Following week, I am at my doctor's office and lab shows I still have WBC in my urine. The pain has diminished some but still present. Let's go have a scan done to make sure that you don't have kidney stones. Round two of antibiotics. Still working mandatory overtime. Stones are not present.
Two weeks later, I am being told to come back to the doctor's office for another lab to check the WBC. I tell them, I am covered 100% if I go to Lab One, so give me an order slip, I will check in there and we can see what the result is. I get a phone call from the doctor's office on Tuesday (Thursday was the pee date), the specimen could not be used as it was too old. I called the lab and of course it was the courier's fault, not the person that had the cup. Still working mandatory overtime, but pain in abdominal area comes and goes.
Two weeks from the last time I arrived at Lab One, I come again for a pee cup. I get a call on Wednesday from my doctor's office. Specimen could not be used as the identification did not match. WTH does that mean? I called headquarters to find out. The dumb rod at the lab wrote Ashland on my specimen and as that did not match the doctor's orders or my name, they pitched the golden nectar. Still working mandatory overtime and stress level is off the charts!
Day after doctor's office called, I found out that with the change in our insurance plan, Lab One is not 100% covered and I have worked by self through all this garbage for nothing. I walked across the parking lot to Boyce and Bynum for a pee! Damn, could that toilet be any closer to the ground now? How the hell do they expect an adult to hold a cup and squat as if they were outside in the bushes I ask you? That afternoon, phone call from the doctor's office, I have WBC still and third round of antibiotics. Mandatory overtime, stress, burned-out, hating my office, my job and you name it!
OY! Two weeks later I feel like crap. Left work early on Tuesday I felt so bad. I am coughing up a lung (well my ribs hurt so much from the coughing that is what it felt like) and thank goodness I have a follow-up appointment with my doctor. I get there to pee in a cup and found out that was all they wanted me to do. Oh no - you are so going to see me! I took off from work for this when I could have gone across the parking lot again - no, no, no! I was there for almost two hours. Pee still had WBC, had to have a breathing treatment, stopped by Walgreen's to get the drugs and crawled into bed for the medicine to take effect. Mandatory overtime, I have been off 2 1/2 days without pay as I am out of sick time, feeling lousy, want my mommy, can't breath, just ready to die (so of course I will live!).
Time to visit the specialist now as three rounds of antibiotics should clear up the WBC but it hasn't. Appointment made for 4/26/10, the Monday after the 50th anniversary weekend for the parents. Thursday a.m. in the middle of the night, I wake up HURTING like crazy with UTI symptoms again. OMG!!! I called the doctor's office to get some antibiotic for the pain. They called me to tell me the order was made at Walgreen's and in the course of the conversation, oh wait! Don't you have an appointment at the Urologist on Monday? If you take this, you will not be able to give a good specimen. Get some AZO OTC stuff and if you can tough it out, that is what they recommend. Mandatory overtime, but maybe the last one for a while, pain is almost unbearable, 50th weekend plans and stuff I need to do.
Weekend went well, but I was miserable the entire time. I fell asleep around midnight on Saturday/Sunday with the TV on and was awake from 2 to 5:30 and probably went to the bathroom 7 or 8 times in that time frame. My dad thinks I was up until 5:30 just because that was when I turned the TV off. It took all my energy to not make my problem an issue during the weekend. The emotional and physical strain was too much, really.
Monday - appointment with the Urologist. The want me to use this port-a-pot like you see in the rest home with a cone shaped funnel in place for you to pee into for a flow to some sort of meter. I kid you not, that chairwas about 24 inches wide and I don't know if you have noticed, but my ass passed that mark a long time ago. So I peed in the cup as normally prior to examination. The doctor comes in takes one look and says I am positive you have a yeast infection and nothing wrong with your bladder. I am a bladder man, not a gynecologist, but I will do a catheter of your bladder to eliminate the possibility of the bladder. In the meantime, the man gives me a prescription for yeast infection. Most women take one or two pills - I get 7 days worth. Tell you anything? Problem is I am showing UTI symptoms and yeast infection symptoms (not really, but some) and yet, there is something telling me that this is not it.
Day 6 of infection - shouldn't I be feeling some relief. My doctor wants me to go get an ultra sound to check for cyst on my ovaries as the abdominal pain is still present, coming and going. I drink my quart of water and just didn't output the amount I should have. She sure did take a lot of pictures so I was sure that I had a cyst, it was big and moving around (to account for the pain not always present). Mandatory overtime no more!
Day 7 of infection - damn it I HURT! Every time I urinate, at the end it is all I can do to not scream or cry. I really HURT!!! Something just is not right, Urologist's office called my cell phone that afternoon while I am working (it is turned off like a good person that I am). I can't get anyone at the office, so I call the hospital to have the Dr. call me back from home. I want some relief now. Of course, he doesn't have that information at home and can't call in my prescription. I have to wait until the next day. Can't even tell me the problem so all I know is that the bladder is the problem.
Day 8 of infection - just stick a needle in me now, I am done. I can't take anymore and we all know I have no tolerance for pain in the first place. I have e-coli infection (don't ask me how) and prescription is ready. I should see some improvement by the second dosage. I was not able to get off work to pick up the medicine until done for the day, so there is a Day 9 in the horizon. Doctor's office called - the ultra sound was good and my ovaries are fine. Okay, so what is the problem with the pain in my abdominal area may I ask? The infection apparently. I am not sure if this is correct or if I am just having problems with the fact that this was not caught sooner.
Day 9 of infection - it is true that improvement was seen after the second dosage but still having some issues. Not needing to scream or cry when urinating does indicate it is working. However, pain in abdomen is making itself known more often than not now. Hoping that by the end of the day I am feeling even more like myself as Ginny is coming to spend the weekend and don't want it to be me being crabby. Saturday is Georgetown garage sale and I want to go feeling well, not sick. I have met more than half my deductible with this crap...what could I have done differently and what could my doctor have done differently? Plenty I am sure. It has been two and a half months of hell, let me tell you but I think I am going to live.
