[Jilly]

Well..... Ive got good news and bad news. I have had one hell of a day!!!
I posted a message last night about my love having blood in his urine.....I went to visit him this morning and he was in a lot of pain, still had blood in his urine and a fever as well. It took me a while to convince him that he needed to see a doctor and by the time he phoned them, he could only get a late afternoon appointment!
About 2 hours before his appointment time, he was in extreme pain, had a fever going through the roof, was shaking, spasming, and felt like vomiting.

I told him that enough was enough and phoned the doctors again and said I was bringing him in! He was in so much pain and was so tired he had major trouble transferring into the car. Anyway the nurses at the doctors rooms took one look at him and got him an emergency appointment straight away....The doc had a look, asked the questions and said he had to go to hospital!!!!! and called for an ambulance. By that stage there was no way he could transfer himself into the car again!
He was severly dehydrated by then and had septacemia ( dont think Ive spelled that right!)and being the busy holiday period, we waited almost an hour for the ambulance... the traffic is horrific around here at the moment.
One of the ambulance guys didnt know how to lift properly!!! They did a standard two person lift and the one who had his top end was ok, but the other one tried to lift him by holding his legs by his calfs instead of under his knees! what an idiot...they couldnt get him onto the stretcher until I grabbed him by the seat of his pants and heaved his bum over!!!
Anyway when I visited him a bit later in hospital they were busy poking holes in him trying to find a vein to put a drain in! Hes going to be ok, and Im kind of pleased hes in there as hopefully they will find out why hes been peeing blood and actually do something about it!

And now for the GOOD news.....I entered four paintings in an art exhibition/competition today and guess what!!!! I WON THIRD PRIZE IN MY SECTION!!!!! Yippee!!!! The painting that won the place was the one of the flower in the wine glass..(Ive put it in a post under caregivers christmas I think) Im absolutely delighted and won $150 (nz) and can now call myself an award winning artist! Hopefylly I might sell one as well, the exhibition runs until Tuesday.
Shame my darling couldnt be there to see me win my first award! but Im hoping he will be home in time to see the exhibition. I told him I was going to spend my winnings on doctors fees! I got growled at!
Im not sure if this is a bad good day, or a good bad day!!!

[bluebutterflyrn]

Hi Jilly! Sorry to hear your love is in the hospital, hope he is doing better. Sounds like he had a raging urinary tract infection. I know how you felt when the medical personal were trying to transfer him, some of these people are such idiots. It's scary they are in the medical profession. I know my love gets so mad when he has new caregivers, he practically has to tell them exactly what to do.
Congratulations on your painting!
(Sorry my black cloud has floated your way!)

Much love, Blue Butterfly

[Jilly]

Hi Blue butterfly, dont worry, I dont think your cloud has gotten too close...One of my paintings sold at the exhibition this morning, not the winning one but one that I had only just finished - I had to rush out and take a photo of it for my portfolio (which I havent put together yet!) as I hadnt taken one before the event!
I went to see my darling today, he is much better and is hopefully coming home tomorrow!
Have a happy and safe new year everybody......looks like mines going to be a quiet one!

[Jilly]

Hi everone... well my darling is home again.
He ended up getting pissed off with the poor care he was getting at the hospital and discharged himself! I was with him most of the afternoon at hospital waiting to see a doctor. as it was new years day they only had ONE doctor on duty in the whole hospital!
I couldnt believe the lack of attention from the nurses, he didnt even have the offer of some water to brush his teeth! He couldnt exactly get his own as I had his chair in the boot of the car!
They dont seem to read their notes either, a new nurse came on duty in the afternoon and asked him if he had any burning sensation when he urinates! You should have seen her face when he told her he didnt have any idea!
They also kept asking him if he had had a bowel motion yet! HA!!!

[Jilly]

Oops need to say more.... Anyway his temp is down, urine is clear, pain is all gone and has a script for oral antibiotics. much happier!

[bluebutterflyrn]

Glad to hear your love is doing better. Hope everything continues to go well for the two of you.

[Bob Clark]

Hi Jilly,

Hopefully he'll have learned the symptoms of a UTI and next time be able to catch it before it gets so out of control. Ask the doctor for another prescription of the antibiotics that he was given and keep them handy. By the time blood gets in the urine and a raging fever develops NO ONE wants to make a trip to see the doctor or go to the ER. After 26 years I know what UTIs are all about so keep a couple different prescriptions of antibiotics handy. It's not proper medical protocol but I'm the one suffering, not the doctor.

You don't want to overuse antibiotics or use the high-powered ones if they're not necessary. That is, use a broad-spectrum AB like Cipro or Levaquin instead of a narrow-spectrum AB if the narrow one will work. Ideally a urinalysis and antibiotic/bacteria sensitivity test should be done to determine the best AB for the particular bacteria but it takes 72 hours (3 whole damn days!) to get the results. You might be dead by then!

So personally, I have pre-filled prescriptions of both Cipro and Levaquin here. As long as the Cipro is effective that's what I'll take. And I can knock out the infection before it gets too bad. Symptoms start to clear in less than 12 hours and completely gone in 24. But I take the full regimen as prescribed (10 days) so I'm not killing off the weaker bacteria leaving the stronger to survive and multiply.... perhaps creating a MRSA strain.

Taking antibiotics is a touchy and at times controversial medical situation. Talk to your doctor about it and see what he suggests. But ask him about having some antibiotics at home so you don't have to call an ambulance, need IV antibiotics and go through an expensive and unnecessary 2 or 3 day hospital stay just for a simple UTI.

And if he intermittently catheterizes perhaps revamp his catheterization technique. It's much better and healthier to keep the bacteria from getting into the bladder than it is to get it out!

You can read what AHolland and I both have to say about our catheterization techniques and how we each do our own HERE.

I may go a bit overboard but you and/or your boyfriend really need to be vigilant about keeping bacteria out of the meatus, urethra and bladder/kidneys.

Your artwork is really, really good. I hope you're able to make some money with it. It's great to paid for what you enjoy doing. Create a website and go international.

[bluebutterflyrn]

Hi Jilly,
Hope your love is still improving. Bob gave some great advice. Also, maybe the addition of a preventive drug such as Macrodantin would help. He could also try daily consumption of cranberry juice, the acid helps kill bacteria in the kidneys and urinary tract. (they also make cranberry tablets for those who don't like the juice, such as me!) It's also very important to drink plenty of water. Best of luck!

[Jilly]

Thanks Bob, I will suggest that for the next time he go to the doc. Hes had UTIs before but he has lost a lot of weight lately and his body seems to be giving out different signals now than it used to! I cottoned on to what was wrong this time before he did. He seems to still be all clear so far, no fever....urines clear etc, and we a keeping a pretty close eye on things!

Thanks Blue Butterfly, I will see if I can get him to try the cranberry....

Oh by the way.... I sold the winning painting too!!!! Yippee!!! Just think...when I am rich and famous you will all be able to say that you know me!!!