Bladder infection

Friday evening, April 5,  I felt a bladder infection coming on. I bought some over the counter azo, hoping that it was a bladder irritation and nothing more. We had invited Hector and Pam Caballero and Connie and Guero Caballero for a cookout on Saturday afternoon. Then Hector called Friday night and said that one of their little boys was sick with stomach flu and they were afraid to come over because of my weakened immune system. Saturday morning I knew I was wrong about it being a mere irritation; I was in full blown symptoms--burning, frequency, etc. I kept drinking tons of water and finally told Ramiro what my problem was. He took me to the Baylor (Aubrey) Emergency Medical Center. Dr. Gaidarski saw me, and was very conscious that I was a "high risk" patient when it came to bladder infections. The urinalysis showed signs of infection--leukocytes and nitrates--so he called Baylor All Saints Transplant clinic to confer with the nephrologist on call about what to prescribe.  I am allergic to flagyl and fortaz, which apparently rules out a host of drugs of choice. The final decision was to prescribe 500 mg of    once a day for 10 days. I started taking it that afternoon, and felt some relief by morning. All symptoms were gone within a couple of days, but I have continued taking the medication as prescribed. The last pill will be on Monday, April 15, tax day.

While we were waiting for the prescription, Ramiro called his sister Connie and told her what the problem was, and asked if it could be rescheduled, but she told him that on Sunday they were having a birthday celebration for her daughter Cyndy and we were invited. That was fine by us! But of course we had defrosted a bunch of steaks, chicken breasts, and sausage links, which Ramiro had to cook on Monday.  We've been eating like kings since then!

Wednesday, April 10 we went to Arkansas. Thursday I needed to take my car to the dealership about a recall notice, had a hair appointment with Robert James, and put in about 5 hours at the office. That night I attended the monthly gathering of the Sassies Quilting group; it was rather skimpy--only 7 of us there, and one of them was a guest. Apparently membership is dropping and even those still members are not attending each meeting. Kinda sad; it was a fun group, although the Thursday lunch group was much more enjoyable because it was a smaller more intimate setting, and the regulars were pretty faithful about going every week.

Friday I put in another 3 hours at the office, had a mammogram, and then we went to dinner at Hunan Manor.  I went for a walk around the golf course loop after dinner while Ramiro loaded the car for our return trip to Texas. 

The Arkansas house feels like a luxury hotel--lots of space, beautiful views, and the flowers and trees are budding and blooming. The hydrangeas are leafing out, but no flowers. The crabapple tree out front is in full bloom. The easter lilies apparently did not bloom; they must have frozen because they came up too early. They were already several inches tall in January before we left, and they have had some hard freezes since then. The highway between Ft. Smith and Fayetteville was beautiful--the dogwoods are beginning to bloom, and the redbuds were gorgeous.

It is Saturday, April 13, and we are back in Texas. Today is the 11 month anniversary of my transplant.  Tomorrow is the Transplant Reunion at Baylor in Dallas, and we have registered to attend. I hope to see some of the doctors and the coordinators there, plus some of the patients that we came to know during our time in the hospital and at the Ft. Worth Twice Blessed House apartment.