Poop

Poop.  I hate poop. And yet...poop is an integral part of my daily life. Why?

1. I am human. I have to poop. It's unfortunate, but true.
2. Pediatrics. Ah pediatrics. The kids poop. We have one who my CI explained to me (before I met him) that basically he is constantly pooping because he was a conjoined twin and his bowel was incomplete or something so he has no muscle to control it. So, what comes in comes right back out. These poor kids. It can't be any fun at all and I don't say it to be mean, but man. Poop. Yuck.
3. I think at least half of the kids I work with are in diapers. If they poop during or before therapy we have the privilege of changing it.  Poopy diapers go out in the garbage can in front of the clinic. One time we tied the diaper in a grocery sack, but there was air caught in it.  I didn't have to actually change the diaper, but I was the one to take it out and it almost didn't fit into the garbage can (it's one like you find at the park that has a top on it and openings to stick your garbage in).  Oh I was so dreading having to untie the bag and let that odor back out. I made it fit.
4. viruses and germs.  We had one mom call in today and told us that she was going to pick her son up from school because he had diarrhea. She was calling to see if she should bring him in to therapy today.  Uh...how about??? NOOOOOO!!! First, if it's a stomach bug, we don't all want to be pooping all day (see the next comment for more information on that) and second we don't want an accident.  Can I emphasize that?? We don't want an accident.  It happens. Poop happens. But let us be honest. I don't want to be cleaning it up from our gym floor. 
5. My CI is the manager of our clinic. As such, she has her own office (everyone else shares an office in the front).  It's great and dandy and all except that her office sits right next to the bathroom.  It's a small clinic, not a big deal right? Oh wait, except whoever built the building made a "minor" error and the bathroom is vented into the back office.  Every time that someone poops the smells just comes right in. Awesome. And then if you try to cover it up with spray that seeps right in too so you get a nice mix or apple cinnamon glade and poop. Wow.
6. Kids with decreased muscle tone or strength tend to have decreased tone/strength of their involuntary as well as voluntary muscles. This mean they get constipated easily.  Solution? Deep tissue massage to the large intestine.  Usually we don't reap the benefits of this in clinic (usually the poop makes it out after the end of their session), but it still makes poop a part of my daily life. 
7. Pooping in the front bathroom.  This is the patient bathroom.  I don't know if it's the kids of the parents, but a couple of times a week I will walk into the front office and the smell of poop is so strong from the patient bathroom that it fills the hallway too. Awesome.  Sometimes this comes from people actually pooping there or sometimes it is just the changing of a diaper.