Haha oh dear readers, I am a cornucopia of medical adventures. It’s been almost three weeks since the poison ivy incident which, knock on wood, has since cleared up. However, it seems that the rumors I heard about the blessing Prednisone are true — it makes you susceptible to infections.
I was lucky enough to get a bladder infection last week. But the only thing about this bladder infection is that it was particularly harsh; Wednesday the pain was so bad that I fainted at work. Fainted is kind of a dodgy term for it though, I don’t think I lost consciousness, but anyway. It was a big embarrassing scene out of my place of employment (I work in a mall, so everyone and their mothers and bosses saw me being carried out), where I was officially diagnosed with a bladder infection, given some antibiotics, and sent on my way.
Thursday morning I experienced some kidney pain. Nothing serious, right? Well of course, because I’m me, it was serious. By Friday afternoon the pain in my right kidney had gone from negligible to constant and very noticeable. I had two options — go back to the ER for a follow up, or go to an immediate care center in Sewell, which is much farther out of my way than it is to go back to the ER. So mom and I set off at 5:30 that night.
When they finally called us back — after being registered in triage and all that — I couldn’t stand without having something to prop up against. We sat in the ER while they ran a beautiful array of blood cultures. They got me situated with an IV and gave me something for the pain, and finally, my doctor came in and did the tap test. For those who don’t know about this innvoative technology, your doctor will gently tap the side of your body and ask if it hurts. 99.99% of the time, it never ever hurts.
Ever get punched in the kidney? That’s what it felt like. He ordered a CT scan of my abdomen and left.
I only saw my doctor once after that, and that was to tell me that he wanted to keep me overnight because it was strange that I was already on antibiotics and I had managed to get a kidney infection. Apparently, getting IV antibiotics is kind of a big deal? So I was admitted, moved to the 4th floor, and spent 24 hours there. I was released yesterday evening, with an Rx for Levoquin to keep in the infection at bay. I did notice today a sudden shimmer of kidney pain again, when I picked up my shoes off the floor today, but otherwise it has been pretty quiet.
Needless to say, I am happy to be home. But I am really tired from the stay at the hospital, even though all I did was lay in their fancy hospital bed all day and talk to nurses and watch TV programs about dinosaurs. While hospitals are all about rest, I quickly felt lazy. But in the end it was probably better that I didn’t try to sneak out of my room looking for adventure.
Well, wish me luck, readers. Next time, I will be writing an article about Red Oak Grove’s Alban Arthan! :D
