Colonoscopies and TMI...

I woke up this morning feeling the skinniest I have felt in a very long time. I wish the reason was because my body finally realized that my exercise and eating habits should be externally shown, but nope, it's because starting at around six o'clock last night, I was pooping my brains out. Don't worry, no UC flare here, but instead, I was prepping for a colonoscopy. Don't be too jealous of my life right now. (Warning: Lots of poop talk below so read on only if okay with that. But really if you're friends with me, you are, so go right ahead.)

Anyway, today I was scheduled for a standard colonoscopy because I haven't had one in a long time. I've actually never even had one here in New York and I've never actually had one when I was healthy. so these were two new parts of this whole experience for me. My previous three colonoscopies were all in Chicago and all because of bad flares. And because this wasn't my first rodeo, I knew what to expect. (See below of a mini recap of past colonoscopies and one sigmoidoscopy.) If you've ever had one of these before, you know the prep for the actual colonoscopy is far worse than the actual procedure. If you don't know that, let me explain...

Right back at it...

It's been a little over a month since my last post. Unfortunately, my Ulcerative Colitis flare did not leave as fast as it came. First I tried prednisone. No improvement. Then Flagyl (an antibiotic). Mild improvement followed by a stand still. Finally, I got my Remicade treatment moved up three weeks early and that seemed to do the trick. Such a relief. Five weeks of misery, pain, and thoughts of "okay, should I just go the ER now" running through my head each night. Suuuucccckkkks.  However, I am now thrilled to say that I am 100% back to good ole me. And I'm so grateful. When you are sick week after week, you start to forget how nice it is to sleep through the night without having to get up 8-10 times to poop. You realize that having a solid poop is such a treat. (You're welcome to all of you that got texts from me telling you as much!) And you forget how nice it is to wake up and think "Whoa, I feel good today." It's a feeling I certainly don't take for granted.

It better leave as fast as it came!

March, you are starting out to be a mega bitch and I'm not liking you. February was ending so well for me and I was looking forward toward spring and all the good that was on the way. I've really been trying to stay positive lately. The start of the year has been rough on me and I had been in quite a funk. The last three weeks or so I was starting to come out of it a bit. So far the year 2014 has been all about me bettering myself and trying to love myself more. I'm not going to lie, this has been quite a struggle for me, but I am taking baby steps in getting where I want and need to be. Then Friday night happened...

My Scoop on Poop

When I was in college, one of my guy friends insisted that girls didn’t poop. He truly believed that when girls went to the bathroom, they released little pink pellets. I mean, this was a 20-year old guy who still refused to believe that us females don’t go to the bathroom and take a giant dump. Apparently his mother never read “Everybody Poops” to him as a child because man, did this kid need a wake-up. Or she read it to him and he was traumatized from that point on. Whatever the case may be, this kid needed a reality check. And so do so many other guys. It may not be  that ridiculous of a point as the pink pellet kid, but I don’t know why there is such a double standard between guys and girls regarding burping, farting and pooping. It’s hilarious when they do it or talk about it, but gross when we do. Not okay.

I don’t know what it is about some guys, but they absolutely refuse to believe that girls poop, fart, or burp and some even try to make us feel bad about it. Well guess what gentleman? Surprise, surprise, us girls are just like you! We go number two. We let ‘em rip. And we belch. And I am not going to ever pretend that I don’t do these things or apologize for doing them. They are part of nature and I for one, am not embarrassed by them. I poop. I fart. And man-oh-man do I burp. But why are some people so weird about this stuff? I really have no idea. We all do it. Spend a few hours with me and I am sure the topic of poop will come up, I I will most def impress the hell out of you with one of my monster burps, and I may even crop dust as we walk down the street. (Don’t worry guys, there’s plenty of me to go around, so don’t all line up at once to request a day to hang.)

Sorry I'm not Sorry

Since I live alone and do a lot of things alone, I am not use to that much judgement by some of my actions. If I ever do live with someone again I will either have to hide these "weird" habits, stop doing them all together (not likely), or just do them and hope the other person still wants to stick around. None of these are abnormal, per se, but they might not be everyone's cup of tea and may think I'm a little cray-cray.

I am someone who is very stuck in her ways and routines and habits and am not ashamed of any of them. They make me who I am and those that know and love me, accept these things. They may make fun of me or call me out on them sometimes if it becomes excessive, but they know it is part of who I am. However, I make no apologies for some of my behavior.  So you know what, sorry I'm not sorry for these.

Stressed Myself Sick

Its been over a month since I posted which is very unlike me. Although I had been posting less and less and YOLOing more and more, I still miss writing. So I guess having my first blog post back be about my bowel issues is quite fitting.

Things have basically been going pretty great for me. I had accepted a very YOLO mantra to many things in my life including booking my Europe trip and accepting invites to events I wouldn't normally go and not worrying so much about the money and being up past my bedtime. I also think I even landed my first position as a spin instructor. (Things still need to be finalized on that front, but it looks like a go. Fingers crossed.)  But along the way, specifically in the last two weeks, there have been some bumps in the road that have caused me a lot of stress and anxiety. And I am annoyed to say that after eleven months of being Ulcerative Colitis flare-up free, I am experiencing major gastro distress. Ugh. Yup, I stressed myself sick and am having my first flare in a long time.

Nut. Milk.

Nut. Milk.

So for the last three days, I have had a liquid diet of juice. By choice. Yup, no chewing. (Not even gum.) Just juice. Cooler Cleanse fresh-pressed, raw, vegan juice. The night before I began the cleanse I didn't sleep well out of anxiety and fear for not eating real food for three days in a row. Although I received a lot of support from friends and family about this cleanse, it still didn't stop the anxiousness. Most people I told about the cleanse were really supportive and excited for me. I was very appreciative of that. People who hadn't done a cleanse before were kind of glad I was their guinea pig because some of them had toyed with the idea of doing one as well. And those that had done it before had nothing but positive things to say about it. This was reassuring and I was glad to have the support and curiosity. Many people also asked if I was going to blog about my Cooler Cleanse experience. My answer: "But of course!!" I love to over-share. And I'm pretty good at it.

I purposely did this cleanse during the work week to assure myself I would be kept busy during the cleanse and not just be laying around the apartment bored or doing longer workouts and running around doing errands on the weekends. Also the timing of it was just perfect which helped my reasoning about doing it (as explained in my post a few days ago.) I also knew that, regardless of the time, if I was spending $174 on juices, I wasn't spending money on anything else and I was going to do this thing just as it is recommended. So how did it go? Well, thanks for asking!! I am sure I will give you more detail than you ever wanted to hear. Additionally, this is probably the longest post I have written to date (although it's three days worth if information so be prepared), but you know what? This is my blog, so I'll do what I want.

TLC continues to make me think

TLC has done it again to me! It has created a TV show that has generated a fascination and caused me to have so many questions. Although TLC has recently been criticized for their programming choices (Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo and Breaking Amish), I must say that I have enjoyed them and actually learned many new things.

This post is a little past due because the TV show that I am going to discuss, Abby and Brittany, ended its first season a few weeks ago. I am unsure if a second season was picked up but it was recently brought up on another show I watch so it brought it to the forefront of my mind again. Last Monday on CBS's Two Broke Girls, the two main characters, Max and Caroline, were lying in bed together (as good friends do,) looking at a computer and Max joked "Seriously, I don't know how Abby and Brittany do it, because I'm uncomfortable with you even sitting this close to me." I laughed out loud. This is actually rare for me when watching TV. Then I thought, geez, there are probably so many people out there that didn't even get this joke because they don't watch all the garbage on TV that I do. They didn't watch TLC's Abby And Brittany about conjoined twins. See... all the hours of my TV viewing is paying off. I got a joke a lot of people probably didn't get on show a lot of people don't even watch. Pat on the back to me.

"Feeding" into the cycle

It's not a secret I am always trying to lose weight. Or at least not gain anymore. Ever. It seems that the watching of my waistline never stops. This has been an ongoing issue since high school and I don't think its a fight I am going to win.  Even though I am not at a weight that I am happy with, I do however, consider myself to be very knowledgeable in the area of dieting, nutrition, and fitness because it has been such a big part of my life. It's always on my mind. It seems that 90% of my life is worrying about my workouts and my food. It's awfully tiring.

The diet industry continues to make millions and millions of dollars every year and its because of women like me. And even though I know this, I feed into to fad diets.  And fad diets really are just that: diets. They are not lifestyle changes. People will go on these diets, lose weight, and then once they stop, they gain it right back. When they do this, they either go back to the original diet or they try a new one. I know this from experience. A lot of experience. It's not something that I am proud of, but it is the truth. I wish I was someone that ate to live, but as it happens to be, I am someone that lives to eat. I love to eat. There I said it. Eating is fun. It can be sociable. And it's oftentimes delicious. Food can make me feel better and put a smile on my face. I am not ashamed to say so. However, sometimes its the over consumption of said food that then makes me feel even worse. It's a bad cycle to fall into.

Having my health back!

Cheers to solid poop and no cramping! Wooooot!

You know what's awesome? Waking up every morning and feeling healthy again! I can happily say that for the last month, I have woken up without really a care in the world. I am not running to the bathroom the second I wake up. Or holding my stomach because I think I am getting stabbed. It's been great.

One of my main goals for the summer was to get healthy and have a "normal" summer without having to go somewhere and immediately wonder where the bathroom is and do I have enough wipes with me. TMI much?! But seriously, this has been a legitimate concern of mine for almost the entire last year minus a few weeks here and there.

I know I only have Ulcerative Colitis and not some life threatening awful, terrible disease in my case at the moment, but I do know that I will not take feeling healthy again for granted. This past year of waking up every single morning wondering how I will feel, and if my health will get in the way of my daily activities is hopefully something of the past. It's not fun to worry about this. And the worrying also can contribute to the stomach issues as well. Its a bad cycle to fall into and its one that I think (and hope) I am out of.

Spreading the Gift of Poop

I have not denied my love for all things poop and farts (and also burps). They are all hilarious. Remember, everyone poops so you should never be shy about your bowels. You should know your audience, but you don't have to be shy about it. I know my audience pretty well and am grateful that many of my close friends are just as open about their bowels as I am. We talk about the frequency, the consistency and even the smell. Yes, we are very classy ladies! But once again, we know our audience and who we can and cannot discuss this stuff around. 

Because of all my GI issues (Hello again UC), much of this has become almost a running joke as to how open I can be. In fact, my friends and family will see things relating to poop and farts and often call or email me about it. Or even if they see something they know I would appreciate, they might buy it for me. I love a good gag gift. And if the gift is useful, that's even better. Three poop/fart related things I have received as gifts are below are are pretty awesome. They clearly show how much the people close to me know me so well.

1) Poo-Pourri. This gift actually came from one of my mom's closest friends. She knew I had been very ill and having more UC problems. She is super thoughtful and always buying gifts for people here and there. She saw this at a store and purchased one for my mom and one for me. It's a spray that you are supposed to spray in the toilet BEFORE you poop to eliminate the smell. Pretty genius idea. And also pretty clutch if you are pooping away from home. Things can get dicey when you don't have the home court advantage so having this (and even some matches) can help. I have yet to take it with me anywhere, basically because I forget, but I should give it a go elsewhere. I have tried it at home and it works decently. I mean, it definitely is better than nothing. It smells pretty nice and as the container says "Spritz in the bowl before you go and no one else will ever know."

My Love/Hate Relationship with Trail Mix

I have a love. This love also happens to be one of my worst enemies. But I just can't stay away. "Why hello there...Trail Mix."  (This of course being said in a Jerry Seinfeld voice like when he sees Neuman.) (Please tell me you get that reference!!) You see, Trail mix and I go way back and it always starts out great, but then we don't agree so much with each other. Since I have such bad stomach issues (Hello Ulcerative Colitis!), I really am supposed to stay away from nuts, seeds, corn and generally anything high fiber. What goes in must come out as the story goes, so this can become a big issue for me. But sometimes there is nothing better than a post trail mix binge poop. Sorry, I had to go there.

MY UC

This week was my first full week back at work since being sick and being in the hospital. Stupid Ulcerative Colitis (UC). I missed 6 days of work in row, and in the teaching world, that is a lifetime. Considering I have missed like 12 days total in my 7 years of teaching, this was a big deal. When I got back to work, my welcome back was overwhelming. The kids had made me cards and there were hugs all around. They were generally excited to have me back which felt good. And many of my colleagues popped in to say hi and see how I was feeling. It was all very sweet. Everyone knows that I rarely miss work so if I was out, it must have been serious. The thing is though, its hard to explain to people what exactly UC is. Some of my fellow teachers know that I have it. They also knew that I had been feeling like shit for the prior three weeks and hadn't been myself at work recently. I don' think they realized how sick I really was though the last week or so. Upon my return, one teacher even said to me "Oh, I used to have Colitis but it went away." Um, sorry dude, that's not how it works. Once you have it, you have it. Forever. It's an autoimmune disease that you have the rest of your life. Maybe you had the stomach flu. Or maybe even irritable bowel. But not UC.

Thank You Friends!

This past year has not been the best one on record for me health-wise. First I broke my foot, then I had a Colitis flare-up followed by a bad bacterial infection resulting from medication to treat the flare-up. Then I re-hurt my foot because I started exercising too quickly after healing. On New Years Day, I came down with strep throat which I hadn't had since high school, and just recently I had a very bad Colitis Flare-up again. For a girl who considers herself pretty healthy, these incidences one after the other with little reprieve in between have been just plain annoying. Every time I get better from one thing, something new happens. I am just hoping that this last bout of illness, because of its severity, will be my last for a while. It really takes a lot out of someone physically and mentally, to be sick for so long.

This recent Colitis flare-up began about three weeks ago while I was on vacation. All my usual symptoms started mildly and I immediately contacted my doctor and we began to try and get it under control.  After trying two medications that usually work, things actually started to get worse for me. A new type of pain and discomfort began to occur. The doctor had me come in and he ran some tests so we could get ahead of this. By this time, I was about 2 weeks into being sick and my pain was pretty bad. Try going to work everyday in almost excruciating pain, all while trying not to shit your pants in front of a group of high schoolers. Not fun. Wouldn't recommend it. I was pretty much miserable day after day and trying to hide it to the best of my ability while at work. But after throwing up at school, and toughing it out for one more day, I called the doctor again to try something new and had to call in sick the next two days hoping that those days off and the upcoming weekend would give me the rest and time with new medication to get me starting to feel better. Didn't happen. After my parents and friends tried to get me to go the ER for the past 4 days, I finally conceded, and trekked across the street to the hospital. (I am very lucky one of the very best hospitals in the area is so close to my apartment.) I have not been to the ER since I was first diagnosed with Colitis eight years ago, and even then they kept me as long as they could without having to admit me. That was traumatic enough of an event being so sick without my parents, but at least I could go back to my apartment at the end of the day. This time around I was not so lucky. They were admitting me to the hospital. I really couldn't believe it. I thought I'd get some IV fluids and antibiotics and be on my merry way. No such luck.

"One for All, All for Poop"

Pooping is something very personal. Usually people like to poop with a home-court advantage. That is, in the privacy of their own home. However, things don't always work out that way and you have to poop in a public place. Whether its just a regular poop or explosive diarrhea (I have been in both situations many-a-times), you are still very self-conscious that there are other people in the bathroom. And guess what, they might be pooping too (or not). To quote a fantastic article I read from Thought Catalog, "Go for it. Poop your heart out. Poop like there’s no tomorrow. Poop like nobody’s watching. I mean that. I don’t care if it’s the biggest poop in the history of poops, I promise I won’t think badly of you." And that's the truth. We all know what its like to be on both sides of the stall so to speak, so really, why is it so embarrassing? Pooping is normal. Remember, everybody poops. However, there are times where your poops are so super-duper that you really don't want anyone around and that's understandable as well. Maybe they are worse than the scenes below, (probably not as dramatic), but hey, we've all been there...

Harold And Kumar This scene has two "hot" girls in the bathroom while Harold and Kumar are secretly in there listening. Both girls decide to take a dump and play a friendly game of "Battle Shits." I can't believe this game take-off nationally?!

Should I have called in sick?

There are just some times when you don't want to go to work. Maybe you were out too late drinking last night? Maybe you were all up all night having sex? Maybe you just don't feel well? Or maybe you just need a mental health day? Whatever it is, sometimes you go into work against your better judgement when you just should have called in sick. On those days, you do the professional thing and show up because you don't want to screw anyone else over. However, sometimes, things are so bad you just should have stayed home because your productivity level might be at a low and your anxiety level might be at a high. Below are some of the days when I just should have called in sick...

1) Take Your Hangover to Work Day. An expected or unexpected night of drinking on a weeknight can be dangerous. What might have been a night of "yeah, I'll just have a drink or two" turns into "WTF happened last night and how did I even get home? And why is there vomit on my bathroom wall?" does not make for a good morning. These are the days that I am too embarrassed for myself to call in sick because I should know better by now than to get so drunk on a school night. Yet I occasionally do it. I deserve the misery that I am feeling at this moment. The exhaustion, nausea, headache, etc... are all my own fault. So I will suck it up, get up, treat myself a greasy breakfast and a Gatorade without any guilt and will this stupid hangover away. It usually lasts until about lunchtime and then I am okay because I have to be. I just have to. I can't let my teenage students know I am hungover. Unacceptable. So I will it away. Sometimes I think its better to just get going with the day even though I am miserable because otherwise I will sit home and bask in my hungover-ness all day. At work, at least I won't feel as worthless and irresponsible.

Something I am actually shy about

I will burp in front of pretty much anyone. Anytime. Anywhere.  Same goes with talking about poop. But there is one thing that I do find to be pretty personal and I really have to know you and trust you to do in front of you. And that my friend, is farting. Believe it or not,  I will not just fart in front of anyone. In fact, I can probably count on less than two hands the people I will actually fart in front of. Obviously this number does not count all the lucky folks that are behind me when I crop-dust down the street. Booyah.

I don't know what it is about farting that makes me so shy about it. With my openness with so many other subjects, this is usually shocking to people close to me. But they do probably appreciate that I don't fart in front of them. And for those I do fart in front of, I will go above and beyond the act of a simple fart. I will announce my fart. I will fart on you. And I will dutch oven you. Then I will laugh and laugh about it. After all, farting is funny. In fact, its pretty hilarious. (Some of the funniest movie scenes are fart/poop scenes (Harold and Kumar, Dumb and Dumber, even the pink-eye scene in Knocked Up)). So once I get started farting in front of you and break that barrier, look out.

So who do you fart in front of? Family? Friends? Boyfriend? Husband? If you are one of those people (and by people, I mean ignorant men) that think "Eeew, girls don't fart" (or poop), you are going to have a very rude awakening when you get married unless your wife is as weird about it as you are. Then by all means, you are probably perfect for each other and the most boring, stick-up-your-ass couple out there. Farting is natural. It's also totally normal. And everybody does it. Everybody. I just read a fantastic blog article about farting that had me laughing out loud. Especially the second paragraph. It was so spot on. Farting is funny. Period. So let's just be more open about it, myself included.

I can only hope when I do meet the man of my dreams, he will obviously be very impressed with my phenomenal burping skills, but more importantly, when I do decide to fart in front of him, he will love me just the same no matter how loud or how smelly. Because lets be honest, if you have to hold in all that gas for the rest of your life, its going to stink.

The Day I Carried Poop in my Bag ALL day

As previously mentioned, I have Ulcerative Colitis. Every once in a while, I get a flare-up and things get bad. How bad? I have never given birth before but based on videos I have seen and stories I have heard, I feel that I am more than prepared pain-wise because of this illness. That's how bad my stomach cramping gets. I even do Lamaze breathing when they hit.  Also, when I get a flare-up, its the only time, like ever, that I don't want to eat. This is how those around me know I am sick. It takes a lot for me not to eat. I love food. But when I start to fear it because of the pain it causes me, its time to see the doctor. And with these flare-ups, even with eating little to nothing, I am still in the bathroom double-digit times a day. Not okay.

Anyway, this recent flare-up has been the worst I have ever had in my life. It started like all my other flare-ups had. I called the doctor and got a prescription for the medicine that I usually get for this. Usually I take this medication and am healthy in a week or two. This time around, a month passed and I still was miserable. (This accompanied by my broken foot was not a fun combination.) After trying another new medication and still not improving, the doctor requested that I submit a stool sample to see if there is another underlying infection. I said I would be in the next day to pick up the kit for this test.

This isn't my kit, but very similar.

The following day I went to the hospital to pick up this kit which included a special toilet bucket for the "sample" and 4 vials for the "sample." And by sample, I obviously mean my poop. Duh. They said I could do the test at home and bring it to the lab when I was done. I didn't want to have to transport my own poop on the train and around town so I waited at the doctor's office for about a half hour to see if I could just poop there, fill my vials and bring it down to the lab. No dice. I guess I would have to take the kit home, and take my "sample" in the next day. I will spare you the details of how I had to collect the samples. But lets just say I had to take what was in the bucket and put it in the vials. Got it? Yeah, not a pleasant experience. At all.

What's the Poop?

Poop. Crap. Doody. Shit. It's brown, it's smelly, and it's gross. But guess what?  Everyone does it. Everyone. So why are so many people so weirded out talking about poop? I for one am not. And my family most certainly is not. We grew up in a very open household where very little was off-limits for conversation. It didn't hurt that my brother and I weren't blessed with the best genes. He has Crohn's disease and I have Ulcerative Colitis. Thanks a lot mom and dad for our "shitty" genes. Ah, a pun! Hilarious. I crack myself up.

 Because of our autoimmune diseases we have become very comfortable with talking about our bowels with whoever will listen. Whether we have diarrhea, are constipated, have blood in our poop, have terrible gas, or just plain need to go, we feel the need to share with each other or those around us.  We are the probably the reason the phrase "TMI" was invented. After a great poop, I have no shame walking into a room, patting my stomach, and stating to my friends that I am now five pounds thinner.  I also have no issue voicing to those around me that I have to poop when I need to go. (I do know my audience, so I do know when and who this is appropriate around. I do have some boundaries.) I am thankful that I have friends that are okay with the poop talk and are comfortable enough to join in the convo and share along with me. I am even luckier that I have some colleagues (who also happen to be my good friends) who are just as open. We can talk about poop at meetings, at lunch, and even sometimes play "Battleshits" after school. Okay, I was kidding about the last one, but we are very open with each other. Sometimes, pooping in the bathroom stall at work is the only time of day we get to catch up and gossip.  See, pooping brings people together! 

I hope reading this didn't gross you out or make you never want to have a conversation with me again with a fear that the talk will turn to poop. I can't promise it won't. It might turn to sex, guys, food, whatever. With me, its a mixed bag, but I can guarantee it won't be boring.

It's like a car crash

I have lived in NYC for seven years now. In those seven years I have witnessed some pretty interesting things. Things that make my mouth drop, my head shake, and have me calling my mom immediately to explain what I just saw.  She almost always replied with "Are you sure you still love it there?" And I of course respond with a resounding "YES!  Below are four of the grossest situations I have witnessed in NYC so far. They are what I like to call my "OMG moments." I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. They are disgusting and inappropriate, but are not totally uncommon to people that live in this wonderful city that I now call home.

1) Man shitting behind a tree. I was playing the outfield during a softball game at DeWitt-Clinton field. There happens to be a little homeless population back behind the outfield just hanging out, doing their thing. Next thing I know, I look back a good 20 feet behind me at the big tree and a man has his pants down and is taking a dump right under the tree. I was in the middle of the game, but could not help but stare. It was like a car crash and I couldn't look away. I just hoped a fly ball didn't come my way. Thank the lord it didn't.

2) Man peeing on subway door. The very same night of #1, after the game, I walked back to the subway on 57th and 7th. A train I actually took to and from work everyday. It was about 10 pm and it is the last stop on that train so it sits in the station until it is ready to leave again. I sat down in a seat and then some man just enters my car, walks to the back doors, pulls down his pants, pees all over the door, zips up, and walks right back off the train. I immediately switched train cars.

3) Man on my stoop sitting in a puddle of his own diarrhea. This is the most recent of incidents and by far the grossest. It was a weekday and I was leaving my apartment at like 7:30 in the morning to head to work. When I walked out my front door, there was a homeless man sitting on my stoop in a puddle of his own diarrhea. This was not just any puddle. This was an enormous, brown, liquid puddle of shit. It was all over his pants and all around his feet and he was just sitting there. I obviously walked as far away from him as possible but not before dry heaving. I automatically felt sorry for my super who was obviously going to have to clean it up. So. Gross. It still makes me cringe when I think about it.

4) Penis Man. I saw this man my first month living in NYC. I was walking in Chelsea down Sixth Ave in the teens and a man pushing his shopping cart with his stereo playing music was walking toward me. It was the middle of the day and there were a lot of other pedestrians out walking around. As he got closer, I noticed that his fly was open and his dick was just hanging out of his pants. This was of course another situation where you know you should look away, but you just can't.

Although these stories are pretty gross, I am sure there are even grosser ones out there that other New Yorkers have. I am just thankful I haven't witnessed any of these yet.  And if that day comes when one of these stories are topped, you better believe I will be calling my mother right after to share all the juicy, gory details.