I shouldn't blame Mr Blake. I think my susceptibility has much to do with my unfortunate make-up. He doesn't come at me anything less than sparklingly clean (as should be the case with anyone).
This mechanic school, University Technical Institute (or as they call themselves, UTI), must be shooting for zero female enrollment. Considering how nonsensical their name is, they worked really hard to come up with something that could stand for UTI, didn't they?
11.16.2009
Patient, heal thyself!
This has nothing to do with cooking, but it does involve two common pantry items. So I thought, fuck it, on to my blog it goes.
Mid-week, I came down with what had to be the most inopportune infection I've had, of the lady-variety. Yup. A UTI. Or as my gay friend, Joe, says, "UTI? TMI!" I suppose gay men are excused from this conversation, but if you're a woman or you fuck them, it's fairly relevant.
For the past five years or so, I've been plagued with these things about three to four times a year. First, it starts with a twinge when you're done pissing. You think to yourself, "AW, HELL NO," but yes, you know precisely what it is. Still, we sometimes try to fool ourselves into thinking we aren't on what is certainly a steep decline into physical misery. What had started as a twinge turns into a full-blown burning that reduces the most self-possessed woman mental.
By the time it gets to be that bad, some of us reach for the bitter & tart swill we hope will flush the bugger out: 100% cranberry juice (an unlikely cure for sure). By now, you're asking yourself why you don't take cranberry pills every day (something in the berry makes it difficult for the offending bacteria from climbing up inside one of our most sensitive bits). Those things aren't cheap though. You dread calling your doctor to get antibiotics for fear he/she will either regard you as dirty (for not pissing right after sex, or wiping correctly, which if you don't know how to do at this stage...), or a slut (hey! some of us chose to have a social life, & some of us chose to forgo one to go to medical school). Perhaps this will add fuel to the Judeo-Christian pov that women are inherently evil & that God punishes us summarily with our bodies: having sex with someone new sometimes triggers this. I would be remiss to not mention that I get them from Mr Blake still (thanks again!).
In the throws of this truly mind-fucking agony, I often wonder what women in the medieval times did in similar situations. Really, because unchecked, this shit goes from your urethra, to your bladder & then your kidneys. I bet after two weeks, most suffers would be dead. Life expectancy being what it was, I wouldn't be shocked if this type of infection killed a sizable chunk of women.
That's just one of the few thoughts that run through my head as I struggle to urinate. Another more pertinent thought is where the fucking fuck is the UTI vaccine? I mean, we got to rabies, but not a more frequently debilitating illness? Oh, right. Lady disease is naturally less important. Pardon my directness, but being able to comfortably relieve ourselves is sometimes the only pleasant thing going on for us (& others of us, sadly, more often than not). Finding a vaccine to ensure this should be much more of a priority. Is carefree pissing for all not a compelling enough reason for you? Try this: I've probably had about twenty of these. The amount of time & cost involved with my taking time off of work, the time the nurse prepares my chart for my doctor, my doctor signing off on a script & making a notation in my chart, my nurse faxing the script to the pharmacy, the pharmacist preparing my prescription, & whatever ridiculous charges & resulting paperwork-clusterfuck with the insurance company should be compelling enough. If you're really that inhumane.
So I have to ask myself: if I'm miserable & this many people are involved, whom exactly is benefiting? Say it with me now: drug companies! Do you think all the time & money spent on research & jumping through FDA hoops is worth it to them for a UTI vaccine if there's something that already exists to treat the problem? Treat, not prevent, which seems to be the theme of healthcare in these parts... Simply put, they do not give a shit. Never mind that I personally would trade nearly anything I can lay my eyes on in my home for such a thing. A vaccine that important would need to accessible to all, however, not just some desperate middle-class hussy.
What also occurred to me on this familiar & cringe-full affair also was that taking antibiotics so often is tempting fate. Will they always work? Or will I contract some super-UTI that will do my ass in? They also make me sick, & sometimes (brace yourselves) give women yeast infections. Talk about adding insult to injury! So since I knew I caught this so soon, I searched for some answers online. Basically, you drink baking soda in water, follow that with more & more water, & you're right as rain.
Why have I not known this before? I also have been swallowing many minced cloves of garlic as it is a natural antibiotic, & I figured it wouldn't hurt. Done. Gone. About one dollar invested. Here's the deal though: I didn't take any pain killers. I thought that if I took a turn for the worse & was on something that would mask this, I should abstain. I could tell my body was trying very hard to cooperate (criminy! the pain), so I'm glad everything worked out.
I'm sure when I updated, you weren't expecting this.
Mid-week, I came down with what had to be the most inopportune infection I've had, of the lady-variety. Yup. A UTI. Or as my gay friend, Joe, says, "UTI? TMI!" I suppose gay men are excused from this conversation, but if you're a woman or you fuck them, it's fairly relevant.
For the past five years or so, I've been plagued with these things about three to four times a year. First, it starts with a twinge when you're done pissing. You think to yourself, "AW, HELL NO," but yes, you know precisely what it is. Still, we sometimes try to fool ourselves into thinking we aren't on what is certainly a steep decline into physical misery. What had started as a twinge turns into a full-blown burning that reduces the most self-possessed woman mental.
By the time it gets to be that bad, some of us reach for the bitter & tart swill we hope will flush the bugger out: 100% cranberry juice (an unlikely cure for sure). By now, you're asking yourself why you don't take cranberry pills every day (something in the berry makes it difficult for the offending bacteria from climbing up inside one of our most sensitive bits). Those things aren't cheap though. You dread calling your doctor to get antibiotics for fear he/she will either regard you as dirty (for not pissing right after sex, or wiping correctly, which if you don't know how to do at this stage...), or a slut (hey! some of us chose to have a social life, & some of us chose to forgo one to go to medical school). Perhaps this will add fuel to the Judeo-Christian pov that women are inherently evil & that God punishes us summarily with our bodies: having sex with someone new sometimes triggers this. I would be remiss to not mention that I get them from Mr Blake still (thanks again!).
In the throws of this truly mind-fucking agony, I often wonder what women in the medieval times did in similar situations. Really, because unchecked, this shit goes from your urethra, to your bladder & then your kidneys. I bet after two weeks, most suffers would be dead. Life expectancy being what it was, I wouldn't be shocked if this type of infection killed a sizable chunk of women.
That's just one of the few thoughts that run through my head as I struggle to urinate. Another more pertinent thought is where the fucking fuck is the UTI vaccine? I mean, we got to rabies, but not a more frequently debilitating illness? Oh, right. Lady disease is naturally less important. Pardon my directness, but being able to comfortably relieve ourselves is sometimes the only pleasant thing going on for us (& others of us, sadly, more often than not). Finding a vaccine to ensure this should be much more of a priority. Is carefree pissing for all not a compelling enough reason for you? Try this: I've probably had about twenty of these. The amount of time & cost involved with my taking time off of work, the time the nurse prepares my chart for my doctor, my doctor signing off on a script & making a notation in my chart, my nurse faxing the script to the pharmacy, the pharmacist preparing my prescription, & whatever ridiculous charges & resulting paperwork-clusterfuck with the insurance company should be compelling enough. If you're really that inhumane.
So I have to ask myself: if I'm miserable & this many people are involved, whom exactly is benefiting? Say it with me now: drug companies! Do you think all the time & money spent on research & jumping through FDA hoops is worth it to them for a UTI vaccine if there's something that already exists to treat the problem? Treat, not prevent, which seems to be the theme of healthcare in these parts... Simply put, they do not give a shit. Never mind that I personally would trade nearly anything I can lay my eyes on in my home for such a thing. A vaccine that important would need to accessible to all, however, not just some desperate middle-class hussy.
What also occurred to me on this familiar & cringe-full affair also was that taking antibiotics so often is tempting fate. Will they always work? Or will I contract some super-UTI that will do my ass in? They also make me sick, & sometimes (brace yourselves) give women yeast infections. Talk about adding insult to injury! So since I knew I caught this so soon, I searched for some answers online. Basically, you drink baking soda in water, follow that with more & more water, & you're right as rain.
Why have I not known this before? I also have been swallowing many minced cloves of garlic as it is a natural antibiotic, & I figured it wouldn't hurt. Done. Gone. About one dollar invested. Here's the deal though: I didn't take any pain killers. I thought that if I took a turn for the worse & was on something that would mask this, I should abstain. I could tell my body was trying very hard to cooperate (criminy! the pain), so I'm glad everything worked out.
I'm sure when I updated, you weren't expecting this.
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