Status of my GI & GU tracts

So I saw Dr. Somerville on Friday morning (after we drove to the wrong office first because of some miscommunication). He prodded some stuff up my backside and pronounced that he couldn't see anything immediately wrong. He gave me a prescription to have some x-rays of my abdomen and to come see him again on Monday. Well that really wouldn't do because I wasn't sure I was going to make it through the weekend and Emily was equally unnerved. We went home and I passed out asleep again until very late in the afternoon. Finally I got up and we went to Patient First and I explained the whole situation again to the doctor there. We went there because they can do x-rays and will actually look at it right away and tell you something. Basically I wanted to know if I needed to be in the ER or if this was really something that could be solved with OTC/prescription stuff. Well it turns out I'm not really "all that backed up". The doctor was very emphatic (more so than any other doctor I've talked to about this) that I need to be taking an OTC laxative and stool softener daily when using any narcotics (e.g. oxycodone). I was/am aware that narcotics have a constipative effect but no one has ever been that emphatic about the need for laxatives in combination with them. In any case, he gave me a prescription for golytely (which is the 4L of junk they give you to guzzle for a colonoscopy) but said I could take it at my leisure. This stuff is just poly-ethylene glycol, which is also available OTC as Mira-Lax (which I have). I haven't filled this prescription yet. I did take senna when we got home. I had a fairly satisfactory (if extremely ill-formed, so to speak) bowel movement today, which was great in my book. I'm not sure if I'll switch to Mira-lax and continue with senna. I think I'll stick with senna tonight.

Now the only problem is that I am highly suspect that I have (another) urinary tract infection of some sort. Same sort of groinal area pain that led up to me being sure something was wrong last time. I am getting good at spotting these things so I will be amazed if I am wrong. This whole stent thing is actually a pretty abortive medical situation in my opinion. It was put it about 2 hours after I had a CAT scan showing that I needed one and I was totally out of it when I agreed to it (I would have agreed to it anyway though). But I have never really had any consultation with anyone about it, it's just sort of sitting there keeping things open and attracting bacteria. I never did get word from Dr. Kasamon on what sort of coordination I should be having with Dr. Fenig (who placed the stent) and him, if any. If I don't feel better tomorrow, it's back to Patient First for a pee test and likely more antibiotics. I wrote Dr. Kasamon an email and asked if I should be on prophylaxis antibiotics given the stent and the chemotherapy. I want and feel that the answer should be yes. He will sometimes respond to my emails over the weekend, and I hope he does and he can just call in some antibiotic that I can take and increase the chances for developing antibiotic resistant bacteria on the world by using it for a really long time.

I actually went out with Emily today to look at a farm, and then we went to the Columbia mall and did a wee bit of shopping. Then we ate at Chik-fil-A. I've had a fair bit of food today, so that's good. I did not want to get up this morning. I think that happens when you essentially spend an entire week in bed. But I'm glad I got up. I am very tired right now. Who knows why. Maybe because I got up and did something today. I think it's a UTI. We'll see.