am very afraid, nurses please help

[cass]

omg, do you have a foley? i am f so i know it would be different, but i would think a stone would block the entry in bladder to cath?

mike, did you have really bad pain?

[Mike Honcho]

I have a suprapubic cath. Zero pain, but should have known something was up. I get it changed every 3 weeks and it was getting increasingly difficult to get the new cath in.

I went 5 or 6 years without a UTI. I started getting run down and getting them last fall. I had about a week of hell - I could function during the day, but as soon as I'd lay down at night my temp would go up to 102+, my legs would spasm, and I'd get AD. I was short of breath one night when my fever started going up, so I headed into the ER about 1 AM. I was in the hospital for 3 days while they pumped me full of IV antibiotics.

[gjnl]

Dear Cass,
Calm down and breathe.

If you are taking Pyridium you are not treating the reason for your discomfort, you are treating the discomfort. Pyridium is a pain reliever that affects the lower part of your urinary tract (bladder and urethra). At least you have something to relieve the pain until you can see your urology practitioner next week.

Here is some more information about Pyridium:
Pyridium is used to treat pain, burning, increased urination, and increased urge to urinate. These symptoms are usually caused by infection, injury, surgery, catheter, or other conditions that irritate the lower urinary tract.
Pyridium will treat the symptoms of a urinary tract infection, but this medication does not treat the actual infection. Take the antibiotic that your doctor prescribes to treat your infection.

Pyridium will most likely darken the color of your urine to an orange or red color. This is a normal effect and is not cause for alarm unless you have other symptoms such as pale or yellowed skin, fever, stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting.

If you aren't feeling any better this weekend while you are taking Pyridium, absolutely go to the ER.

All the best,
GJ

[cass]

thank you. gl, i am quite aware of what pyridium does, i believe i said so. i also have watched 3 ppl die of bladder cancer, 2 of breast cancer, my bro of esophageal cancer, to name just a few. maybe you can be calm facing the loss of your whole family and friends. i can't.

what i am looking for is people who have direct exp. with this, either other sci ppl or the nurses. many thanks to my friend, wise. hope you will come to seattle again sometime

mike, i have no fever, never do with uti or now.

[crypticgimp]

Originally Posted by cass

thank you. gl, i am quite aware of what pyridium does, i believe i said so. i also have watched 3 ppl die of bladder cancer, 2 of breast cancer, my bro of esophageal cancer, to name just a few. maybe you can be calm facing the loss of your whole family and friends. i can't.

what i am looking for is people who have direct exp. with this, either other sci ppl or the nurses. many thanks to my friend, wise. hope you will come to seattle again sometime

mike, i have no fever, never do with uti or now.

cass, you need to go in and see someone. period. i know you're scared, but it's kind of pointless to work yourself up and not go in and see someone.

dr wise and all of us cannot diagnose what is going on with you. and i can tell you from experience, sitting there at home by yourself and imagining the worst possible scenario is an exercise in futility and only makes things worse.

so yes, you do need to try and calm down just a little bit. on tuesday make the appointment to see a dr. get the ultrasound. then go from there. your mind will not be at ease until you do so.

[SCI-Nurse]

Case- cryptigrimp is right. I don't know if there is anything I can say that will calm you down. The pyridium,as you know will help with the pain. But, it os a stop gap measure only. However, if it is making you comfortable, I would wait until Tuesday before I went to the ER or hopefully, better yet, your doctor.

If you are not anymore comfortable, then by all means go to the ER. Given everything that has gone on in your family, you may feel more at ease doing that just to get the
ball rolling.

CKF

[cass]

tyvm ckf. that's what i was asking about. my dr's office made an appt for me at uro for wednesday (they did that last week). i just didn't know if it was advisable to be on pyridium, as an sci, for this amount of time. because my usual drs are out of town, the ones i'm dealing with don't really know my circumstances. so, am taking it a day at a time. i didn't post for a diagnosis, but for sci expert advice. not seeing someone was never an option. in fact, may yet go to ER soon as the pyridium seems to be losing effect.

thank you everybody.

[Broken Doll]

I used to suffer so much from bladder issues sounding like yours. I'd also become resistant to antibiotics. As a last result, I had a bladder augmentation by Dr. Schlomo Raz at UCLA. That was 16 years ago and changed my life completely. For the better.

[SCI-Nurse]

Case- let us know how you are doing. My thoughts are with you.
CKF

[teena]

Feel better, Bette!!!