On Friday I had a Cystoscopy and Hydro-Distention of the bladder. This is a pretty common procedure for IC patients. I think it was my 3rd Cystoscopy and my 2nd HD. Anyways, I got knocked out for the procedure (and got my new IUD inserted too) and when I woke up and finally was lucid I discovered something horrible. I couldn't pee. That's right, here I am with a disease that makes me pee all the time and I couldn't get my bladder to work. Turns out this is potential side effect of the this procedure about which nobody had warned me.
So now we cut to what happens when a woman with IC can't pee. Also known as the ironic twist to this story. I went to urgent care that night and they inserted a catheter to drain my bladder and then they let me rest to see if my bladder would finally work properly. After a good solid hour it became clear that my bladder had, at least temporarily, gone on strike. I couldn't pee. Let me just say that as woman with IC, who often has to pee every hour or more, not being able to pee was even worse than peeing every 10 minutes. The pain was horrible.
The doctors at Urgent Care decided the best thing to do was to insert a foley catheter with a bag so that my bladder could just relax and drain easily. So they inserted this torture device into me and sent me home with instructions to return the following day.
Let me be clear. They sent me home with a bag that would collect my urine. I think now would be the best time to say that I had asked my new boyfriend (of only 2 months) to accompany me to the earlier procedure and to urgent care. We then went home, watched some TV, and went to bed. All while I was "wearing" a bag of my own urine.
This was quite possibly the most embarrassing moment of my entire life.
I barely slept.
The next morning, urgent care removed the catheter and I was able to pee normally. I have never been so happy to pee in all my life.
However, now I have a yeast infection (I believe) because of the antibiotics I had to take after the procedure and which are even more important since I just spent an entire night with a catheter inserted into my urethra.
And that is a summary of the worst night of my IC.
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