Here I Go Again.

     This is the sad saga of my life. My health is not so great due to several things. Mainly a combination of birth defects and diabetes. Well, thanks to my birth defects (Kidneys and bladder) combined with old surgeries and the diabetes I tend to have this little problem. HA! Little my ass~!!

    (BG) My bladder does this thing called reflux. Basically, my urine backs up from the bladder into the kidneys. This causes UTI's. Lots of them.  Well I can't feel UTI's because of the surgeries. (Scar tissue and nerve damage)

     Jan '09 and Jan '10 I was in the hospital due to this. All this eventually led up into a cyst growing behind my right kidneys. (Yes, plural, I have 4 total kidneys, two on each side) This meant lots of tests, at least a week in the hospital, and tubes coming out of places that made me look like a half finished cyborg. It was painful, humiliating, and hard.  The fact that it happened twice in a row, almost exactly a year later makes me more than a little paranoid.

     Well for the past few days I have been feeling twinges in my side. I must say that something that grows to the size of a baseball in your gut can be felt. It is scary.
 
        The first time I thought that I had some severe bowel problem. When I went to the ER they did tests, asked if I had be hit or kicked, it took DAYS to figure out what the problem was . (Some tests have to be spaced out due to different type of dyes they use) It was extremely painful and I was on percocet. Actually, it was easy to tell how bad my pain was by how I used the pills. The instructions say 1-2 pills ever 4-6 hours as needed. Good days I only needed one to help me sleep and one when I woke up. Bad days I was doing two pills every 4 hours. When the pain was that bad they figured that the drainage tube wasn't doing a good enough job and replaced it. After that it did drain well, and I got better.

     Next year I got sick, as in flue like symptoms. Not good when I can't even keep water down. So off to the ER. Before I went though I had some twinges off and on for a few days but was afraid and so I kept it to myself. Who wants that to happen to themselves again? This time was a little easier. They already had a history of this in my records. It was also less painful. I think on of the best parts of that round in the hospital was that I was put into a privet room. Now I don't mind sharing most of the time but a privet room is divine.  It was in the newer part of the hospital and on the transplant floor. I was put there since they had a bed available. Guess I just got lucky. The room was nicer than most hotels!

      And now, when January ran by us, I was happy to report, no new hospital visits.  I counted the days as the weather warmed up. *Sigh* I made it a year without going into the hospital. *Twinge* My side, pulling, aching, feeling thick. It is happening again. I will eventually be in the hospital and eventually have another scar. Well at least they have wifi and I can bring my laptop and still blog.