About two weeks ago I ate a delicious cup noodle soup for lunch and poured a bunch of Valentina sauce in it. I was so excited to finally open my Valentina sauce and use it, that I poured way more than I should have. But I didn’t care because lately I have been super into spicy stuff. After I devoured my delicious soup I began getting a horrible pain on the lower right side of my back. This will sometimes happen when I drink too much coke or don’t drink enough water. So I just assumed that I needed to drink water. This happened on a Friday and during the weekend I felt bad, but as long as I stuffed myself with water I didn’t feel too bad.
Monday comes around and I start feeling like complete crap. I started feeling weak, I was walking like a granny and the pain in my back became wildly unbearable. As I tried to take in the pain without being distracted at work, my boss emailed me and told me to stop sleeping at my desk. I couldn’t even contain my pain let alone sleep through it! The whole time at work I could not cope with the pain and I cried at my desk as subtly as I could. This was fourth of July week, so we already had Wednesday off. In order to save my paycheck I decided to tough it out until Wednesday. If I toughed it out till Wednesday, I could still get holiday pay and hopefully only miss one day.
After work, I was freezing in 100 degree weather, sweating and my entire body somehow still felt like a ball of fire radiating heat. I got to my partners apartment and the moment he hugged me he told me I was way too hot. I had no energy and decided to go to bed and nap it out. I woke up in a sweat and this time I was actually hot. I don’t remember much after, I just remember waking up around 4 am in excruciating pain and driving myself to the hospital. In all honesty, I thought I had appendicitis because I had NEVER had this kind of pain in my life. It was horrifyingly painful.
I sign into the ER room and wait for my name to be called. I get called and as usual get asked a bunch of personal questions. To get into detail *IT’S ABOUT TO GET WAY TOO TMI* I explained to them how I didn’t think it was anything that had to do with my kidneys because I had had that problem before and my symptoms really didn’t coincide with a UTI or Kidney stones. My pee was normal, it didn’t hurt to pee, none of that! All of which have happened before because of some kidney issues I’d had over not treating a UTI. I had a UTI a few weeks prior, but all the symptoms had gone away so again, I didn’t think I had anything wrong in the urinary system regions.
After a couple of hours I was put into my own room and I was finally able to lay down and it felt so good! Not long after a PA came in and started asking me all the questions again. I answered them accordingly.He then proceeded to ask me if I was okay with him performing a physical. I have a huge fear of doctors and thinking of them touching me freaks me the fuck out. I told him this and gave me the option to not be touched or to ask for another doctor of the opposite sex. The fact that he was a guy was not the issue, it’s just that I am scared of doctors touching me or doing anything to me. The option of him not touching me seemed illogical being that I really wanted to know what the hell was wrong with me and if I didn’t let him do his testing then I could possibly be misdiagnosed. Isn’t it crazy how many thoughts can run through an anxiety stricken mind in just a matter of seconds? Before continuing with my physical he checked my heart rate and asked me if I was sure because my blood pressure was rising. I confirmed that I was okay. He checked my breathing. He tapped on my back to see if it hurt and when I told him it did he’d hit it harder! I guess just to make sure. He also pressed on my stomach and again, it hurt. He pressed his hands on my legs and told me to push up against them and it hurt even more! Anything that required strength from my torso hurt! After he finished he told me my blood pressure was significantly high and that he would get an actual doctor to check on me and confirm his observations. Shortly after, the other doctor walked in and ran similar tests. I was told that they’d be running an MRI to confirm that I didn’t have appendicitis.
I didn’t have appendicitis.
After this was confirmed, I was kind of relieved, but also confused because I still didn’t know what the hell was going on with my body! The doctor explained that because of my untreated UTI, the infection had reached my kidneys.
BACKSTORY!
I got a UTI and treated it with over the counter things. Because I don’t have health insurance and I live in the USA, the land of the free, the land of the brave, I made an appointment at Planned Parenthood to get some antibiotics. When I arrived I was told my whole office visit would cost around 185-200 beautiful American dollars NOT including antibiotics because IT WAS NO LONGER FUNDED. My pockets could not afford that much money to be dropped, so I walked my little ass outta there. My symptoms subsided and eventually went away so I didn’t think much of it.
Back to the story…
So now because of this untreated UTI I had a kidney infection. Had I waited a couple more days like I initially wanted, I would’ve been FUCKED in the ass because that shit could of gone into my blood stream and I COULD’VE DIED or left with a life altering circumstance like kidney disease or something. All of this because I couldn’t get medical attention because Planned Parenthood, a place that cares and was built on the fundamentals of women’s right to healthcare, is no longer funded; because of airheads who think it’s just for abortions. Because I don’t have health insurance. Because I live in the United States where a Dr’s appointment costs half of my car payment when I make just enough for that, at a job that is honestly considered high paying. Now I have a delightful medical bill to deal with. On a positive note however, I now have happy pain-free kidneys who just need daily hydration and better care. I also no longer walk like a granny and can go through speed bumps without cringing in pain.
I stayed in the hospital for almost two days getting fluids and antibiotics. I had to stay the night for observation since my blood pressure was far too high. I don’t know why it was so high. My sister says it’s cause I was in so much pain. My fever was also all over the place. They put ice packs on my warm body! It felt bad at first, but nurses know what they’re doing and I felt great afterwards. They woke me up every two hours to check my blood pressure and sometime around I honestly don’t know what time, my blood pressure got too low! So now all we had to wait for was for my blood pressure to get normal. I also got poked FOUR TIMES to get blood taken out of me. It was horrible. I made it out alive though and that’s what matters. I could’ve had it worse honestly so I can’t complain too much.
If there’s anything you should learn from this story is,
drink LOTS of water,
get treated for UTI’s as soon as possible,
pee after doing it,
don’t cover yourself with tree blankets when you’re running a 103 degree fever,
expect family to visit you while you look like complete shit,
hospital food has honestly progressed,
don’t be scared of going to the doctor alone,
a pretty paycheck is not worth jeopardizing your health.
Thank you for reading and I am back on my weekly posts!
