Yet another UTI

April 14, 2017
Hi, Tracy,

This morning I stopped  by Kaiser Permanente (formerly Group Health)  Pharmacy to pick up a prescription of Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim, a.k.a. Bactrim or Septra. OK, I think you can just call it a sulfa drug. It's a combination of two antibiotics to treat bacterial infections. Cost: $13.67

Because of a repeat of UTI (urinary tract infection) symptoms, I had taken a urine test, which revealed the presence of bacteria in the urine, along with a level of red blood cells slightly above the norm and white blood cells well above the norm.

I'm not sure why this is happening. I believe my first UTI (Nov. 18 blog) may have resulted from the procedure to implant gold beads in my prostate prior to radiation. Who knows!  My second UTI treatment (March 1 blog) followed discovery of E-coli in my urine--where that came from is anybody's guess. After taking antibiotics appropriate to E-coli, my follow-up urine test showed it cleared up.

But here I am again, and . . .

Hold the presses! This just in . . .

I just this afternoon had a phone call with my radiologist, who thinks I should have a different antibiotic: Nitrofurantoin/Nitrofurantoin Macrocrystals. What a name. When I picked it up this afternoon ($20) I asked the pharmacist whether it was safe for me to jump off curbs. She laughed at me. I don't mind the fact that I had to dispose of this morning's prescription -- that just suggests to me that health team is staying on top of things. I can afford the $13.67 discard for that kind of quick follow-up.

My radiologist asked me about symptoms and then came up with his recommendation. He also told me that this is not a hygiene problem (i.e., little beasties are not swimming upstream)  and that it's not clear where the bacteria are coming from. They may just be lingering in the bladder, which it is my duty to empty as completely as possible. They can also move around the body, so this is a general antibiotic  on a search and destroy mission. I take the Nitro twice daily for a week. Hope it works.

At least I'm getting an expanded vocabulary out of this experience.

Love,
Dad