am very afraid, nurses please help

[kate]

Originally Posted by cass

what did bruce think? i'm used to evergreen but uro and my pcp were out of town when all this started. not familiar w/overlake. you like?

Love, as much as you can love any hospital.

Everybody there was helpful and professional and kind, and the place just feels clean and well-managed.

He had a vicious infection in his leg that went from the "hmmm, better watch that" stage to full on "get the fuck to the hospital" within about 18 hours. We got there in the dead of night, and they managed to treat him very efficiently without scaring the hell out of me.

My only experience in Evergreen was giving birth there 22 yrs ago . . . not saying anything bad about them. Let me know, okay? If they admit you I'll come hang out anytime.

[SCI-Nurse]

If you are unable to have an ultrasound then the next step would be an abdominal or pelvic CT scan- whichever one would give the best and thorough view. If no one is able to tell what is going on this would be the next step to look for bladder or kidney stones. Stones are sticklers for holding onto bacteria even after having been treated for infections. If after that and a repeat culture and sensitivity, I would recommend an infectious disease consult. Then farther down this path an urine for cytology to look for abnormal cells then a cystoscopy to look inside the bladder.

pbr

[Lorrie]

Cass, as much as I despise hospitals and have to feel like near death or crazy paranoia before I go, I say to you, GO! They will likely do all the tests you need or request. Don't let yourself suffer in physical and mental pain.
I'm not saying this applies to you but my mom suffered with colon cancer for nearly a year, going to a specialist who diagnosed her with everything but cancer. Finally my bil took her to hospital and they found the blockage (cancer) right away,,,did surgery...that was @ 10 years ago. Her chances were 50/50.
My point is, better to go get more opinions if not only to put your mind at ease.

Good luck my friend.

[crypticgimp]

Originally Posted by cass

only the ultrasound, but tech said w/o clamping foley and letting bladder fill, images would not be very good. if i clamp foley, within in short order, i'd have AD so i declined.

i've been on the phone, but to no avail am really a basket case right now, sorry. because of AD risk, i need epidural for cysto so i need outpatient hospital "surgery." this is so much stress and my helper's bro just died too. i have no family, so... am just scared and in this pain on top of my escalating central pain. is hard and i thank all of you who care.

odd. i always had my ultrasound with full and empty bladder

[crypticgimp]

Originally Posted by Lorrie

Cass, as much as I despise hospitals and have to feel like near death or crazy paranoia before I go, I say to you, GO! They will likely do all the tests you need or request. Don't let yourself suffer in physical and mental pain.
I'm not saying this applies to you but my mom suffered with colon cancer for nearly a year, going to a specialist who diagnosed her with everything but cancer. Finally my bil took her to hospital and they found the blockage (cancer) right away,,,did surgery...that was @ 10 years ago. Her chances were 50/50.
My point is, better to go get more opinions if not only to put your mind at ease.

Good luck my friend.

i agree. don't wait, just go to the hospital.

[cass]

thank you, everybody. i'm gonna hang in there until 18th if i can. saw my pcp wednesday for physical, did a lot of crying as she's been my pcp for 15 yrs and has been out of town. anyway, i was at the hospital for the ultrasound and uro so am sticking with pyridium and maintenance macrobid unless i just cannot stand it. though i don't know what er could do.

kate, i really thank you for your offer. i'll pm you my cell, could you respond w/yours?

i cannot express how grateful i am for this site to turn to and for everybody here.

and i have tix to american idiot tomorrow night, been waiting and waiting to see it. i hope i make it.

[xsfxsf]

Originally Posted by kate

Love, as much as you can love any hospital.

Everybody there was helpful and professional and kind, and the place just feels clean and well-managed.

That's amazing. The hospital I was last in here made me feel somewhere between an inmate and an actor in a very bad comedy.

Highlights of my last hospital stay:

(1) Spending a weekend in an ICU where the alarms on the monitors went off every five minutes and the desk phone would also ring ever 10 minutes. Little sleep, then...

(2) being transferred to a ward that seemed to double as a geriatric ward, with a roommate who insisted on playing his television 18 hours per day. Even less sleep (nearly went insane after a few weeks of this treatment - oh and then listening to people explain how these people have a medical need to listen the TV all the time that is more important than my need for sleep).

(3) having a nurse who, during a transfer that went wrong (because of staff unfamiliarity with the out-of-date facilities), started loudly praying and screaming.

(4) seeing the bill, where Medicare cheerfully and delightedly paid absurd sums of money (I think the $800 for a neuropsychologist to smile and nod for 30-minutes was a sample). But try getting Medicare to pay for a power chair - that, of course, is a waste of money if I only need one "outside the home".

(5) Hearing cath instructions that were 20 years out of date and completely wrong at times besides.

A lot more. The weirdness is that most of the staff individually seemed to want to help and were sometimes very skilled and caring, but the physical and bureaucratic environment in which everyone functioned made the experience so bad I think I'd rather risk death than ever go back.

[cass]

been calling uro office. now they prescribed vesicare...WHY? i said bladder spasms are not the prob, my god, i know when i'm having a bladder spasm, it is very distinct and like someone is grabbing my bladder and squeezing. i already take detrol. the pain i am having is bladder/pelvic 24/7. i am very frustrated. not once has this uro spoken to me. i'll see her first time monday at hospital for cysto.

[teena]

Arrrggghhh.

My Mama was an LPN. She told me that if a doctor will not see you when you are sick, they do not deserve to see you when you are well...

[SCI-Nurse]

We don't use anesthesia for flex cysto which can be done in doctors office or clinic. Use numbing gel. and would do ultrasound and CT scan first. Sometimes needs to be done more frequently than annually and we only do renal ultrasounds not full abdomen for the most part and you need a pelvic ultrasound also . Have you seen ob/gyn doctor for annual tests?
No uti?
CWO