Ask or Scream - Blog - That's not right

“The doctor said all your tests were normal and your urine test didn’t need to be sent away.”

Umm…no. That’s not right.

The day before, I had gone to the doctor’s office to get blood taken regarding possible Ceoliac disease, to which the overseeing diabetes GP added a routine A1C test for my diabetes, and I gave a urine sample due to a possible UTI or kidney infection. All my symptoms pointed towards my kidneys.

The Clinical Practitioner who had taken the urine, had done a dip test to check for signs of infection, which it showed. I also watched her put the sample in a bag to send away, and I asked when the official results would be back. She then prescribed me antibiotics in hopes they were the right ones to do the job, until the results came back to possibly tell us otherwise.

So when reception said those words above, after calling me about a different matter, instead of hanging up and just accepting that results for three different tests ordered by three different doctors in the same office were all okay after knowing that at least one of them couldn’t be, I sat on the edge of my bed with my kidneys aching and said, “No, that’ not right.”

I went on to politely explain what had been ordered and by whom and that the urine test was already proven not to be normal.

It turns out the urine result wasn’t even back from the lab yet, so I can only assume the doctor had been commenting on older tests. (In fairness, it wasn’t that long ago I had had other tests done for her.) It also turns out the test that can point to Ceoliac disease did in fact point to Ceoliac disease. It took three phone calls to sort this all out, but I wasn’t giving up.

Getting these results were obviously important.

Even more so because as far as the kidney infection goes, I was half way through a three day course of antibiotics and not feeling whatsoever better. Kidney infections are never a great problem to have, and coupled with the Type 1 Diabetes, elevated blood sugars due to the infection can be harmful in the long run.

As for the blood work for Ceoliacs, I have an appointment with my Gastroenterologist in a few days and need the result to report to him.

This is an example of why we need to self advocate for better health. We should not be afraid to question what we are told at our appointments. Of course, doing so in a patient and respectful manner is important, because we need to think of everyone involved as being on a team. We want to be on the same side.

So please, don’t just take what you hear as gospel if it doesn’t seem right. Ask until you get to the bottom of whatever your situation. But so as to not damage any relationships you’ve built in that office, try to be nice about it. You’ll need them again.