Long day at UAB...

After all the positive things we had to say about UAB these last few years, today was definitely the exception. Don't get me wrong, we still think UAB is a great hospital and would recommend it to anyone, today was just a different experience than we've dealt with before. I had my appointment this afternoon with the urologist to discuss when/if to change my stint yet since it's been close to 3 months since it was first put in place. After waiting on the doctor for over 2 hours, I was (needless to say) starting to get pretty uncomfortable sitting in their chairs, and the pain was gradually getting worse just from having to sit upright for so long without much support. After waiting those 2, uncomfortable hours, the doctor finally came in to see us and talked to us for a total of maybe 5 minutes, to basically tell us that as of right now, he didn't see the need to change the stint yet, that they can go as long as 6 months before needing to be changed. He said he would talk to my oncologist and when she thought it was time to change it (whether due to urinary related symptoms or abnormal blood work), THEN they would look at scheduling a procedure to replace it. Then, the urologist asked if I would be able to lie back on the exam room table so he could examine my stomach. I told him yes, but I was in a lot of pain so it would be difficult. He still asked if I would lie down so I sat on the table and went to go lie back, but I was in so much pain I couldn't do it by myself. The doctor offered me his hand to assist me, but it was still too painful. I started to tear up and looked at Jason, who immediately rushed up and basically laid me back on the table. Once I was laid down, the doctor started pressing on my abdomen (and NOT lightly I might add), causing even more pain and more tears. And that was about it. The doctor didn't say anything or make any comments after pressing on my stomach, and Jason had to help me back into a sitting position to get off the table (the doctor simply offered his hand). He signed my check out papers and said he would get with my oncologist, and when needed, schedule to replace the stint. And then we were done...



So... although it's somewhat nice to know I don't have to get that changed anytime really soon (I wasn't looking forward to that), today felt like a wasted trip and the rest of the evening I've felt very exhausted and cannot seem to control the pain. I was running a slight fever earlier this evening, but we're keeping an eye on it and hoping it's just from exhaustion and a long day. We'll of course check it again in the morning, but we're hoping if I get a good nights' rest it will subside and I'll feel better in general. We will of course keep you posted if anything arises, but we're praying for a restful night and better day tomorrow!