Kidney Infection

Yes, I was feeling almost better.  Almost Ok, and then one debacle after another.  The end of the story: I had a kidney infection.  I just finished the last of my course of antibiotics (and I took my probiotics too, those are important!) and I go to my own doctor next week so I will get tested to make sure the infection is gone.  Plus, since I had a kidney stone, and endometriosis around the area of my left kidney, I will also ask her what I can do to encourage kidney health.  So far, I've just been continuing to drink some cranberry juice (well cranberry juice and other juices mixed because straight cranberry juice is not something I enjoy at all, but for the purists out there, I did manage to finish a bottle of the organic straight cranberry juice and it was certainly... Tangy).  

If you recall back, I had gone to the hospital with back pain and had my worst ER experience ever... and I even blogged about it.  If you are not caught up, please click HERE and read that entry first.  I did end up writing to the hospital and the CEO of the chain of hospitals about my encounter and they were very quick about following up with me, so that was good.  They also had the doctor who treated me call, but I skipped that one because I couldn't think of anything valuable we could say to one another.  I made my points, she never came back to speak with me after my few tests, so I think that she dropped the ball a bit.  One key thing that I recognized at the time and then forgot is that nobody tested my urine.  I even brought a bottle of water with me just in case.  I have never been to an ER and not had my urine tested.

(possible signs of a kidney infection in women)

Cut to a week and a half ago and I ended up going to the ER AGAIN with back pain.  Granted, it was worse back pain.  Felt similar to the kidney stone I had but on a much lower scale.  (Kidney stones should just have their own scale and not be counted when we talk about pain levels).  I had been up all night (so over 24 hours when I got to the ER) and I really did not want to wake up my mom on her FIRST day after she finished her radiation just to have her go back to the hospital, but by daybreak, I knew I needed to go.  I had taken my regular pain meds, then I took an extra dose, and my pain was getting worse, not better, throughout the night.  I also had been having the occasional sensation of feeling the need to pee but not actually needing to but that occasionally happens to me.  Usually, the worse the pain, the more that occurs.  I guess the nerves in that area get all inflamed.  I had already spoken to the person in charge of nurses previously so I had hope that perhaps something would be written in my file like "please be nice to this person" or something.  With my luck... I should have known.  The nurse who came and got me was the very nurse who I had written a complaint about some weeks earlier and her bedside manner has not improved.  She again casually told me I should have my uterus removed and that they would see if I had endometriosis from my scans.  Both of those statements are incorrect, in case anyone was agreeing with her.  She was just rude, blunt and uneducated about AT LEAST endometriosis.  I felt vindicated that my mother was there to see this because I could tell from her face she was NOT happy with this nurse either.  So first, we asked for a different nurse, which I could tell was not  something that was done often in the ER.   Luckily I had already spoken with that Head Nurse from my last visit, so I had her name written down to drop casually.  From then on, it was a totally different experience.  Everyone was efficient, kind, and attentive.  Since with the ER they couldn't just get a new nurse, we had to get a new room instead, but that was a simple transition.  Interestingly, the Idiot Nurse I had at the beginning came and apologized to me.  She incorporated a ton of unnecessary excuses, but she did apologize and I recognize that that is not easy to do, even if (as I suspect) she was directed to do so.  But while I did appreciate the apology, the more I reflect on it, the more I feel like calling her superior again because basically everything that she said to me was inappropriate and if it wasn't, her tone of voice made it so.  Very belittling; I mean to ask someone why they didn't just get rid of their uterus when you have no idea of their medical history and you are not a specialist in the field... SO inappropriate!!  My mom later said we should have asked her if she would just cut off her foot if it started to ache.  Valid argument with the way this woman was going.

Anyway, once I got to the "happy/intelligent" room, they gave me an IV right away with pain medication and fluids, then tried something else more specific for pain as well when they identified a kidney infection from MY URINE SAMPLE.  No unnecessary tests, and after having an IV for three hours, only a tiny red mark was left on my arm where the needle was inserted.  So I had some fluids and a course of IV antibiotics right there in the ER which I think was a great idea.  They made sure I was comfortable and in less pain, then everyone changed shifts and I met two of possibly the nicest nurses I have ever at the pleasure of seeing.  They were just wonderful.  Sadly, I now wonder how long I had had this kidney infection and if it would have shown up if someone had bothered to test for it during that previous terrible visit.  They ran tests that I knew then were pointless but I trusted that maybe they knew something I didn't.  As it turned out, for that particular visit, I think I knew more than the medical professionals.  For infections though, I know the sooner it is treated, the better in terms of recovery and treatment.  I also looked up kidney infections when I got a chance and found that one of the risk factors for kidney infections is... Being Female.  Awesome.

So if you had been wondering if I was MIA, I was pretty out of touch for about 10 days.  I had been having worse pain  before that too so I truly have no idea when all of this began.  Luckily, my antibiotics are through and, as I said, I see a competent doctor next week who I think will tie up any loose ends, if there are any.  I hope all of you are having a nice kidney-infection-free week/weekend!!  And if you haven't yet, please go take my challenge and leave some comments!!  If I don't know you, please still comment, any dialogue would be great!  I will be reminding everyone incessantly about that post until I get some ideas flowing! :)