I was right...

The week before last poor Natalie suffered from a UTI.  She had the UTI perfect storm; we had just spent a week at the beach, followed by a week of "pool" day camp, and we were potty training.  Here's the story:

Natalie started complaining about pain one morning so I took her to the doctor, there she was treated by our office's wonderful PA.  I want to put it out there that I think this man is fabulous...  Anyway, come to find out she had a minor diaper rash that he thought was cause for her discomfort.  To be on the safe side we did a urinalysis (Natalie thought peeing in a cup was hilarious) just to rule things out.  We left with a prescription for an amped up diaper cream and an "I'll call you" about the urinalysis.  The preliminary culture showed no infection.

We went about our day, Natalie was still in pain but we thought it was the rash hurting her.  The following morning Natalie woke up at 5 am writhing and screaming in agony and I knew something more than a rash was hurting her.  I called the doctor and was told her culture wouldn't be back from the lab for two more days and to call if it gets any worse, to which I replied "I am calling because it's worse."  I knew if she had to wait two more days for antibiotics she would not only be in horrendous pain but the infection could spread to her kidneys.  I prayed that this would be one of those situations where the medical professional listens to the mother's intuition.  It was, she got her antibiotics.

The antibiotics made her nauseous and tasted like death but seemed to work  almost instantly and I was relieved.  Two days later we got the call that it was, in fact, a UTI.  OK, glad that's over with.

But then several days after that I got another call from the nurse telling me that due to Natalie's recent UTI the PA has ordered a renal ultrasound and a voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG).  Um, say whaaat?  I was railroaded by the call and sort of uttered an "um, okay" and hung up.  I had several questions and was left feeling like they called to say "we're going to to this to your daughter, not explain it, and there's nothing you can do about it."  I was shocked that they would order these tests after only one UTI in almost three years and started to worry that maybe they had observed something horrible in her culture results.  So to the computer I go and I learn that the ultrasound is pretty benign (knew that thanks to pregnancy) but the VCUG is a whole other story.  It involves a catheter and radiation exposure to Natalie's pelvis.  I did what I always do when something medically related confounds me, I called my Dad.

Dad said that while he saw no problem with the ultrasound, that I should not subject Natalie to the radiation if at all possible.  Fortunately he was on call at the hospital and able to track down a couple of Urologists and ask their opinion.  Apparently now these tests are the standard of care and ordered for every youngster with a UTI due to the possibility of reflux from the bladder to the kidneys caused by scar tissue.  The theory is that young children can't communicate that they have pain while urinating and therefore suffer many UTIs without treatment which builds the scar tissue which causes the reflux.  Crazy, I know.  BUT the Urologist Dad spoke with agreed with us that at this point the VCUG was unnecessary and suggested starting with the ultrasound (because what could it hurt?) and going from there.

I called Natalie's doctors office and told them what my plan was and what approach I would prefer to take.  I was treated like a negligent parent and met with heavy sighs and patronizing explanations.  So I asked for a second opinion.  Thankfully, it was granted and Natalie saw a Urologist last week.  I explained everything to him from the beginning and told him that I was opposed to the VCUG.  His bedside manor left much to be desired, I think he was annoyed that I was questioning professional medical recommendations, but ultimately we were on the same page and he said to me "You're not being unreasonable." which was music to my ears.  He ordered another urinalysis and asked if I would be agreeable to the ultrasound.  Of course, I was.

Natalie had the ultrasound that day, which she thought was really neat.  Her urinalysis was clean and her ultrasound showed "perfectly normal renal tissue".  I was right.

Out of order again, they took her bp first which was 62/42 which they said was good.  She was 38.5 inches tall and weighed 35 pounds!