How did it go Anji?

..much better than I hoped.

 I had a bus journey and a 15 minute walk to get to the lab, so I drank my litre of water before I set off. I arrived about five minutes before my appointment. There was no queue and the receptionist was friendly and helpful. I went into the waiting room and was just getting my book out when my name was called!

The doctor was very nice and did the first part of the ultrasound scan quite quickly; he then showed me to a toilet - I was so relieved in more ways than one. Then I went in for the internal scan which was a little uncomfortable at first. I asked him questions so keep my mind occupied. He told me that I have a small uterus and was surprised that I had three children. They were all very small when they were born, perhaps it was because of lack of space.  I dressed and went to the waiting room to wait for the results. It had only taken 10 minutes.

I didn’t get too far with my book when my name was called to collect the results. The examination cost 56€70 (£46.80 or $74.09), most of which will be refunded by the social security and my health insurance cover. My gynecologist is just across the road, so I dropped them off there and walked back to the bus station. The bus was just about to leave when I got on it - excellent timing.

I think that the lab must have undergone a few changes since I was last there. Everyone was pleasant, there were no queues and I didn’t have to wait very long at all. Someone told me that most of the private clinics, labs, etc. around here are now owned by a Swedish company.

Pity I didn’t get very long to read my book

A scientific experiment in real time

I’m not sure if I’ve blogged about this before. At the beginning of December I had what I thought was cystitis. So I bought some cranberry tablets and took a month’s cure. Unfortunately it kept on coming back and the tests that were taken where clear. Anyway, I ended up taking tablets for bladder spasms. I’ve looked around on the internet and now I don’t drink large quantities of anything in one go and have trained myself to wait 90 minutes between visits to the loo. This keeps things more or less comfortable most of the time.

It just so happens that next week I have an ultrasound scan and guess what? I have to drink a litre of water an hour before. I know the journey will take roughly an hour, so I must drink the water just before setting off. I’ve been worrying about this since I found out the ‘good news’ yesterday morning. This morning I came up with a plan. I would measure out the water (4 glasses) and drink them down. Allowing one hour plus another hour for waiting because appointments are usually late, I’m going to note how I manage. If it really is too uncomfortable, I will cancel the appointment and contact my gynecologist to see what else can be done. Anyone who has had a baby will know that an ultrasound scan on a full bladder is no picnic.

Progress will be updated every hour.

 9.22: Drank down four large glasses of water

10.22: I need to go but it's managable - no spasms.  Not sure how I'll feel about someone pressing the scanner onto my tummy at the moment

11.05 : I was hoping to get to 11.22, but considering everything, I did better than I thought I would.

I checked the medicine I’m taking; Vesicare. It’s designed to help people last longer – as it were. So in theory I will be alright on the day. I found the website and there are 3 stories of women of different ages, who suffered with overactive bladder (there, I said it). I’m thankful that I went to see my Doctor pretty quickly. Now I understand what had been going on.

If you’ve found this post because you’re trying to find out what’s wrong; please, please don’t hesitate to talk to your Doctor – it can’t be more embarrassing that having an accident when you’re out and about, can it?