Another Trip to the Hospital
Friday, February 27, 2009 - 12:55 PM Here we go again! My home healthcare nurse was supposed to have been here Tuesday. She did not show up until yesterday morning. Just a tad bit late, I would say. Yesterday, I was having a lot of pain due to what I thought was another UTI. I talked it over with my nurse, and she decided to call her Director of Nursing at the home healthcare agency. After the two of them had a brief conversation, I was told that I needed to go to the hospital by ambulance. Since I was actually having a lot of pain, I decided not to make an argument out of it. Before calling for the ambulance, I called my brother to let him know where I would be going because I knew that the paramedics would notify him automatically, and I did not want him to be worried. After doing that, I pressed the Lifeline button that I wear around my neck whenever I am home. The paramedics got here quickly. They said that this is not exactly considered an emergency, so I had to be transferred to another unit. The second unit came within 10 minutes, so at least I did not have to wait a long time. As it turned out, I was only kept at the hospital for one hour. This time, I went to a hospital closer to downtown Denver. I used to get my physical therapy at that hospital. By the time I arrived there, they were ready and waiting for me. They called my doctor and talked with him about my situation. After that, they gave me a prescription for 875 mg of amoxicillin. This is a much larger dosage than what I usually take. I am to take two capsules (which I call a horse pills) every 12 hours for 10 days. I believe that they have helped with the UTI, although not so much with the amount of pain I have been having. In order to try and alleviate the pain, I am using the pain medication that I have been taking for my back pain. The combination of the two medications seems to be helping me quite a bit. My nurse was supposed to have called and made an appointment for me to see a urologist. Today is her day off, so I have not heard from her about that. I will check with her again on Monday to see if she did make that phone call for me. If not, then I will make it myself. Having a UTI almost every month in a row for about a year seems to be taking away a lot of energy from me. It is also starting to make me somewhat grumpy. I need to put an end to this type of illness. Stay tuned for another chapter on Monday.
Replies
I wonder if they will end when you finish writing your story. I find that I will get illnesses after a difficult emotional time. I\'ve noticed others on DS having similar experiences, too.
I\'m glad you only had to stay at the hospital for an hour.
You know, my friend\'s little girl has a birth related problem with her bladder and is on a low dosage of antibiotics for at least two years in order to avoid getting an infection. Maybe after this clears up you could go on a low dosage (she says there are no side effects because the dosage is so small) in order to keep the infections at bay? I\'ve noticed that medical care for children is far superior to that for adults and have learned a few things from observing.
Maybe the urologist will do this for you. I hope so.
Take care, friend. Thinking of you.
Oh boy Jim I hope you can get all this infection business taken care of. I hope you start feeling a lot better soon. Many hugs-Stephanie
Have someone get you some Activia yogurt stuff........
Hugs and Mojo
Weebs
Well, that Sam sure is a smart one, isn\'t she ?
I do wonder if the infections will clear up after the issues are resolved.
When I was doing some of my sexual abuse work, I kept getting URI and yeast infections. Both were so painful, to me, it felt just like when the abuse occured.
During one place in abuse work, my UTI got so bad, I could hardly walk.
I did/am continuing to work on my abuse issues.
However, it came to my attention that sometimes when individuals are very sensitive to this type of infection, the irritation never completely heals.
A small percentage of the infection stays dormant and is readily activated when a stressor occurs.
My pc thought it was all in my head. I mentioned his head was in the wrong direction. Even my therapist was rather alarmed and perhaps had some sense of disbelief at the intensity of the attacks involving these infections.
My sister, the vitamin expert, told me to try using cranberry pills and also PB 8 to improve both.
I got the cranberry pills on Amazon.com, PB *, too. They were about 10 or 12 dollars for 120 pills. I only take one a day. I buy two bottles at a time so they last a while.
I have not had one UTI since I started to take the cranberry pills.
I had them all the time before.
PB 8 was suggested for the yeast infections. Not one since.
No rolling your eyes. This is not a concern for you, of course.
But, I know PB 8 is also suggested for healthy gastrointestinal health, as your Weebles mentioned in her activia suggestion.
My doctor thought the cranberry pills and PB 8 were stupid ideas.
But, thanks to them, I am not on all kinds of antibiotics that never completely clear up the infection.
Just a thought.
Ask your doctor.
I will ask my sister about UTI in males and see if she comes up with anything different. She knows everything, according to her.
I am sorry you had to go to the hospital.
I know you loathe the entire scene.
Spring is coming...did you know !!! ??
( Even in Denver. )