Thanks fella. The antibiotics seem to be working, apparently these antibiotics ( nitrofurantoin) are specifically for UTI and while I am still tentative about being too positive, this morning was the first time in almost three weeks where I went to the toilet normally.
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Freaking out!!!
- Thread starter Castiel
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Thanks fella. The antibiotics seem to be working, apparently these antibiotics ( nitrofurantoin) are specifically for UTI and while I am still tentative about being too positive, this morning was the first time in almost three weeks where I went to the toilet normally.
If it turns out to be stones (Which isn't likely now given you've had the ultrasound!) I'd be glad I blood in my pee first rather than the agony of having stones.
Good luck with your recovery and hope it's a simple one time UTI.
Good luck with your recovery and hope it's a simple one time UTI.
So update.
Yesterday had my CT urogram which they said would take a week or so for the results. Today however I get a call from the urologist to say that they have found a 'filling defect' in one of my kidneys. He said he thinks it's something called 'prominent papillar architecture' or something like that, it was hard to take in tbh. Anyway, I have to have surgery under a GA within the next two weeks to investigate.
I asked about whether it could be cancer, again he said unlikely due to my age and cytology results being clear but they need to operate to rule it out. I don't know what Prominent Pappilar architecture is and Google is definitely not my friend on this.
They will also look again in my bladder under a GA this time as the two may be unrelated.
So not great news, but still hope.
Yesterday had my CT urogram which they said would take a week or so for the results. Today however I get a call from the urologist to say that they have found a 'filling defect' in one of my kidneys. He said he thinks it's something called 'prominent papillar architecture' or something like that, it was hard to take in tbh. Anyway, I have to have surgery under a GA within the next two weeks to investigate.
I asked about whether it could be cancer, again he said unlikely due to my age and cytology results being clear but they need to operate to rule it out. I don't know what Prominent Pappilar architecture is and Google is definitely not my friend on this.
They will also look again in my bladder under a GA this time as the two may be unrelated.
So not great news, but still hope.
Even if there is the slightest chance it is cancer it will be caught early enough to be completely removed I would have thought.
The likelihood is though it's what the urologist thinks it is and all should be well after the surgery.
Try and keep your mind elsewhere and not get caught up by anxiety again
Good luck.
The likelihood is though it's what the urologist thinks it is and all should be well after the surgery.
Try and keep your mind elsewhere and not get caught up by anxiety again
Good luck.
Ok. Some of you are going to tell me off I know. Anyway the urologist kindly called me back just now realising that I was very anxious in the earlier call and decided that perhaps I needed him to go through things step by step to reassure me (and who says the NHS are rubbish) So they are going to put a camera up into my kidney to have a look at a very small (less than a cm) area of the right kidney that did not take the dye in the Urogram. He suspects that it is what is called a prominent patellae in the calyx part of the kidney and is just a congenital defect that is my normal kidney function. The exam is to be 100% that there is no other reason for it. He explained that they take no chances, however small they might be which is why they do these things as quick as possible and as thorough as possible. At the same time they will look at my bladder and again he feels that it is an infection that has reoccurred. He told me he had a patient in my age group with a very similar diagnoses on his table recently. All other tests and he said they have done them all, are all normal.
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Definitely sounds as if the NHS is coming up with a thumbs up on this one. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? Also on a scale from 1 to 10, how do you consider your fitness level and diet ?
I am 44, non smoker, reasonably fit (6-7), I was morbidly overweight for 6 years or so before losing 14 stone. I still have a few stone to go. But I used to be extremely fit until my mid thirties due to a serious incapacitating injury. My diet is very good, it has to be due to only having half a stomach..(not because of a WLS but a later complication from my injury).
The urologist said my risk factors are very low.
sounds positive to me - try not to worry too much (easier said than done).
If I'm reading it right I consider that to be good news. Reminds me of when I had my heart checked out. An innocent murmur. The doc put it well - 'I have reassured EdGey that his heart is fine and that this is an innocent variation of normal.'
I'm sure they expect to find nothing wrong but it's best to be on the safe side. Look at the silver lining, even if they find nothing and still have no answers, at least you'll know for certain that your bladder and kidneys are in top form.
I'm sure they expect to find nothing wrong but it's best to be on the safe side. Look at the silver lining, even if they find nothing and still have no answers, at least you'll know for certain that your bladder and kidneys are in top form.
not too much to add except to say good luck with it all and hope it all works out ok
maybe it is a good thing they've spotted something to explain the symptoms and you're at least getting a operation so someone can take a proper look
though rather unrelated I had issues with my knee for some time, joint felt pretty loose + had pain in the tendon first GP dismissed it with a knee support and some aspirin gel... had an xray - unsurprisingly it showed nothing... decided to take advantage of medical insurance with work - got an MRI & saw a sports medicine consultant - patella tendon clearly swollen up to almost double the size in parts on the MRI, had a bunch of sugar solution injections (sounded dubious) + physio sessions - supposed to heal in a year... tendon got better but joint still felt 'loose'.. it wasn't until two years later when I got some more pain in the knee, bit of cartilage damaged - had surgery and thats when I finally found out the cause the surgeon noted that my ACL was damaged and that was why my joint had been loose/unstable... In retrospect, when I started looking into ACL injuries it became apparent that what I'd been describing to my GP in the first place, a couple of years earlier ought to have sounded like a damaged ACL.
Anyway the point of all my waffle was basically to say that if you're really concerned then perhaps it is good someone is physically looking inside, if they find nothing of worry then you'll probably be much more reassured by it.
maybe it is a good thing they've spotted something to explain the symptoms and you're at least getting a operation so someone can take a proper look
though rather unrelated I had issues with my knee for some time, joint felt pretty loose + had pain in the tendon first GP dismissed it with a knee support and some aspirin gel... had an xray - unsurprisingly it showed nothing... decided to take advantage of medical insurance with work - got an MRI & saw a sports medicine consultant - patella tendon clearly swollen up to almost double the size in parts on the MRI, had a bunch of sugar solution injections (sounded dubious) + physio sessions - supposed to heal in a year... tendon got better but joint still felt 'loose'.. it wasn't until two years later when I got some more pain in the knee, bit of cartilage damaged - had surgery and thats when I finally found out the cause the surgeon noted that my ACL was damaged and that was why my joint had been loose/unstable... In retrospect, when I started looking into ACL injuries it became apparent that what I'd been describing to my GP in the first place, a couple of years earlier ought to have sounded like a damaged ACL.
Anyway the point of all my waffle was basically to say that if you're really concerned then perhaps it is good someone is physically looking inside, if they find nothing of worry then you'll probably be much more reassured by it.
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yes my missus had one for a bad shoulder, they found some sort of lump near her lungs, operation and 2 months off work and it was nothung serious in end
Good luck mate. I know just how bad anxiety can affect you. I really wish you well, update us.
The urologist seemed pretty confident that the bladder is an infection albeit a rather hard to find and stubborn one and the 'filling defect' in my kidney is what he called a 'variant of normal'. I was very impressed that he called me back after first telling me (he called me in the first place just so I didn't panic unduly when getting a surgery letter in the post) because he thought I sounded so anxious the first time.
That's great news about your tests though Rotty. Long may it continue.
Over the last 6 years or so this is the third abdominal CT Scan I've had, (they don't want to do anymore if they can help it for some time) the last one was about two years ago. All the others were for very specific things to do with injury and nothing untoward was ever found (other than what they were looking for) this was my first with contrast though, and it was just the small bit of the right kidney that didn't fill with dye they want to look at. I would imagine if there was a tumor it would have shown up on the normal ct scan they did first and/or the sonogram they also did which was clear.
This is what someone else told me. If they had any real suspicions of cancer in my bladder for example they would have taken a biopsy in the first cystoscopy. He did ask me if I wanted him to take one anyway at the time, I asked him what he would do in my position and he said no, he would just have another look in a months time. Obviously now he will do that at the same time as poking the camera in my kidney. Cytology and kidney function blood tests were both normal last week.
You are absolutely right. Despite all my anxiety over this, and it's been debilitating tbh, I am still glad they are doing all this.
I spoke to my GP this afternoon to try to get some info on what the urologist said (before he called me back) and he was totally useless, he simply said he knew nothing about it and couldn't help me. Tried to make me take long term SSRI for anxiety, which I refused and that was it really. Which tbh is unusual because normally he is really understanding. Bad day I suppose.