SEVEN DOCTORS IN THREE WEEKS

I’ve been to seven doctors in three weeks, and I’m on my fourth antibiotic. Also, I don’t mean to sound paranoid but I’m pretty sure the devil hates me. Either that or God is just testing my mettle, because this sort of thing seems to happen every time we get a Bible study going, which first makes me want to quit and second makes me determined to ask every human I meet to read the book of Mark with us. I’m on the second, just so you know in case we meet in public. We have sixteen students right now and there’s always room for one more. 

A few weeks ago I used Telehealth to get an antibiotic for what I thought was a routine urinary tract infection. Then, when it seemed to be long gone, I was talking to Andy’s girlfriend and had a sudden, sharp pain in my belly. (So now you know Andy has a girlfriend and we really like her. Just wanted to throw that in there.) Anyway, the pain persisted for hours, so I made an appointment with the first doctor available. By the time I got to her office, my symptoms had intensified and seemed like classic appendicitis, so she sent me to the emergency room. 

The doctor there did a CT scan and diagnosed me with ovarian vein thrombosis and, oh by the way, a stone in my kidney that doesn’t seem to be causing any problems. He told me to go home and take Tylenol because there really wasn’t much they could do about it. Hmmm. I did go home, but I did not take Tylenol and instead did what you’re thinking of doing right now and looked up what the heck ovarian vein thrombosis is. Apparently it may involve a blood clot, which would make our two-day plane trip to Africa in May a less-than-great idea, so I made an appointment with doctor number four to follow up on that. 

By the time I got to his office I was also having UTI symptoms again—and leg and side pain. He gave me another antibiotic and referred me to a gynecologist, AKA doctor number five. John, being the supportive husband he is, went with me to see doctor number five and was glad he did (not so much because of the diagnosis but more because, as he puts it, “the doctor looks like a GQ model, and I was really hoping for an old, ugly guy”). Anyway, number five refuted the ER doc’s diagnosis, saying the pain was probably from the UTI. He said now everything looked perfect. (On another side note, John didn’t really appreciate his word choice there so, while we were both happy he didn’t detect anything life threatening, I will probably be finding a new gynecologist.) Humor me as I tell this story. There really is no need to make it unnecessarily somber. 

So, about the time my second antibiotic was wearing off and I was hoping to be done with this, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like my bladder was going to explode. I know that’s gross, but there’s no better way to describe it. Thankfully, I had been given a third antibiotic as a just-in-case backup, so I took that and paced the floor for several hours until the pain subsided. Then I slept most of that day.  

For fear of a recurrence and having used my backup plan, I went to see doctor number six. (Honestly, I’m not bouncing from doctor to doctor intentionally. These people are not generally available without many days’ notice, which you don’t have in the event of a bladder explosion scare.) Number six was great and listened to my whole story like you’re doing now. She found that I still have a bacteria that seems to be resistant to antibiotics and suspects that it may be in my kidney at this point and may indeed have something to do with that stone after all. Now I’m on antibiotic number four, which I’m supposed to take daily just to keep this infection from overwhelming my body until I see the urologist, doctor number seven, next week. 

I’m beginning to appreciate why they call them antibiotics (against life) because I feel a little inorganic, if that were possible, with a constant headache and malaise. I would appreciate your prayers not only for my health but also for the Bible studies we’re doing with these students and for our trip to Africa in May. At least if I’m going to be sick, I would like for it to be worth something. And, by the way, I hate the devil as much as he hates me, and I would like to get better and be a part of a massive revival just to show him up. Who’s with me?