January 18, 2009

3 Needles and a Cup

After all of the urine sample excitement on Thursday, the nurse practitioner prescribed me a run of the mill antibiotic for the bladder infection, told me to drink lots of fluids and sent me on my merry way.

Friday I woke up with a dull ache in the right side of my back. No biggie -- lugging 30 pounds of a toddler around lends itself to random back pain. I figured I'd just torqued something wrong and would feel better after some ibuprofen. By Friday night the pain had gotten considerably worse and I crawled into bed with the heating pad shortly after C got home from work.

I knew that this week had been a doozy and was hoping a good night's rest would make me feel better.

Nope, not the case. I woke up yesterday even more sore than the night before and fighting a raging migraine. By 5pm the headache was gone and the backache seemed manageable. I forced myself to shower and accompany C and KT to dinner with some friends.

As the minutes ticked by, the pain intensified. I took deep breaths and tried to find a comfortable sitting position that eased the discomfort. Nothing I did, no way I moved helped. After 20 minutes in the truck (and only 5 minutes from our destination) a wave of pain unlike anything I've ever felt washed over me. As I tightly gripped the doorhandle, I told C to pull over immediately. In 23 degree Idaho weather, as cars whizzed by at 65mph, I steadied myself against the cold metal of the pickup and wretched.

Without much prompting, C turned the truck back towards town and called to see if the Urgent Care clinic was still open.

A quick physical assessment, a blood draw and a much more uneventful urine sample later- (the wee one stayed in the exam room with her father)-it was evident the antibiotic from Thursday was not working. The infection had spread to my kidneys.

Lucky me got to drop my drawers and was stuck in both cheeks -- 1 needle poke for the antibiotic and 1 for the zofran to stop the vomiting. One benefit was that the pain in my a$$ from the antibiotic helped to take my mind off of the back pain! Small victories, I suppose. 3 prescriptions and over an hour later (Walgreens SUCKS at 8pm on a Saturday night) and I was settled back in my own bed and feeling somewhat better.

I've been instructed to rest, drink lots of fluids and go back to the Urgent Care this afternoon for round 2 of the antibiotics. Thankfully, this time I have a nice reserve of lortab in my system.

3 comments:

Lost in Space said...

Ouch!! I hope the new meds do the trick to get rid of the infection. Take care and keep resting up. Easier said than done, I am sure. (-;

Kristin, Rod, and Victoria said...

Oh, honey, I'm so sorry it escalated to the next level. Maybe your butt just missed all those shots you used to give it back before KT! Sorry. It's not funny. I hope the rest of your Sunday was a little better, and today even better yet.

Steph said...

Ugh. I have felt your pain. Ouch!
i hope you feel all better really soon.