The Renal Ultrasound AKA The Cruelest Form of Torture EVER!!!!

If my #2s weren't messed up already, let's throw my #1s into the mix as well.
I've been having bladder issues recently. It consists of an approximate 6 week schedule.
Week 1: I have some discomfort while peeing.
Week 2: I have a lot of pain while peeing and decide to go to the clinic where the doc. dips the paper into the urine yadda yadda yadda and it comes back inconclusive. I get an antibiotic anyway because of Remicade and he/she sends it for a culture.
Week 4: I finish the antibiotic.
Week 5: I get the culture tests back negative for a bladder infection but by this time it is gone anyway.
Week 6: Start the process over at Week 1.
And this has been happening since September. So last week I finally got a Family Doctor appointment for a referral to a Urologist (after an A.S.A.P. letter mailed to my Family Doc. by my Gastroenterologist. Seriously it's like pulling teeth). Next week I have to call back to get my appointment but in the meantime he wanted me to get a Renal/Bladder/Abdomen Ultrasound to have when I go and see him.
Now. This Ultrasound couldn't be one of the easy make the appointment, go to appointment, go home from appointment kind of Ultrasounds, no. It's the have to drink a litre of water an hour beforehand and try not to pee your pants as you hit EVERY bump on the road going across town to the medical building kind of Ultrasound. Needless to say I got 500 mls. (1/2 litre) down before writhing in pain from a distended bladder 1 hour and 25 minutes from having the actual test done. After I got there she dug the probe in so far I'm convinced I may have peed a teensy bit. Then she said the holiest words one could ever hear, "You can go and empty your bladder now." Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

I did have go back in and get ten more minutes worth of stomach probing but I was up for anything as long as I didn't have to drink anything else! This could really be used as a form of torture I'm convinced....

A thought for Friday....

Happy B-Day Green Monster!!!!

Happy 1st birthday George Jesus! My little green monster! I know I've only put 9,000 kms. on you but what 9,000 kms. they were! And here's to many more! :)

My Life In Words...

Bruise Update...

27 hours later and this is what it looks like....

....not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Maybe icing it for 4 hours last night helped? I'll keep you updated.

That's Gonna Hurt in the Mornin'....

So I'm loading the dishwasher today(don't all good injury stories start this way????) and I swing the door down and whack myself in the side of the knee with it. And I didn't just skin it or bruise it, NO! Thanks to the wonders of Remicade I will now get both. Only three hours after doing it this is the current mark....

...not that bad right? Well I'll try to check back tomorrow and post a pic of 24 hours later and then you'll get my point.

Movie Review: "Contagion"

*SPOILER ALERT. I HAVE MADE EVERY EFFORT TO NOT SPOIL THE MOVIE WHICH I AM REVIEWING AND I PROMISE NOT TO RUIN THE END BUT IF YOU DON'T LIKE KNOWING BEFORE YOU WATCH I WOULD RECOMMEND YOU LEAVE THIS PAGE NOW.*





A Short Synopsis: Contagion is a movie about what could happen if a so called "Mega-Virus" was to come into contact with people and how one person can cause an entire pandemic. When Matt Damon's wife Gwyneth Paltrow becomes sick and dies and soon after her son from a previous marriage also becomes sick and kicks the bucket Matt Damon's character has to take his daughter from a previous marriage and go into hiding. After finding out that he is immune to said disease he tries to help Kate Winslet's character to track down the origin. Meanwhile some other scientists/doctors/researchers are also trying to track it and create a vaccine which is proving difficult because it just keeps mutating. Meanwhile there are some internet bloggers(ahem!) bashing the government and it's protocols and promoting drugs that they say the government is withholding. It follows about 4 or 5 different stories as it progresses throughout the movie, some ending in bliss and some ending in tragedy.

My Thoughts: I really liked it. I thought the acting jobs done by both Matt Damon and Kate Winslet were phenomenal. I also loved Gwyneth Paltrow's performance however I wish she had played more of a role. She was cut out of the movie too early. I'm going to give my MVP award to Jennifer Ehle who played Dr. Ally Hextall and she was the one who finally discovered the vaccine only after testing it on herself. It was a rather small part but the scene when she was talking to her father was one of my favourites. Another reason why I liked this movie was because as an immunocomprimised person this is one of my biggest fears. Catching something like this disease/virus/whatever would mean my death. This movie is also a great teacher of good hygiene practises and statistics. Par example, did you know the average person touches their face 2,000 to 3,000 times per day!?!? That's disgusting! I try not to but even I (the queen of the germ-o-phobes) catch myself sometimes itching an eye or biting a nail. Let me tell you I'm going to be trying a whole hell of a lot harder after watching this movie.

My Final Thought: If you watch a movie twice in one day I'd say it's a keeper. I rented this movie off of Rogers on Demand for $5.99 and it was worth every penny.

4 1/2 Prednisone Pills out of 5 (and you know how I love Prednisone).



Pearly Whites....

Dentist checkup today. Aside from having a small mouth I got a clean bill of health(mouth wise). Now if only the rest of my body would follow suit....

Keep Smiling! :D

Is Officially Going to Change Her Name....

....to Aloious Zimmerplot. First day back to work after Christmas and New Years with a full crew of kidlets and am already tired of "Kylee". If I change it to something they can't pronounce they can't repeat in incessantly, correct?

Happy Monday everyone!

2012 Is Looking Better Already....

....because I had Coleslaw tonight for dinner and no pain! EEEE! I'm super excited! That means no more cooked-until-mushy carrots and broccoli as the only option for my vegetable intake! Did I mention that I'm super ecstatic! Still pretty gassy but it's a work in progress! I'll take what I can get!
So goodbye blanched veggies of the past. You are SO 2011!
Fresh produce is in for 2012 and my year never looked so good....

A 2011 Reflection....

As the close of 2011 approaches I find myself reflecting on the major issues of 2011. Things that come to mind...

• Buying a car. I LLOOVVEE my little Green Ford Fiesta! This is definitely one of the biggest moments of my 2011 year. Buying a car is one of the biggest steps you can take in becoming an adult and the freedom it's given me in incomparable to anything else in my current life.
• Ending Prenisone/Entocort. This one was hard for me because I felt like someone was taking away my security blanket. When I was on them I was pain-freeand happy and going off of them I was afraid I was going to get very sick again and Imuran wasn't going to cut it.
• In contrast, going off of Imuran was also a highlight of my year. I was on it December 2010-December 2011 and let me tell you it was the year from hell! And I don't use that term lightly. I'm glad to be rid of it.
• Remicade was a big part of my year this year. Not even just the act and anticipation of GETTING it but the prep and all the red tape of getting government approval and funding. And that's not even the stress of making three hours available every 8 weeks with my busy job.
• Staying in the hospital overnight for three nights was a big event for me this year aswell. I've never had to do that before and believe me, I never have any ambition to do it again soon....

....just a few thoughts to round out my year. Happy New Year to everyone that should find this post. May 2012 find you well and prosperous. And I know you wish me the same too. To end off, here are some of my New Years Resolutions....