hold for over 12 minutes before I hung up. When I got through, I was told there were no appointments until Monday. When I said it couldn't wait, I was told to call the triage nurse. When I told the secretary I had already called and left a message at 10, she said she'd transfer me over to her. I hung up after about 10 minutes on hold.

I had called the gastro's office before I got in touch with anyone at my PCP's to let them know how I was feeling and that the Linzess didn't work. The medical assistant asked me what I wanted her to do with the info, and I said I didn't care. My plan was to see my PCP, or go to urgent care if I couldn't.

My real, live gastroenterologist called me at 2. By then the tylenol had worked and my temp was normal for a couple of hours, which was a good sign. No one had relayed any of the info to him until I called yesterday. He had read the notes, but wanted to hear the specifics from me. He said that the situation had gone on far too long, was concerned that I might have "early diverticulitis" and it was his preference that I go to the ER, but my second option was to attempt a colon cleanse at home. I chose option #2 with the understanding that under certain circumstances I would go to the ER. He said I was "so stoic." lol. I'm just really ****ing stubborn.

So last night at 6, I divided 15 scoops of Mirilax into (2) 28oz bottles of Gatorade and chugged them. Nothing happened until shortly before 7am. It was just diarrhea, but at least I've gone to the BR (it had been 8 or 9 days?), and I'm sure I'll be going more with a little help from other methods. If the colon cleanse doesn't clear the impaction(s), I'll be able to feel it when I press on my abdomen because the rest of it will be softer after this.

My temp is normal this morning, and my abdominal pain is better. I don't regret my decision not to go to the ER, but I know going is still a possibility. At least I won't have an issue trying to determine if my pain is from constipation and gas or something else for a while after this. It will be easier to tell if I do really need to go to the ER.

I still have that appointment on Tuesday. We need to come up with a long-term med plan to avoid having this happen in the future.