Tag Archives: septic

Aseptic

Aseptic: (adj) free of germs that cause diseasedictionary with letter A

One of the more miserable times in life is when you discover that you’re contagious (and I’m not talking about having a sparkling personality.)

It could be a runny nose, a stomach virus, a cold sore or any one of a number of little irritations that come onto the human pathway and make us temporarily unacceptable for communion with our brothers and sisters.

Only once in my life was I dubbed “septic.” I had picked up a couple of bacteria microbes which had spread through my bloodstream, and then, upon being hospitalized, the environment of the healing institution afforded me a couple more.

Yes, I went to the hospital to multiply my contagion.

It was very annoying.

The nurses who took care of me had to take the precaution of wearing masks and rubber gloves all the time, and I felt like Typhoid Johnny. They checked my blood daily to see if I was decreasing in toxicity, and if it would be possible for me to once again someday walk among the living.

And what made it worse was that I did not feel bad–I was basically without symptoms, but still viral. And I do not mean like a video.

I cannot tell you how overjoyed I was when the last blood test declared me aseptic. There were still nurses who didn’t believe the test, and appeared donning their garb, obviously trying out costumes for Halloween.

But I had the confidence that I was no longer a threat to others.

Now I am not going to go philosophical here and discuss how septic attitudes–disgusting prejudices–can be passed along to other people. Far be it for me to turn every conversation into some sort of human parable.

But let me say that having been septic … I can recommend aseptic.

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Thank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix

Anti-septic

dictionary with letter A

Anti-septic: (adj) of or relating to substances that prevent disease-causing micro-organisms.

They put a sign on my door.

Apparently, my condition was common enough that these signs were readily available for ordering from some medical supply house.

The sign read, “This patient is septic.”

Nurses and doctors started walking into my room wearing gloves and masks. I felt like I was in a horror flick and had unfortunately been cast in the role of “the horror.”

What they discovered was that I had an infection which had spread throughout my bloodstream, and therefore every excretion from my body, including my sweat and spit, was toxic.

It was weird.

It made me appreciate the term “anti-septic.” Because when I was anti-septic–completely against the concept–people liked me a lot more and didn’t have to bundle up like mummies to be in my presence.

They put me on a treatment and within a couple of days they were able to remove the sign and my practitioners stripped themselves of all necessary protection.

Now…without becoming too philosophical, we can be septic in many ways, including emotionally, spiritually and mentally. All “septic” really means is that we are poisonous to those around us. It would be good to engage an anti-septic at that point, don’t you think?

So when I am emotionally septic–in such a bad mood that I’m not fit to be a caretaker of snakes–I quarantine myself so as not to spew unrighteous feelings into the air to infect the general populace.

When I’m spiritually septic i spend some time thinking about how blessed I am, and then, with tears in my eyes, apologize to a generous Father in heaven, who is waiting for me to come to my senses.

And when I’m mentally septic–promoting my own prejudices instead of truth–I allow myself the grace of shutting my mouth until some healing can happen in my thoughts.

Anti-septic is a good thing. Because septic kills.

And we certainly have too much of that going around, don’t we? 

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Antibiotic

dictionary with letter A

Antibiotics (adj): a medicine such as penicillin which inhibits the growth of or destroys microorganisms.

There are two kinds of knowledge.

There is the current information available through research, discovery and even the sharing of hypotheses.

And then there are personal encounters which we all have with various subjects which grant a peek into the inner workings.

Now, some people swear by pursuing educational tools to learn about the universe and its various parts. Other folks are more intent on having a close encounter of the first kind with what they receive.

So when I look at the word “antibiotics,” I don’t immediately jump on Wikipedia and find out what the scientific community has to say about these chemicals which we refer to as “wonder drugs,” but rather, to take just a moment and tell you that for a very brief season in my life, I found myself septic and in need of pouring these concoctions into my system to counteract infection.

They do have truth in advertising, In other words, they are antibiotics, which means they are against all forms of life. They don’t just kill the bad guys in your blood stream, but while they’re there, are very willing to become hit men to all the good ones wearing white hats.

So even though I was appreciative of the cocktail of medication provided for me, I found myself having to take other pills to counteract the effects the antibiotics had on my “happy places.”

All sorts of little blurps came up on the screen during this season of healing. It let me know three very important things:

1. Antibiotics are good because they do attack the bad.

2. Antibiotics, being strong, destroy anything in their path that’s weak.

3. They should be used as infrequently as possible.

So even though I know that many folks swear by antibiotics, by the time I got done interacting with them, I was swearing at antibiotics.

I am not in a hurry to make reacquaintance or have a reunion. My sentiment about antibiotics is similar to my feeling about the sun: it is very nice to enjoy on a day when you’re going to the beach … but I have no particular desire to get any closer.

 

 

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