Diabetes and Infection

Further to yesterday’s mention of the 24 hour pee it ended up being a 21 hour pee collection. I ran out of room in the bottle at 6:00 AM. The collection was due to end at 8:50AM and the medical practice didn’t have any more bottles to collect any more pee from my, by then, bursting bladder. The nurse said it wouldn’t matter. Hopefully this is the case.

If they come up with a positive I’ll ask for another test before going further. I pray that all is well with my kidneys.

I have a history of pyelonephritis and recurring difficult to treat UTI’s, along with sepsis [usually caused by e.coli] and was again recently treated for a UTI. I think this is a more likely cause of any kidney problems than diabetes, as my glucose levels have been reasonably well controlled, especially compared to my siblings who have had a lot of trouble controlling theirs.

I guess the reason I am wary about UTI’s is that I was nearly killed by one a few years ago with 41°+ C temperatures, together with welt like indurations on my legs and yellow serum oozing through the skin. I was told by me then GP that my leucocytes [white cells] were some 80x higher than normal and that my blood was full of puss. It took many months for my legs to recover. For almost 2 years after that illness my former GP was most insistent that I have access to antibiotics at all times.

I have recently had a re-occurrence of petechiae rashes on my lower legs and feet and to a lesser extent in my arms. These arrived with a low grade temperature [after an absence of temperatures for 18+months] and temporary lymph node flare-ups in various parts of my body. These were symptoms that occurred along with the UTI’s and other illnesses [infected spine] a few years ago. This re-occurance was somewhat disappointing after a long period of apparently good health. My thoughts of a few weeks ago were ‘uh-oh’ here we go again. My current doctor does not seem to be worried about them anyway.

To add to the list of recent afflictions I also have a difficult to treat ear infection [which has thankfully eased considerably], which also appeared to have spread to the face. In the past these have been caused by pseudomonas, a bacteria that seems to have an affinity for diabetics [yup another past illness with approx 41°C temps]. More to be wary about :-). Ah….. the perils of being diabetic.

I feel good anyway and hopefully the doctor is correct.

My own prescription…. Ease up on the work [my passions LOL] and do a bit more walking. That will stop me from becoming run down and keep the opportunistic bugs away.

Enough for health matters…. Back to more interesting topics.

Footnote: The tests were ok & blood glucose appears to be well controlled.