nothing like warm pee in the afternoon
on wednesday, i had the pleasure of running over to the other side of the hospital on my lunch break. had to give a little sample for the rheumatologist i saw on the 23rd. luckily there was no venipuncture involved (i'd gotten that part out of the way on the day of-only 4 days after i'd donated blood, so i had a pre-poked vein all ready for them). i moseyed over to the lab after checking in & dutifully took my newly labeled urine specimen cup. i always get a chuckle over reading the directions in the bathroom. "women: remove pants..." men are never told that crucial step. are women really so stupid that they don't know to remove their pants? seriously.
business done without any drips & i place the practically steaming cup (who knew body temperature was so high?) in the little metal door... right next to someone else's dark (ugh!) yellow specimen. i kindly mentioned that my cup had company in the little closet when i walked out past the lab techs.
today in the mail i received a copy of the transcription from my rheum appt & also the lab results. um, apparently my ana (normal is <1:40) is a bit high. read that as 1:1280. apparently my thyroid is off, underfunctioning a bit. not enough, or long enough, for me to gain any weight, so i don't know if it's been happening for long. i know that people with hyperactive thyroid tend to metabolize faster & lose weight more readily than others, so the opposite should be true to underactive thyroid. if nothing else, i've lost 3 lbs since catching a monster cold this weekend.
now with these results, i don't know if the doc will even want me to get my remicade infusion tomorrow. the doctor who administers it is not my actual gi doc, so i won't know what's what until i check in & see him tomorrow. since my abnormal labs could be the result of drug-induced lupus, maybe stopping the remicade is the best bet, but i don't want to suffer through more joint pain until i introduce another drug. conundrum!
posted by mar @ 9:00 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I have major cup-peeing issues. I usually drink about a gallon of water to ensure I can squeeze a couple ounces. Something is wrong with my brain!
i don't have trouble supplying the sample, but i usually end up with a damp specimen cup.
at the women's clinic, they have you use a wax paper cup... weird.
I have always been able to pee on command. But, more important, I hope you find a good solution to your pain conundrum.
i did get my remicade yesterday, but on today's lunch break i have to go across the hospital again & give another free blood 'sample' to see if my labs are still out of whack. we shall see.
the pain hasn't been so bad since dr. s had me go on prednisone/steroids, but i'm not a big fan from past experience.
Prednisone is a hard drug for long term use, so I hope that you won't have to be on it too long. I took it for years when I was a kid, as it was the only thing that kept me breathing when my asthma was bad. I had a friend with Crohn's and she was always miserable when she had to be on it. I am thinking of you, my dear!
i'm already on a taper from the prednisone, so haven't had any adverse side effects. i think s wouldn't hesitate to fill me in if i had the psycho effects i had when i was on steroids during my hospital stay. ha! so far (fingers crossed), no zits & not any particular ravenous, hungry feeling either. i only started on 30mg & i'm down to 10mg now. will do 5 next week & then off. at that point i'll be seeing my gi doctor for my 6 month followup & should have the results back from this last round of labs to see if i have lupus or thyroid disease or what. just disheartening not knowing what the heck is going on or what specifically is wrong with me this time.
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