I Saw Henry!

I see all kinds of people in my office.  Henry was one I didn’t ‘see’ until 10 minutes after I finished his colonic.  Let me explain:

For several years Henry’s wife, Lorraine, had come to my office for a clean up colonic and afterwards would exclaim in her beautiful British accent how good she felt.

One day I received a desperate call from her. She asked if I could unplug her husband, who is 69 years old.  He had a hip replacement 9 days earlier and hadn’t moved his bowels and so was quite miserable.  I told her I could definitely help and would be able to see Henry at the end of my day.  She said that would work out great since Henry had his follow-up appointment with his surgeon early in the afternoon. 

A few hours later I received a frantic call from Lorraine.  The doctor told Henry “no way” with the colonic and recommended Fleet enemas instead.  Lorraine knew better and wanted to call the doctor but didn’t know what to tell him.  Among other things I told her about Dr. Steven Stryker, a G.I. professor that works out of Northwestern University, Chicago.  He believes in colonics and even has a colon therapist working for him out of his downtown Chicago office.  She called the doctor and after speaking with him his answer was, “I don’t care, do whatever you want.”

When they arrived, Lorraine ran into my office and told me, “We have a bear out there!”

I didn’t comprehend what she meant but I was soon going to find out!  Now, normally it is my custom to sit down with a new client, go over their history and help educate them as to how they can help themselves.  With Henry I knew he needed some fast relief.  As he came into my office shuffling his feet with his head down, I introduced myself and started to explain a few basics.  He quickly interrupted and said, “Just get this over with!”

This was a first for me, yet I conceded.  He got ready with his wife’s help positioning him on his left side.  I came back into the room and proceeded with the colonic while he faced away from me.  Typically the client also goes on their back during the process but with Henry I left good enough alone, and besides his colon was cooperating very well.  He didn’t speak a word to me until about 30 minutes of relief had passed, (literally), and then he asked, “Why don’t doctors recommend this?”  I told him they couldn’t recommend something they didn’t understand.  Shortly afterwards the colonic was over and I asked Henry to finish in the bathroom as I left the room.  When he came out he stood straight up with his hands on his hips and proclaimed, “Well, I feel rather beefy!”  I suppose you have to be British to understand the phrase but I got the point.  And so it was then that I saw Henry’s face for the first time and it was smiling.  I pushed the situation a little farther and asked for a hug, which he gladly gave me.  It was a rewarding moment indeed!

As Henry put on his shoes he asked me why doctors are so against colonics.  I told him not all are against colonics.  In my 21 years as a colon therapist I have definitely seen a shift, but this can only happen when patients such as him tell their doctors about their experience with colonics.  Henry quickly responded, “Well you can be sure my doctor is going to hear about this!”  Thank you Henry!