Tuesday February 14th Happy Valentine’s Day!
After such a great weekend it was time for us to begin our ritual of packing up everything but the kitchen sink and head to San Jose. We have to go in because I have to have ANOTHER urine culture. Every time I finish taking my antibiotics I have to test to make sure the bacteria is completely gone. We as well have interviews lined up for a new therapist for me hopefully we find the right one! We are going in on Tuesday and hope to come home on Friday. We are also meeting with a urologist. Hopefully he can shed some light on why I have so many urinary tract infections.
We arrived to San Jose around 3pm. We went straight to the hotel as our first interview for my therapist was at 4pm. Anna came to the hotel to work out with me. She did a good job. Mom lined up four interviews for the week. Tomorrow we meet Irene. First thing Tuesday morning we went to CIMA so I could get my urine tested. It takes three days to find out if I am 100% clean. Of course right when I got to the hospital and Carmen was ready to catheterize me I tinkled! So Mom and Dad filled me up with some water and we came back 20 minutes later! Just as Carmen was cleaning me I tinkled again but she caught it in mid stream so I pulled one over on them and did not have to get catheterized this time! Yeah for me!!
My appointment with Irene was at 11am and we made it back just in time! Irene showed up early and brought her own mini gym with her to the hotel. She even brought a work out ball. We got straight to the business at hand. She started talking to me and stretching and we must have worked out close to an hour. I felt very comfortable with Irene. I could sense her confidence in handling me. We had a good work out together.
Later that afternoon we met with urologist, Dr. Konrad Jiminez. Seems that all this time I have been taking prophylactics that it really has not been the best decision for me. Many other kids with Liss take them and they can help prevent urinary tract infections but it never seems to make a difference with me. In the end it only feeds the enemy rather than deter it. So he suggested to take me off them and to only treat the urinary tract infections with symptoms. Continuing to use antibiotics all the time will only cause the germs to become more resistant to the drugs and that eventually even Cryptonite would not help to kill it. He suggested that I take a gamma renal test. You might wonder what that is we surely did not know! It is a test where I am injected with a teenie bit of radiation. The radiation goes specifically to my kidneys and they are lit up like a neon light. This test is to see if I have had any scarring on my kidneys since I have had so many urinary tract infections. I am scheduled to do this on Wednesday.
Wednesday morning we went to CIMA to take the test, the nurse found my vein on the first try and I was so happy for her and me! In went the radiation. My parents were a bit concerned thinking that they were putting radiation into my bloodstream but the tech explained to my parents that an xray had ten times more radiation then the small amount they were giving me to see my kidneys on the big screen! We had to wait three hours before coming back to the hospital to do the imaging. I also could not have anything to eat and I was suppose to be sleepy and not move or they would have to sedate me.
At 1:30 we came back I would have to say I was not very sleepy but we decided to start the process and I was laid down under this big machine and the technician was staring at the computer at my kidneys. Mom and dad were by my side and then the tech left the room and came back with another girl. The two of them were whispering when mom said what is the matter? Guess what???? In 1 in 100 cases the radiation does not go straight to the kidneys instead all the other organs in my body were lit up and not my kidneys. We could not do the test. Dad had to leave the room. Mom was not happy either. Are plans were to leave on Friday to go home. The technician said can you come back on Monday to redo the test? We were like what???? NO WE CAN NOT! We have already been here a week. I could not do the test the following day as to be injected with radiation again you have to wait at least 36 hours. The tech offered to come back in on Saturday to redo the test. Grumbling we all agreed that we would do it Saturday.
Mom called the hotel and guess what all the rooms were totally booked! We called our friend Krystal and thankfully she said to come on over that we could stay at her house. Mom was telling our friend Diego about what happened and he said we should all load up and take me to Vegas with the kind of odds I run we could probably win a million!
On Friday we packed up everything at the hotel and headed to Krystal’s. Mom and Dad were going to cook Krystal a yummy dinner tonight for being so kind to open her home up to us. We come with a lot of stuff!!!
As for the therapists, two of the girls did not show up at the hotel for the interview nor did they call to cancel. Mom was very disappointed as she had 9 girls interested in the position. It was probably for the best though as we surely would not want either of those girls working with me if not mature and responsible enough to call and cancel the interview. It really did not matter anyway as we had our eye on Irene! I really liked her! Mom and dad talked about it and decided to offer Irene the position. She accepted and is following us home on Saturday to scope out where she will be living. She will start her new job on March 1st. Yeah! I am sure we are going to become great friends.
Saturday morning we rushed out of the house to get to CIMA by 7:30am. The technician who put the radiation in my arm did a great job. It was quick and easy and I only cried for a few seconds. We headed back to Krystal’s and packed up. We had to be back at CIMA at 11am to do the test. For some reason I am very sleepy today and when we headed back for my appointment mom and dad just knew that I was going to be awake during the entire test! Well I did not. I slept through the entire 45 minutes. The exam was a success! I passed with flying colors the radiation went to my kidneys so they were lit up like a Christmas tree and I did not have any scars on my kidneys from prior infections. Woo hoo time to head home! Yeah!
We left the hospital at noon and arrived home at 5pm. It was so great to be home although it is much hotter here. Irene and her boyfriend Javier helped us unload the car and then we all sat out in the garden to watch the sunset. There is nothing better than a Delicias sunset. Gosh it is good to be home again.
Love Malia xo