For the Rest of My Life

My cystoscopy with hyrdodilation went well. Got to have some alone time with my husband and the next morning I was out shopping at Jo-Anns with my mom. I experienced the normal slowness in trying to urinate while my bladder was waking up and legs wearing out a little bit faster than the normally would. I did experience one side effect that I wasn't expecting. Don't know what medicine made it happen but the way food tasted in my mouth changed significantly. Stuff that was supposed to be sweet tasted bland and food that was supposed to be savoring tasted EXTREMELY salty. Example: My family, my mom and I went out to Ruby Tuesdays. I was very excited to get there salad bar and a steak with mashed potatoes. I could only get through half of my salad because the dressing (an Asian vinaigrette) tasted so salty I couldn't eat it. The same was to be said for my perfectly cooked steak. I was very sad because when I gave a bite to both my husband an mom they said it tasted perfect, and they would gladly eat it if I didn't want it. But, I wasn't going to give up my food so easily. I waited until Sunday night and ate my leftovers. It was delicious!

Now I've had my post-op appointment with my urologist. That was interesting. One of the first things he said to me was "Well the good news is that you have a big bladder and it can hold a lot." Ok, that's good. Then he said "However the lining of your bladder had some discolorations." (I think he called them glomerulations) "I've never seen that before." Well that didn't make me feel very good about myself. Of course, I couldn't be a normal case. Nope I had to be one of the anomalies.

My doctor also told me that I would be a good candidate for Elmiron. Has anybody ever used that? What was your experience. Did you experience any side effects. I was concerned that it was going to cost a lot of money, but thankfully our insurance is going to cover a big chunk of it. Now my only concern is that I don't want to be on a pill the rest of my life. When I was reading the Elmiron sight they said most patients had to take Elmiron for 3-6 months. However, when I talked to my doctor he said that the dose my decrease, but I'd likely be on the pill the rest of my life.

So that's where I'm at right now. Once again figuring out the best course of action for my disease and praying for direction.