Plumbing Issues
Thank you for reading my blog,
Saturday night after everyone came over to do some baking, which was five of us in all. I went to the bathroom with no issues and then took a shower and then after an hour I used the bathroom again, and then it started backing up the toilet. I plunged and plunged it, and then I snaked it with a 6 foot snake. It still didn't work, since I was wearing my slip-on shoes that got soaked. I ended up throwing them away because I thought that was gross with them being soaked in toilet water. I wiped off my legs and body with Clorox wipes. I took off my clothes and rewiped off myself. I put on more clothes and went to stay at a hotel because not just the toilet backed up, but it backed up into the shower and the other bathroom as well.
The next day was Sunday, and I was going to go up north to see my aunt with everybody else for Christmas before all this happened. I decided to still go up. I reserved a 75 foot auger at Home Depot. I picked it up on the way home and spent about 3 hours working on the sewer drain before I took it back. I just set the toilet over the hole for now. I ran the water in the shower a little bit. It seemed like it was working. I cleaned the whole entire place up, wiped everything back off, made it nice and neat with Clorox Wipes. I throughout a bunch of towels that soaked up all the waste water. I took a shower and it started filling up only a little, which it does a lot, so I didn’t think anything of it. I needed to wash clothes, so I washed them. I checked the toilet and I didn't see anything running out of the bottom. I thought maybe I got it unclogged. I threw the clothes in the dryer. I went and opened up the door to the bathroom and the bathroom was flooded again. I put more towels down just to keep it from running out into the hallway. I had my bed and other laundry to do, which I didn't do. I cannot sleep on an unmade bed, and I only have one set of sheets. I do have a single bed that my aunt sleeps on when she is in town, but I didn't even think about it. I was so tired with everything, I just ended up sleeping in a reclining chair. I slept horribly. Got up Monday morning, and called a plumber a little after 7 a.m. It took them all day to inspect it, and do a couple of things. There were a total of four guys going in and out of the house. It was a disaster for me. Two of the guys weren't too bad with wearing gloves and not touching stuff after playing with the sewer stuff, but the other two were touching everything, and it was driving my OCD crazy. I tried to make sure I opened the door to let them in and out of the house even if it was the guys who did a good job with wearing gloves and paying attention to what they touched. I decided to have the company do the outside sewer, but not the inside at this time. The outside is the worst right now. It cost me a lot of money to do just the outside sewer. The inside sewer they have to tear up the floor and maybe part of the wall. I cannot afford to do both at this time. They finally left around 4p.m. except for a guy that the company sent to start digging, which he left at 5 p.m. I rewiped and cleaned everything up, put the toilet back on, wiped the shower back off because the one guy who was wearing gloves touched everything after playing with the inside of the sewer. After cleaning everything up I did a load of laundry and then took a shower. It is almost 8 p.m., I can finally rest for the night. This was so hard. I tried not to think about the grossness of the situation, however that is almost impossible with it being right in front of me. I did ruminate, however I didn’t let it get crazy out of control. What I mean is I stayed focused on this situation at hand. I didn’t let my mind wander into fantasy land by over thinking how sick I could get from the sewer stuff, or what I maybe have to amputate because of what I came in contact with. Work with me on this, I’m trying to think positively of how I handle this. I need it right now. It was super hard on me all by myself, and the four guys had no idea how I was feeling. I felt really alone.
Along with all of that going on, I had to use the master bathroom. Let me explain. Dad used to use the master bathroom. The stuff mom and I had to clean up in there, along with the smell I cannot get out of there has made it impossible for me to use it at all. I can still see stuff that isn’t there clear as a bell in my mind. I even had my ex-wife come over to clean it also. She got most of the smell out, at the same time it is a very gross place for me and my OCD to be. I was looking at redoing the entire bathroom because of how gross in my mind it is. I had to reclean the bathroom a little for the reason after the plumbers got the line unclogged, I heard a pop like an air bubble. When I went in there was some toilet water on the seat and the floor. I had to push through it last night, and use it. Unless I wanted to stay somewhere else, which I didn’t want to do. In a positive way of thinking about this it is making me push through my OCD issues with the master bathroom. I still haven’t used the sink. That is another challenge. I am not sure I can do it.
Now it is Tuesday and they sent one guy back to dig. They will hopefully be finished Wednesday Christmas Eve. No, they didn’t finish Wednesday, but they told me that they will finish on Friday. It will take them about two hours. I reinstalled the toilet in the front bathroom, however I cannot use it for the reason I broke the handle putting it back in. I couldn’t buy another hand because everything was closed by the time the plumbers left. I cannot just put away my plumbing tools that I use on certain things. I did wipe off all the tools I used on putting the toilet back in with Clorox wipes before putting them away. I do this at work too. I don’t do it all the time. Only when fixing a toilet or a urinal. I’ve wanted to do some stuff on my Christmas Break from work, instead I have been at home waiting for the plumbers or watching the plumbers. On the positive side, I will be able to get more stuff done away from the house after Friday, and I didn’t have to take off work to deal with the plumbing problem.
They finally got it done today which is Saturday, but three hours later, and after I pulled the toilet again I called them back with the same issue. They are coming back to jet it again. They might scope again too. Not sure. I was just starting to feel less stressed over all of this. I really don’t like people checking out my life no matter if it is someone I know or don’t know. This blog is very long, so I’m going to stop here. I will let you know what is happening next year.
Have a Happy New Year!
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January 10, 2026 is Phoenix One Million Steps for OCD Walk. 8:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. at Kiwanis Park, Temp, Arizona, Check in at Ramada 14
Here are some websites to find help with your OCD.
In Arizona
https://ocdandptsdtherapy.com/
United States & Global
Please remember that I am not a therapist, but a person who has OCD, cares about others, and wants to help any way I can. I am not giving advice. I am just telling my own experiences, and praying my experiences help someone. If you need help please go get the help you need.
Until next time,
Tracy T. Agnelli
