Time for another installment of this Wednesday/Sunday night series!
Picking up from last time –
As I wait for my appointment, I try not to think about kidneys too often. Every once in a while, something will come up that reminds me. But for now, as all I can do is wait. I’ll just let it chill on the back-burner…
Well, I’ll try to.
In the couple of days that followed my initial talk with Dr. R, I did a little of that online “research” that so many of us love to do. “But what could my proteinuria mean?!”
It’s listed as one of the signs of kidney disease. Know what else is? My super dry hands. And it’s like, “Oop. Yep. There it is. I must have kidney disease.”
Of course, I don’t really believe I actually have kidney disease. But you know how that rabbit hole goes.
So I wait and wait and wait for what seems like forever, until the day finally comes.
And nothing earth shattering happens.
I meet my new doctor. He’s nice. He runs some labs and refers me back to Dr. R.
It’s ridiculously hard to get an appointment with Dr. R.
While I’m waiting to get one, my labs come back. The initial small pee-in-a-cup test came back with a normal level of protein.
I don’t remember what it was about the week before the test – if I was abnormally busy (even though I hate that word), or if I was sick or what, but I remember I wasn’t super active.
So, I thought maybe it truly was a matter of not working out so much! I asked if I could have a 24-hour urine test one last time to see if I could do it right. The person on the phone said I’d have to get an appointment to ask that question. I tried to push it (in the nicest tone I could). “Do I really have to have an appointment? It’s literally one question – and one we sort of touched on while I was there.”
But alas, I couldn’t convince the person at the desk to ask my new doctor. (I do respect that doctors have limited amounts of time. So, I’m not necessarily saying I was in the right. Obviously I was just thinking about what’s easiest/fastest for me.)
I took the next available appointment – which was in April.
And this is where I’ll pick up next time.