Unthinkable News from a Routine Doctor's Appointment

Disclaimer: This post contains a lot of detailed information about symptoms related to an infection that is atypical for women, but can also occur in men, as well.  If you get squeamish about blood, urine, or talk of both at the same time, you can skip this.

Today I took my first sick day from my new job since I started two months ago.  Why did I do this? Because I had been feeling some unnerving symptoms for a couple of weeks, but I brushed them off as nothing since they came and went, until yesterday.  What were my symptoms?  Well, if you are a woman then you have probably had them, as well.  The symptoms were:

• Pain or burning while urinating
• Feeling like urinating often, but with little or no urine when attempting to
• Cloudy, red, or pink urine
• Pain in lower belly
• Pain in lower back, below ribs
• Fever or chills

All of these symptoms are a good indication of a urinary tract infection.  Not familiar with what that might be? Well follow this link to learn all about what exactly is a UTI.

Because I had had UTIs in the past, figured I would drink lots of water, get some extra rest (where I could with a full-time teaching job and two kids under the age of 4), as well as make sure to go to the bathroom as often as I thought I might need to.  Voila! My symptoms seemed to have gone away, as did my chills and constant desire to urinate.

However, yesterday I worked a full day without drinking so much as a drop of water.  I had a 20oz. Ginger Ale instead, and didn't use the bathroom between 6:30 am and 4:30pm when I finally had to go so badly that I almost peed in my pants holding my six month old in my arms and talking to my three year old about which movie to rent from the RedBox.  I ran to the bathroom, strategically placed my offspring in the stall with me and that's when it happened....
... I started to feel an extremely sharp pain in my lower belly, my lower back, and an excruciating pain urinating. I knew instantly that I had a UTI, but wanted to confirm by checking the toilet paper.  Well, not only was the toilet paper a shocking shade of rouge, but so was the water when I stood to flush.  My three year old was panicking that I had a booboo, and I was just trying to keep the six month old off the floor while I flushed and fixed my pants.  I had to stop everywhere with a public bathroom on the way home.

And that was when I made the decision to take my first sick day.  Even when I was leaking fluids out of my nose and eyes, lost my voice and had to gasp for air in-between coughs, I didn't take a sick day, but now this would need to be addressed by a professional.

I had already had a few bouts with UTIs and ended up hospitalized almost every time.  So, this time I wasn't going to take any chances, because I have two kids and live alone.  There is no way I can afford to go to a hospital, and what would I do with my kids?

I took the day off, drove to my doctor's office an hour away with every intention of getting a prescription for medication safe to take while breastfeeding, and drive straight on home.  After waiting 20 minutes in the waiting room and 20 minutes in the room my LNP showed up.  She asked me a few questions about my symptoms and my lifestyle.  She checked the urine sample I had given during the 20 minutes I was waiting for her and told me that I didn't have a UTI.

To quote the situation:

She asked, "Do you have a history of kidney stones?"
Me, "No. I was told I had them once, but it turned out that was a mistake."
She then said, "Well, you don't have a urinary tract infection.  What you do have is blood in your urine and very low white blood cell count."

That didn't really mean anything to me, so I just said "ok".  She saw how unaffected I was by what she had said and went on...
"... We are going to send your urine sample out to see if you have kidney stones.  If that isn't the case, then it could be Interstitial Cystitis, also known as Bladder Pain Syndrome.  This is caused by cracks in the mucus membranes in your bladder, leaking blood in your urine.  If you eat or drink certain things it can make it worse.  For example, coffee or alcohol."
In my head I am thinking, I don't really drink coffee anymore or alcohol, but I used to drink both a lot and never had this problem.
She goes on, "However, if it's neither of those, and we will know in four days time, then we are going to have to start doing urine tests everyday for the next week, because the chances are high you have bladder cancer."


I took my first sick day from work to make a quick trip to the doctor's for routine treatment of an infection I have had several times before and now I am looking into having a cystoscopy and hoping that I don't have cancer.  This kind of news was not only unexpected, but extremely unthinkable.