A health-related entry…maybe I should create a category for such entries…hmmm…

So I had this huge scare early this morning that resulted in a trip down to the 24hr clinic. It started last night while I was in the bath. For some strange reason, I had a strong urge to pee. Even after I emptied my bladder, I still felt like peeing. I just shrugged off that strange feeling, thinking it would go away after a while. Nope, it didn’t. Around midnight when I was ready for bed, I went to the loo to take one last pee for the night. That’s when I noticed a slight pinkish tinge in my pee. Blood. Uh oh. And mind you, the strange feeling of wanting to pee was still there. I crawled into bed feeling rather uncomfortable, but decided that maybe I’ll go see a doctor the next morning. Did a quick search on the internet for a possible diagnosis and thought to myself that nothing could be too bad.

And I was wrong again. One hour passed and the feeling hadn’t gone away. In fact, it was getting worse. I just couldn’t fall asleep with that feeling…partly because I didn’t want to end up wetting myself in my sleep. I got up and peed. My pee still had traces of blood. I could feel the panic rising in me and tried to distract myself with an activity so I would stop panicking and making things worse. After pacing up and down a few times, I decided to wake the hubby. I could feel my voice quivering as I struggled to tell the hubby I was feeling unwell. He immediately got up and drove us to a nearby 24hr clinic.

The doctor ordered me to pee in a cup for a dipstick test. That was when I got the biggest shock of my life. My pee was full red this time. I was really about to cry. There was no other pain or discomfort except for the strange urge to pee, the sensation at my uh…pee hole. Doctor confirmed that I was having urinary tract infection (UTI). I’m not about to go into a long discussion on the possible reasons for getting UTI except that the receptionist/nurse just consoled me that it is common for females to get UTI and with medication, the symptoms would ease off in about two to three days.

A first dose of antibiotics after I returned home did help. There was still blood in my pee but at least the nagging urge to pee was easing off. As I lay down to sleep, a wave of nausea came upon me. What now. Could be the effect of the medication or another symptom of UTI. Struggled out of bed for the umpteenth time and found some sour plum to take (wasn’t sour enough but I’m taking whatever chances I have to keep from throwing up). Sat up in bed a little and soon the nausea subsided. It was about 3am by the time I (and the hubby) actually fell asleep.

The lesson learnt from this scare is to drink enough water and not to hold in your pee. If you gotta go, you gotta go. The doctor’s advice was to pee every one to two hours. Yes, I was actually holding in my pee after dinner. We were at the mall for dinner and I thought it didn’t matter since I was going home straight after dinner. Would rather pee in the comfort of my own home loo. What an expensive lesson to learn as the trip to the clinic in the wee hours of the morning cost us $145 (consultation after midnight is $105 which is about the same as a trip to the hospital).

Oh and the hubby deserves a pat on the back (and maybe more) for sacrificing precious hours of sleep and still head for work this morning.