This blog is just in time for Christmas!! Sorry about my blogging absence! During my recovery from the Salpingo-oophorectomy surgery, I ended up with urinary issues! No pain, just an urgent need to get to a bathroom and abdominal pressure and a feeling I couldn’t stop peeing . Sometimes I ran to the toilet thinking how badly I had to pee and to my surprise I would pee a dribble. I know…I know too much information. I held off for a few days thinking it was my imagination and then finally headed to my family doctor and she quickly confirmed my suspicions and gave me 5 days of antibiotics for a UTI or Urinary Track Infection. Yup I had a urinary track infection. I had a bladder infection once, many years ago like maybe 15 years ago but never specifically a UTI….regardless, it’s all urinary related. No sure if I got this at the hospital…it is common if you have a catheter…but not sure I had one during surgery.
Shortly, after taking Day 1 of the medication, my head was pounding and aching and I had a fever. First, I thought I was having a reaction to the antibiotic so back to the doctor I went. After some questions to make sure I didn’t have a kidney infection, the conclusion was the “flu”. OMG, now I know why people don’t survive the flu…I had high fevers for about 5-6 days, pounding pain in my head and about 3 days into it…diarrhea. The chills were insane, shaking so much that my body started to twitch. I never vomited but I can say my appetite was gone and I barely ate. Damn scale never budged…ok maybe 2 lbs but not much. I just stayed hydrated…lots of water and cranberry juice.
Thank goodness my doctor prescribed “tami-flu” which is a medication to fight the flu virus and is said to potentially reduce the time of having the flu. My head pain was excrutiating and I ended up putting boiling water & baking soda in a big bowl and held my head over it with a towel draped around to see if that would alleviate the pressure. It worked a bit but headaches or should I say migraines just didn’t stop. About day 6 into the fever, my doc called me to see if I was ok. I was just thinking I may have to go see her but she suggested to head to emergency at the hospital to see what was going on. First of all, Dr. Ok is just awesome! In this day and age, I certainly didn’t expect my doctor to follow up but was extremely grateful she did.
Emergency was busy however they did set me up with an IV as I was slightly dehydrated despite drinking gallons of water. After a number of tests, they sent me home. They asked me for a stool sample and I was like….don’t think I can. At this point in the flu, I only pooped after I ate and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was almost 9 pm. So they released me asking me to make sure I did the stool sample and give it to my doctor. That was an incredible feat…when you already have no appetite, trust me, it wasn’t fun filling 4 different vials. Needless to say, there was a lot of cursing and laying down between vial filling. Then, I had to get my “butt” over to the doctor’s office to deliver the poop. Too funny, my doctor said her lab usually only tests 3 vials not 4 and perhaps the hospital must test for something else. Details, details….all I know is when I left the hospital, I had asked if I should get the labels and requistions for those “shxt samples” and they said, “No, your doctor will know.” Sure my doctor knows what her lab tests for but not what the hospital tests for… Slightly annoying as it wasn’t a simple drop off the “shxt” and go, and it necessitated me waiting at my doctor’s office to have my doctor write a requisition. Thank goodness I never wait more than 10 minutes to see my doctor. It took all my strength to look presentable to deliver “shxt”. It just seemed inefficient as I think the hospital should have sent me home with the requistions and I could have had my husband drop off the poop directly to the lab. Plus I wonder what or where that extra vial of “shxt” went?! LOLOL
I wasn’t upset, just really exhausted and made a mental note on identifying a hospital process improvement next time I am in my PFA (Patient Family Advisor) role at the hospital. I actually think I picked up the flu from either my surgery date or one of the last meetings I attended there…sanitizer is my friend!!!
Unfortunately, as a result of the flu, I missed a number of fun events… I missed my first Women In Strength support group that I was to co-chair with my friend. I missed hanging out with my sister-in-laws as we were going on a small trek to visit my great Aunt. I also missed a fun party at my Zumba club…plus some other parties. Oh well, c’est la vie! I guess I will make up for that once I start to get my energy back. I am still not quite up to par but feeling well enough to write a blog. I guess I had a triple whammy, surgery, UTI and flu…the aftermath has me pretty fatigued.
For Your Information: UTI Symptoms
- Burning feeling when you pee —Nope, I didn’t have this
- Frequent or intense urge to pee, even though little comes out when you do —-YUP had this
- Cloudy, dark, bloody, or strange-smelling pee —-didn’t notice this
- Feeling tired or shaky—-YUP but could have been the fever, might have been the flu
- Fever or chills (a sign that the infection may have reached your kidneys) —I wasn’t sure but my Doc said was flu
- Pain or pressure in your back or lower abdomen —-Yup for me
Anyway if you haven’t had a UTI, trust me you don’t want one. Now the flu on the other hand was equally or more of an issue… I was never one to get a flu shot because when I use to get the shot, I often came down with the flu. This said, this last bout has me re-thinking the flu shot. I am thinking with my immunity low from surgery, then the UTI, I was having a tough run fighting off the flu. So once I feel well enough, I am going to explore getting that flu shot because I honestly don’t think I could handle another round. I heard there are also alternative way to fight the flu herbally…so I will check into this as well.
For your Information: Flu Symptoms:
- Sudden fever
- Aches/pains
- Weakness or loss of appetite
- Cough
- Diarrhea/Vomiting (mostly with children)
I listed symptoms above but remember everyone is different, if you think something isn’t right, you are most likely right. Just get checked out and don’t wait tooooooo long.
Happy & grateful that I have returned to the land of the living and I am getting stronger every day. I keep chewing my Vitamin C tablets. This Christmas eve and day will be low-keyed and relaxing!
Wishing you a Merry Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and Happy New Year!!
I expect to get another blog or two in before 2020.
