I Almost Died

Catchy title, eh? I haven’t been really sick since 2004, so since I have been in pretty bad shape the past few days, I have to milk it for all it’s worth. I didn’t really almost die, but I sure felt like it.

I realized on Friday that I had a urinary tract infection. I decided to try and treat it naturally if I could, so I got some cranberry juice, some other supplements, some pain killers, and tried my hardest to fight the infection. I talked with a local pharmacist who told me I was doing all the right things, and I knew what to look for as far as the worsening of the condition. I felt better on Saturday, so I got rid of the pain meds, and then Sunday I felt the same as I did Saturday.

Monday I still felt the same when I woke up so it was getting discouraging. I mean, I’m pretty sure I had drunk like 5 million gallons of cranberry juice, and it was like the legit juice that I had to dilute and sweeten. Not the best. Then, around 10:00am I started getting some pretty strong pain in my lower back, which is a sign of the onset of a kidney infection, so I called my doctor and scheduled an appt for that afternoon. As the day progressed I started feeling really badly. The pain was getting pretty strong, and I was just really not feeling well at all.

When I’m in pain, which isn’t really that often, thankfully, it’s kind of hard for me to think clearly. When talking about how I was feeling at work, I actually told my boss that I thought my uterus was going to fall out. First of all, who talks about their uterus? And second of all, who talks about it to their boss?! And thirdly, what does my uterus have to do with my kidney? What is wrong with me? And it hit me later Monday evening as I was laying on the couch. I pathetically looked at Mark and said, “I think I told my boss that my uterus was going to fall out.” He was like, “You said that?” Yes. I did.

So. I went to the doctor and told him about my ailment. They did a urinalysis, and my doctor said it was “a sheet of white blood cells”. Which is apparently not good at all. He thought that my infection was maybe working into only one of my kidneys, since my pain was mainly in one side. He prescribed me an antibiotic for ten days, gave me some tips, and told me to go take one immediately, and take another that night.

On my way to the drug store, I called Mark, then my boss, and then my mom to give them the update. Then, after hanging up with my mom, I thought I hadn’t called Mark, and I felt really awful about it. So, I called him and I told him I had just left the doctor’s office, and he was like “yeah….” And then I realized I had talked to him about 5 minutes previously. Wow. So, I high-tailed it to the drug store, took a pill, and high tailed it home and chilled on the couch, waiting to feel better and regain my sanity.

Around 7:00pm I started feeling terrible. It came on really quickly. Like, we’re talking excruciating pain, in BOTH sides of my back and lower abdomen. No position I got in was comfortable, and believe me, I was rolling around enough to try to get comfortable. But I couldn’t. So I just got in the fetal position, rocked back and forth, and cried. It was a very sad moment. I can’t imagine how bad it would have been if I didn’t get the antibiotics when I did. And so my sweet husband went and got me some painkillers with a sleep aid. I took a hot bath, and my medicine, and told Mark who should get each of my belongings in case I was to die. I mean, I have some pretty cool stuff – have you seen my headbands? So, I wanted to make sure everything would go into the right hands. (There is clearly never any dramatizing of a situation at my house).

Shortly after the painkillers and the sleep aid, my pain was lessened enough that I could drift off to sleep. I woke up Tuesday about 12 hours after going to sleep, feeling incredibly exhausted, but only slightly in pain, so I headed to work, where I managed to have a somewhat productive day but don’t know that I will remember much of it after another night’s sleep.

So, thankfully, I am on the mend. Here is a picture of me, where I have been hanging out most of my time at home the last few days. I’m hopeful that I will be back to my self tomorrow!

~Kathryn

PS  Mark got me that cute heart pillow for Valentine's Day. It also came with a matching blanket. He's a keeper. (-: