Of course not, KTK, but see - I HAVE to consider all that stuff, because I am being TREATED for dementia, and when I have episodes like this, it scares me, and this is the FIRST time I have had it happen one on one with another person, all the other episodes of self-doubt were memory-related, if that makes sense.
This was the first time I’ve tasked myself with understanding correctly what I was hearing.
God, Teela and everyone, thank you VERY much for the rational explanations. This has really flipped me out.
Seconded.
Otherwise…your toilet. Does it have two knobs on either side of a longish shiny spout? Because if it does, well, it’s a sink.
(prays to all that’s holy that **Quasi **has a sense of humor)
I think I understand why you’re so shaken, but I think it’s important to remember that other people are going to get confused and be confusing. Yes, you have Alzheimer’s, and yes, some of the time misunderstandings are going to be because your Alzheimer’s is making your brain not work right. But sometimes it IS going to be because the other guy is just not getting it.
Just because you have Alzheimer’s doesn’t mean it’s *always *your fault when communication goes awry.
That question is way out of line, so grossly inappropriate that you’d be doing the fool’s boss a favor if you called and told him.
The guy was a jerk for insisting the toilet was fine just because plain water would flush down it. Sure, even just water might back up if the pipe is obstructed fairly completely but the twit knows that johns need to handle solids too. One toilet in my house acted exactly like yours, Quasi, because tree roots had partially obstructed the pipe. (Old house, old plumbing, huge old trees: it happens, as the saying sorta goes.) A quick visit from RotoRooter fixed the problem.
Your problem was entirely reasonable. The twit didn’t want to bother with it so he brushed you off. And he was offensive how he did it. If a service person asked me that question in a similar situation I would very possibly reply, “Yes, I take medication for hypertension, partly because rude incompetents raise my blood pressure. Is there any other personal information you require before you check the drains?”
whats others have said, beat me to the punch
“Otherwise…your toilet. Does it have two knobs on either side of a longish shiny spout? Because if it does, well, it’s a sink.”
I do have a sense of humor, so please don’t worry, okay?
It helpsme cope with this thing!
I asked the guy to run one of those plumber’s snakes down it, but he just kept flushing and said “Why? It’s flushing fine.”
I appreciate y’all helping me through this. I do have a number here I can call when I get into a crisis, but I knew there’d be someone at Dope-MPSIMS who’d “take my call” and I was right.
I’m gonna go lie down for a while and “process” this stuff, so thanks to my Doper Buds. [Holds right hand over heart and bows]
Q
Revisiting this thread, because I missed answering someon’es question above.
Yes, it has happened before that one of those clear plastic razor blade “cases” had fallen in, and that is why I requested the use of a “snake”. But no, he just told me to flush it a few times.
I am beginning to think of this as a mini-sitcom y’all, and now I can laugh about the absurdity of it.
Guy flushes toilet and it flushes = nothing wrong, but if I had a turd, I could show him, and re-create the in-si-dent, as it were.
But because of my dementia and self-doubt, I let him treat me like a kid.
Q
Here is an idea to check for something other than brown stuff stuck down there causing problems.
Go buy some camping or RV toilet paper. Bigger Walmarts carry it in their camping section.
Put a good wad of it in the toilet and flush. Start with small wads, flushing several times and waiting as long as you can between flushes and larger and larger wads.
If you can get flushing problems before the wads get absurdly big, then there is something partially blocking the pipes. Using that kind of toilet paper means it breaks up much easier and will not likely block anything permanently. Of course get ready for toilet overflow with towels, scoops, buckets or whatever.
If you can’t recreate the blockage with wads, then you might need to keep the loafs below 0.25 Kurics.
This might explain why we found grandpa locked in his house surrounded by hundreds of videos of toilets and bowel movements.
My toilet gets pretty stubborn after a larger BM and I’ve had to call the plumber to snake it. Then their test is to flush much toilet paper and if that goes they think they’re done. One time after all that it immediately stopped up again (I do eat fiber, really) and they came back and redid it.
Just to make the point that it may seem fine to them but still have a problem. This guy was cool and considered that he hadn’t done the job and didn’t charge me.
Next time, poop in a ziploc and call Mr. There-is-nothing-wrong-with-it Plumber Guy and show him first hand how the poop ain’t flushing.
Problem solved and you give this guy a story to tell for years.
Do you realize how difficult that would be. Do you work at a hospital and hand out those little jars, asking for a sample?
Quasimodem:
Next time write a note to yourself while the toilet is having problems. You then know for sure that it’s not a false memory. I carried a clip board with post ii’s and a pen when I was having severe memory problems. The only way I could function was to write something down immediately when I thought of it. I kept 12 to 15 post it’s spread out on the clipboard and when something was completed I replaced it with a blank one ready to be written on. I didn’t carry the pad of post it’s with me, just the clip board where they were all spread out and visible.
It could just be that low-flow toilets don’t handle solids well at all. We gave in last year and bought a Toto toilet. Best. Purchase. Ever. No more clogs. No overflows. It can flush anything.
Trying to get into that note-writing habit. tough to remember when you’re still mostly in denial, but I get the point.
Thanks to everyone.
Bill
When I was a kid, the toilet in our basement wouldn’t handle solids. Turns out my little brother tried to flush a plastic fork and it got stuck. I can’t believe I remember that 50 years later, but I keep forgetting why I went into the kitchen…
The doctors told you you couldn’t remember shit.
Way to prove em wrong
Hope that makes you laugh, my intentions are good.
good luck!
blll
Disagreeing a bit here; it’s a reasonable question if taken within a certain context. TMI, which I will place in a spoiler box so folks can skip if necessary:
DH is on multiple medications, and as a result can produce things that range in consistency from “Niagra Falls” to “possible to use as replacement concrete blocks.” There are definitely days that our toilet system, free of roots/debris/blockages and installed correctly, cannot handle what he tries to flush down it.
It should have been followed up with an explanation of why he was asking, but I can certainly see that being a viable question.
To add to Bobkitty’s context: some medications can constipate, or slow stool transit time. That usually means more moisture being removed in the lower colon, which makes for a harder movement in all ways. Low flow toilets have less water turbulence (and volume) to break or push the waste through the trap.
Put one in a baggie and take it my next appointment, you mean,** bill**?
“Hey Doc, you know that shit you said I can’t remember? Here ya go. Need a specimen?”
