I've noticed that the older I get, the more time I'm spending in doctor's offices. And I never really feel like there's anything WRONG with me....it just seems that there are more and more check-ups, more testing, more whatever. Maybe it's just that as we get older, we become more proactive with our health, having lost the "I'm invulnerable/immortal" thinking of our youth. Then too, as we get older more and more "stuff" happens....the aging process bringing all sorts of new delights. Delight? Not.
I've had toes and thumbs swell up with arthritis (pseudo-gout, they tell me), and I have a bottle of Naproxen on hand for the next time. The thumb-swelling was preceded by an evening of hand sewing, and it worries me that I may have to give up quilting one of these days....wondering if my hands will give out before my eyesight.
I've also had episodes of stress incontinence....what a joy that is! LOL....but not too hard! And I've had LOTS of bladder aches and pains, and a burning that seems set off by different things I eat. All the symptoms of a UTI but with no infection. I saw a new ob/gyn in my doctor's clinic who has a specialty in the bladders of aging women. He did two tests....a cystoscopy and some kind of stress test to see if I was a candidate for a "bladder lift". In both cases, the tests came back negative.
He told me perhaps I could benefit from some physical therapy. What?? As I sat there looking at him with this "Are you nuts?" look on my face (thinking that therapy was not going to help the UTI-feeling symptoms), he suggested that I get a second opinion from a urologist. Which is what I thought I should have done from the beginning. So, I see one on Tuesday. Please people, hold good thoughts and pray that she will have the right answers to my problem.
Other than that....it's almost officially fall! My favorite time of year. In that I can rejoice.
2 comments:
It seems so unfair. All the little things that start to fail.
Pessary. I had bladder problems when at the gym and now am doing fine. An alternative to the lift.
Thanks for the suggestion, Elizabeth. I am hoping that it is something that can be remedied like that. Sigh....I once had a doctor tell me (15 years ago) that he thought I had interstitial cystitis...and I'm praying that's not what it is now. (I've been totally symptom-free for the last 13 years, if that is what it is).
I'll be posting again after Tuesday!
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