As ‘Sassy’ recovers from treatment overseas, she issues ‘colon cleanse’ caution

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By Theresa Goodwin

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Health enthusiasts and other people who are in the habit of using colonic irrigation as a method of cleaning the colon are being advised that they may be doing more harm than good to their bodies.

That bit of advice came from a well-known calypsonian, media personality and shoe repair specialist, Ava “Sassy” Charles McKenzie, who returned last weekend from her native Trinidad and Tobago where she had undergone major surgery as a result of the procedure she thought was a boost to her health regimen.

“I had done two of those [colonics] and I was told by my doctors that there was a tear in my lower intestine, and it burst my appendix. All of those chemicals were leaking into the body poisoning me. I had septic shock as well and there were a lot of things that had to be dealt with to get me back to good health,” Charles McKenzie said.

She was airlifted to Trinidad & Tobago in late July after she suffered multiple organ failure and fell into coma. While there, she had undergone two major surgeries.

Yesterday, she told OBSERVER media that her surgeon in Trinidad has since asked her to, ”warn all women and some of the men who do it as well, this thing called colon cleanse … as far as they are concerned, it’s a very dangerous procedure and we should desist from doing things like that.”

Speaking specifically about her recovery, Charles McKenzie explained that she has to follow strict guidelines from the medical team that is supervising the process.

“I now have to be very careful with what I eat. I am not allowed to eat things like oily food or too much milk. It is a ‘proceed with caution’ type of thing. I have a bit of weakness, I am not able to climb up stairs and that sort of thing, but I will be okay as time passes,” she said.

For the time being, the multi-talented personality will also be restricted from resuming one of her favourite activities — repairing handbags and shoes — due to being restricted against inhaling the chemicals associated with doing that type of work.

Nevertheless, she has expressed heartfelt gratitude to a number of people who have played a huge role in assisting with her recovery, to include the Minister of Health, Molwyn Joseph, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, and all who have contributed to her medical expenses.

The government has contributed US $50,000 towards the US $108,000 medical bill, and many residents have also donated significantly after a number of public appeals had made on her behalf.

“I really want to thank all the persons who have had my back, who have supported — people who I know and people who I do not know. I feel really blessed to be back in fine voice and my health is getting better and the recovery is going really well,” a grateful Charles McKenzie said.

She also shared that she will be travelling to Trinidad on November 22nd for further assessment.

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