Urethral Stricture

Tough being your own advocate isn't it even being a physician.
Thankfully they did the right tests to determine what would affect it...who would have thought an old stand-by tetracycline?
hmmm...what do you suppose caused it?
Feel better each day..........Pat

Dear Mike,
The VCUG done at the time of the catheter removal showed the area of repair to be wide open, but only time will tell. When I asked my urologist whether this infection could affect the outcome, he said he hoped not. Then there will be the annual poke and peek which carries some risk of aggravating the situation. And finally, since I know which event caused the stricture, I also know it took 2 years to form after the injury

Warren

so sorry to hear of the continuing problems. Hope that it will resolve quickly now that you are on the right antibiotics!

Do you know if the surgery itself was successful or is it not clear until the infection is gone?

Mike

Warren,
You have certainly earned the title of "Warrior". It is terrible you had to wait this long before getting the right meds. Hopefully, within 48 hours you will be feeling better.
One time I had to wait 18 days for a biopsy report,(the lab was moving) but I wasn't in pain - just very nervous.
Hang in there, I will keep you in my thoughts.

Nix

Just a quick update for everyone. Today is my 8th day of fever. On Monday I checked my urine culture result and it still said identification pending. Fortunately, I'm able to advocate for myself and don't know how patients manage when they're waiting for results from their doctors.
I insisted on speaking to microbiology to find out what was going on and they told me that they had to run confirmatory testing because it was a highly resistant organism. I pointed out that I was on day 6 of fever on antibiotics and I wanted them to tell me right then what their preliminary results showed. The told me I had a Klebsiella pneumoniae UTI that appeared to be resistant to everything but Tetracycline. Tetracycline is probably at the bottom of any physician's list as a treatment for UTI. I started the new antibiotic immediately and am definitely feeling better, but was disappointed that I continued to run fevers even into this eveing. Still, I think we are on the right course, but it's hard to be patient after 8 days of being horribly ill. This morning I had to push the lab again for a final report, and indeed, my superbug was resistant to everything but Tetracycline.
I returned to work 1 week after the surgery and worked catheterized for a whole week, but I've been too sick to work during this illness. That gives you all an idea of how rough it's been.

How embarassing.....to ask the doctor if they also did blood work? I just remember my husbands battle with sepsis after lipotripsy and a traumatic catherization by a very young inexperienced nurse.
Pat