Doctor visit yesterday

[Lindsey]

So my appointment finally came and I went to the doctor yesterday for a physical. I was pretty nervous, and it only got worse when it started! The woman who brought me back to the examining room was very rude and wouldn't make eye contact or anything. I never knew when she was actually talking to me because she seemed like she was doing other things. I had to pee in a cup... except instead of a cup she handed me a cereal bowl LOL! It was really that big. So weird.
Anyways, when the doctor finally came it was better. He's really a nice guy. Instead of just talking medical stuff the whole time he was asking about my job and where I went to school and if I have a boyfriend and what's his name and asking about my family and stuff. It definitely took my mind off getting poked and prodded all over!
I asked him about that day of spotting I had about a month and a half ago and he told me not to worry about it, that it was probably just breakthrough bleeding. He said it might have just been something in my life that for some reason caused the pill to not be able to hold up a barrier for a day, but that it's nothing serious. If it happens again in the next few months, I may have to switch to a stronger pill.
I now have to go do a 24 hour urine sample (I hate those!) and get some blood work done. He still wants to monitor my kidney function since I've had a lot of trouble with my kidneys. I have another appointment in 2 months to talk about test results. He wants me to keep a food diary for about 4 days and bring in any vitamins I take.
But yesterday he said I seem to be "healthy as an ox!"

[Janet]

I'm sure glad you're "healthy as an ox" Lindsey. Would you mind telling me what a 24-hour urine sample is? The only thing I've ever had to do was pee in a cup and that's it...lol

[Lindsey]

It's like peeing in a cup, except it's peeing in a giant jug lol. I take one home with me and I have to collect in it everytime I have to pee for 24 hours, and then take it to the lab and get a blood test. I think it's more representative of what is going on because it's taken over a longer period of time. I think for regular "pee in a cup" tests, they might not be so accurate because at different times of the day you have different things going through your body. I've never actually asked why, but that's my theory lol

[Janet]

Thanks Lindsey. I've never had to do that.

[DianaB]

I was going to ask that same question!! I've never heard of it either!! I didn't know that you had trouble with your kidneys, did I? I tend to forget really bad. It sounds like your doctor gave you a pretty good bill of health if he said that you were as healthy as an ox!!

[Lindsey]

I'm not sure if I've talked about it before here, but when I was about 16 or 17 I went to the doctor for a throat infection and he saw a really high amount of protein in my urine sample. I got shipped around to tons of doctors and specialists, getting tests and ultrasounds. The ultrasounds showed that I had a lot of damage on my right kidney. The best explanation I got is that I always have throat infections, and apparently the kidneys are the first organs to be hit when a throat infection spreads. So I've had it constantly monitored since then. In 2007 I saw my specialist again and the results showed a 200% improvement, so he now just wants to see me every 2 years to make sure it's not getting bad again. And my regular doctor wants to do his own testing in between just to keep his own record of it.

[DianaB]

That's great that your doctors are keeping such a good eye on your kidneys. It sounds like you're in good hands!!

[gja1000]

Lindsay is exactly right - the "pee in the cup" is a one shot look at kidney function - it's a good estimation, but not as precise as looking at a 24 hour sample. Anytime you have any kidney problems, then a 24 hour urine is in order. I had to do one last year to check if I was getting rid of too much calcium (I wasn't). My bone density test was lower than previous, despite taking meds to prevent bone loss - so they needed the 24 hour urine to check for calcium loss. It turned out to be most likely measurement error, rather than actual increased bone loss.

The hard part is being home to pee or taking your jug with you to where ever you are going (not an easy thing to do). The urine has to be refridgerated, so a big old jug of pee in your fridge (or someone else's fridge) is not very appealing! LOL! Gary and I always do it over the weekend to avoid those situations.