I was gifted with the constant urge to pee and stomach cramps on Mothers Day.  I knew that I had a UTI but the stubborn part of me didn’t want to admit it.  Because, i’m worse than a guy when it comes to going to the doctor.

So I managed to convince myself on Sunday evening that I wasn’t feeling a searing kidney pain.  Nope.  Must be gas.

I woke up on Monday almost in tears but managed to get through most of the day.  My husband nagged me about not going to the doctor on Sunday but then drove me around to every clinic in our area to find out that 90% of them were closed and only 1 remained open.  That one happened to be jam-packed.  I was in no mood to be in a room with dozens of people while trying to convince myself that I really didn’t have to go pee.  It didn’t help of course that stubborn ol’ me decided to wait until 5:30 to drive around and look for an open med-center.  I procrastinate.  It’s what I do best.

Instead, hubby drove me to Walgreens where I picked up AZO test strips (to see if I did in fact have a UTI) and AZO UTI relief medicine.  The relief medicine was not a cure but was supposed to make the pain and symptoms subside.

We got home and I could hardly wait to go pee.  Partly because I had to go for the 100th time that day and I was tired of trying to hold it and partly because I wanted to see the results of the test strip.  It kind of reminded me of a pregnancy test though.  You pee on a stick, wait three minutes, and then look for colors that tell you positive or negative results.

So I peed on the stick and the colors came up deep purple and deep pink almost immediately.  Damn.  So I really did have a UTI.  I took the AZO medicine (which turned my pee a delightful shade of orangish yellow) and some Tylenol and went to bed.  The combination seemed to work right up until 3, when (surprise surprise) I had to pee again.

Finally, the end to this sordid tale came this afternoon.  I went to the nearby med-center (got there before it closed this time), and peed in a cup.  30 minutes later, the doctor wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic.

I stopped at the desk to pay the bill and noticed that I was charged $18 for them to stick the test strip into a cup of urine.  Holy crap.  I paid $10 for a 3-pack of those strips!  I felt a little taken, but then again, it’s the health care industry.  What do I expect?

Part of me wishes that I would have packed up the pee-stick from the night before and handed them that.  Maybe I could have saved $18.