A day at the urologists...

Today was my big day at the urologists.  It really wasn't that exciting, but I was glad to finally be somewhere where they expected me to pee as soon as I walked in.  I'm generally really good at having to pee... all of the time.

Anyways, we just talked about my symptoms and ordered some tests to be done.  The doctor has a hunch that it could be Interstitial Cystitis (which is when the lining of the bladder is inflamed, therefor causing a whole lot of pain and discomfort).  Unfortunately, this would have nothing to do with the rest of my illness, and it's also not curable, but people find relief from different types of treatment.  Another unfortunate thing is that there is no definitive test for it, so we get to use the good 'ol process of elimination.  I did have blood in my urine (which isn't a typical symptom of IC), which makes things a little more confusing.  I have a bladder/kidney ultra sound next Monday to rule out some other things, and then I go back to the urologist in 2 weeks to talk some more, and hopefully figure out what's going on... at least with that part of my body.  Meanwhile, I have the pleasure (NOT) of deciding whether or not I should have a probe done to look inside my bladder, and if I would like to try some more meds.  I don't like it when doctors leave decisions like that up to me.  He prescribed me some medicine that will make my pee orange and syrupy (and hopefully make my bladder feel a little better).  Sounds fun...

I was pretty upset after the appointment, because my ideal solution to this problem would be that everything is related and we just need to figure it out and take care of it.  It's hard for me to be okay with the fact that it might be a lot more complicated then that, and I also tend to have a bad habit of thinking that my "plans" are the best way that God will work through this.  God's good at reminding me that I'm not in charge... and that's a good thing.  A really good thing.  God is bigger than urology appointments.

I have had a really rough past few weeks.  It has seemed like I've been getting worse, and I've been having a lot of really bad bone/muscle pain and fatigue, but... these past 2 or 3 days have been better, so I'm enjoying a little bit of relief. :) We're trying to figure out where to go from here, which is why we were kind of hoping the urology appointment would give us a little more direction.

On the bright side, I am really, really, reaaallly enjoying PT!  It has been a huge blessing for me, and being able to do something that I enjoy makes the not so enjoyable parts of this a whole lot easier.  I have a lot to say about it, so hopefully I'll get around to writing a post about it!

Still here!

Happy June!  It's been awhile, but I'm still alive.  The past few weeks have had a whole lot of ups and downs, but here's the latest medical scoop before I get into more fun things, like Jesus and radishes:

I received my blood work results from a few weeks ago.  Lyme is negative for the 8th time.  We're happy about that, because if I had 7 negative results and 1 positive, I'd be very confused.

They also tested for epstein barr (aka mono), not because they think I've had it this whole time, but because I've been exposed to some people with mono lately and I've also been more symptomatic lately, but that was negative, too.  That's also a "good" negative because having mono would just really complicate things at this point.

So, just two new negatives that we already had several negatives for.  Nothing to complain about there!

I see the urologist on the 12th, and that's a very good thing.  My bladder is wacko.

Anyways, that's enough medical stuff for now.  I've had a lot of hard days lately,  mainly because I've been getting really anxious about silly things.  I'm much better with the physical pain/discomfort than feeling like I'm going crazy. I tend to think that  I just need to work harder, pray more, or just, well... be better.  Whatever that means.  But, this verse keeps coming to my mind:

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
- 2 Corinthians 12:9

The truth that I have to keep reminding myself is that I've got nothing to prove.  God has put me in this situation because He knows that it's the best way to use my life for His purposes.  God's still good.  Perfectly good.

... and His grace is sufficient for me.

Oh, and radishes.  My parents and I planted peas, radishes, 4 different types of tomatoes, beans, sunflowers and wildflowers during memorial day weekend, and we're going to plant a pumpkin patch when the weather gets warmer!  Here's what it looks like so far:

We have the peas and radishes in a raised bed, the sunflowers are next to the raised bed, the wildflowers are planted waaayy in the back of the garden, and most of it will be pumpkins!

The tomatoes are planted in the orange bags (one is missing, I know. It's still inside.)  The beans are in the blue bags!

And THIS, is what I saw when I went to go check on everything tonight... some little radishes popping out!