Ignoring the plumbing is one of those things that always seems to lead to more problems (and expenses) down the road. Good maintenance is the best practice for a cost-effective and hopefully long life of the system. This is true, not just for our own bodies, but also quite literally when it comes to household plumbing.
Not long after I began my chemotherapy, I realized that I had been putting off some of my own maintenance for far too long. In this case, it was a wobbly toilet in the main bathroom, where one of the bolts that used to hold it securely in position against the floor had rusted away and, not long after, the seal on the caulk had come loose. Realization struck that it was only a matter of time until something would go terribly wrong, and I imagined all sorts of disasters I did not want to deal with following an infusion (or pretty much any other time, ever).
I had looked into toilet repair on YouTube. Since that is how I solve most of my plumbing issues, I watched a five-minute video on how to install a wax ring and set a toilet properly. Everything was ready, except that my kit from Home Depot was missing the actual wax ring it was supposed to include with all the other bits of hardware. Fortunately, I noticed that before taking the toilet off the floor.
After returning from Home Depot with a few extra wax rings, just in case, I turned off the water, unbolted the remaining attached side of the toilet and yanked that bugger off the evacuation tube in the floor. It was satisfying to set the toilet aside, but not so much to survey what it left behind.
I had planned several ways to repair or replace the ring around the pipe that holds the bolts to lock the toilet in place. Unfortunately, none of them would work. Whoever had installed this toilet in the first place did it beneath the tile floor rather than flush with it. There was no way, without breaking into the tile, to install new hardware. For better or worse, I was going to have to improvise and fix what was there, rusted out or otherwise.
Of course, this meant several trips back and forth between plumbing supply shops and revisiting Home Depot because, frankly, I had to make some sh*t up. The evacuation pipe was too low for me to connect directly to it with a single wax ring, so I had to double up, find an extender that would work, get longer bolts than those which came in any of the available kits — and would still fit into the existing (if rusty) metal ring beneath the tiles. And along the way, I realized that my old toilet was kind of the worse for wear. I could have reinstalled it, but Home Depot had a special on a new low-flow model that would fit under the cabinet installed in our bathroom (forcing a low-profile toilet), and this had a special feature I really liked: a silent, slow closing feature for the seat. That meant, I no longer had to worry about dropping the seat after a midnight use and alarming other people in the house.
Which brings me around to why I mention plumbing in the first place. It’s all about the chemotherapy.
When I am on a treatment cycle, I have to use the bathroom a lot more than usual. Too much sharing, perhaps, but an unavoidable reality. And this occurs both day and night — in fact, I’ve been known to get up and pee six or more times a night, leaving me exhausted the next day. It isn’t pleasant, but I always try to remain as much “asleep” as possible during these ventures. And that has put me in situations where the seat has slipped unceremoniously from my fingers, startling me more than anyone, but an annoyance for all nonetheless. And spending a lot of time with a toilet allows a person to get to know what works or doesn’t with the system fairly readily. The wobbling from the rusted bolt was driving me nuts. It all had to be fixed. And it made me think a lot about what was going on with my own insides.
Because plumbing is a metaphor.
And this is my new toilet:
When it comes to our health and well-being, we need to always be aware of what is going on with the plumbing. When we are struggling with health issues, it is all that much more important to watch for the odd drip, loose connection or potential leak. Often we know where to look, sometimes not; it is wonderful to have a guide to help you know where you should place your attention and what to expect. For my toilet, that was mostly YouTube, but for my health I am fortunate enough to have doctors and nurses with whom I have a solid, open dialogue.
They may not always be able to tell me something as simple as which gasket to replace or where I might procure a new thingamajig that would go into the whatzits properly, but they are also far less likely to tell me that the piece I am concerned about isn’t made any longer and no one carries a replacement part that matches, so I just need to get a whole new system installed. Fortunately my doctors are more resourceful than that. And fortunately I don’t have to improvise much when it comes to the care and maintenance of my own body.
It was good for me to go through the process of trying to repair (and ultimately replace) my toilet. On one hand, it proved to me early on that even during a heavy round of chemo, I could focus on a task and accomplish my goal. Plus, I learned a few things about plumbing that had previously eluded me. (I’ve done most of my own plumbing for years, at least in terms of fixing leaks, clearing drains, replacing faucets and such, unless the sewer line is involved.) I also learned how, even in homes where the work was done “professionally,” there are always areas where I am surprised that a project was completed with a certain level of ineptitude. So no matter what, we must always mind the plumbing. We never know precisely what is going on beneath the flooring.
Monitor. Maintain. Keep it running smoothly. These concepts mean more to me all the time.