Part Seven ~The Last Pill/Urology/Gyno/None Of This Should Have Happened
Finally! The last Flagyl pill! I cried, happy to be done with that vile medicine.
Now all I had to do was finish the new antibiotic and be on my way to recovery, and pray like hell the antibiotic wouldn't cause me to get C-diff again. When your intestines are empty of bacteria and C-diff gets in there, it takes over. This is what happened to me initially. So every time I'd go to the bathroom and it didn't look right or smelled off, I would panic and cry, and fear it was coming back. There was no way I could handle going through that again, I was pretty sure if I got it again so quickly, I'd die. The recurrence rate of 30% was hanging over my head. I still live with this fear two years later, because once it's inside of your body, it's there for life. I can get a C-diff infection again.
If there's a medical/illness induced subtype of PTSD, I'm pretty damn sure I have it.
I'm glad I was delusional of what my intestines would go through for quite some time. I did read that it can take up to two years after C-diff for your intestines to return to normal - if ever. That I could deal with though. After the infection and the effects of the Flagyl, anything else would be a piece of cake.
I finally got in to see Urology. I was so excited to find out what happened to have caused all of this medical maelstrom, and to learn how to prevent it.
I pee'd in a cup and chatted with the doc about everything I'd been through. And I cried. I couldn't discuss it with anyone without crying. I believe that was my medical PTSD kicking in.
After all that, I got looks of pity from him and his nurse. I went online before my appointment and printed out the results from early December when I was first told I had a UTI, and he looked it over. He paused, and said if I had no symptoms, he wouldn't have treated me based on that urine test.
WHAT??? The past month and a half of HELL didn't need to, and shouldn't have happened.
My urine test for the urologist wasn't perfect, but it was my kind of perfect.
Turns out, for most people, asymptomatic bacteriuria does not cause any problems and treatment is not necessary.
I never should've been on all of those antibiotics.
Why were my numbers in the ER always so high? No one knows, I suspect it was because I had C-diff and no one knew it (other than me), and it was somehow contaminating my urine. (It's difficult when your intestines are constantly pouring out putrid liquid, to keep it separate from your urine sample). I tried to explain that, but it fell on deaf ears.
That's my take on it, but I'm no expert.
I finally got in to see my new gynecologist a couple weeks later in February. Had my exam, and pap smear. All was well with the pap, however they did say my uterus felt larger than normal. But I didn't know if that was normal for me and neither did they since they never saw me before, and I didn't have any records from the doc who fled town to compare to. No idea what the ovary pain was. They suspected fibroids. Great, something else to stress about. They scheduled me to come back for a transvaginal ultrasound. Which is pretty much what it sounds like, they stick a "wand" up inside of you and take pictures.
Meanwhile, my bowels still weren't working properly, and I had finally gotten a Gastro doctor appointment, but wouldn't be seen for another couple of weeks due to all the mix ups and confusions with the insurance.
Remember, no one would test me for C-diff, they thought I had an intestinal disease, not an infection. Had I waited to see Gastro for my "disease" I probably would have died from the infection and/or side effects from it. It took over two months to get in to see Gastro from the onset of my C-diff. Two. Months. All due to the insurance issues, it's so easy to see how our health care system is failing and people are dying.
So there I was waiting for my appointments for Gyno and Gastro, and had a follow up with Urology...
Now all I had to do was finish the new antibiotic and be on my way to recovery, and pray like hell the antibiotic wouldn't cause me to get C-diff again. When your intestines are empty of bacteria and C-diff gets in there, it takes over. This is what happened to me initially. So every time I'd go to the bathroom and it didn't look right or smelled off, I would panic and cry, and fear it was coming back. There was no way I could handle going through that again, I was pretty sure if I got it again so quickly, I'd die. The recurrence rate of 30% was hanging over my head. I still live with this fear two years later, because once it's inside of your body, it's there for life. I can get a C-diff infection again.
If there's a medical/illness induced subtype of PTSD, I'm pretty damn sure I have it.
I'm glad I was delusional of what my intestines would go through for quite some time. I did read that it can take up to two years after C-diff for your intestines to return to normal - if ever. That I could deal with though. After the infection and the effects of the Flagyl, anything else would be a piece of cake.
I finally got in to see Urology. I was so excited to find out what happened to have caused all of this medical maelstrom, and to learn how to prevent it.
I pee'd in a cup and chatted with the doc about everything I'd been through. And I cried. I couldn't discuss it with anyone without crying. I believe that was my medical PTSD kicking in.
After all that, I got looks of pity from him and his nurse. I went online before my appointment and printed out the results from early December when I was first told I had a UTI, and he looked it over. He paused, and said if I had no symptoms, he wouldn't have treated me based on that urine test.
WHAT??? The past month and a half of HELL didn't need to, and shouldn't have happened.
My urine test for the urologist wasn't perfect, but it was my kind of perfect.
Turns out, for most people, asymptomatic bacteriuria does not cause any problems and treatment is not necessary.
I never should've been on all of those antibiotics.
Why were my numbers in the ER always so high? No one knows, I suspect it was because I had C-diff and no one knew it (other than me), and it was somehow contaminating my urine. (It's difficult when your intestines are constantly pouring out putrid liquid, to keep it separate from your urine sample). I tried to explain that, but it fell on deaf ears.
That's my take on it, but I'm no expert.
I finally got in to see my new gynecologist a couple weeks later in February. Had my exam, and pap smear. All was well with the pap, however they did say my uterus felt larger than normal. But I didn't know if that was normal for me and neither did they since they never saw me before, and I didn't have any records from the doc who fled town to compare to. No idea what the ovary pain was. They suspected fibroids. Great, something else to stress about. They scheduled me to come back for a transvaginal ultrasound. Which is pretty much what it sounds like, they stick a "wand" up inside of you and take pictures.
Meanwhile, my bowels still weren't working properly, and I had finally gotten a Gastro doctor appointment, but wouldn't be seen for another couple of weeks due to all the mix ups and confusions with the insurance.
Remember, no one would test me for C-diff, they thought I had an intestinal disease, not an infection. Had I waited to see Gastro for my "disease" I probably would have died from the infection and/or side effects from it. It took over two months to get in to see Gastro from the onset of my C-diff. Two. Months. All due to the insurance issues, it's so easy to see how our health care system is failing and people are dying.
So there I was waiting for my appointments for Gyno and Gastro, and had a follow up with Urology...
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