Hey all! Nothing much going on today except waiting for our friend to come by to fix the bed. Other than that, nada. Oh wait, we're also waiting for the doctor to call back with ideas.

I have to explain a little more on the doc we saw yesterday. I was tired when I wrote that and need to further explain. He was a very nice and professional doctor. Jim's condition cannot be cured, it is what it is. Our reason for going was to see the reason behind the UTI's and find an answer to how to prevent them from coming every month.

This doctor explained more than any other doctor that it is the ileum that is causing the bacteria, it always will. He said that just because it causes bacteria doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Some bacteria lives normally in our bodies and they would expect to see bacteria in Jim's urine to be colonized. The problem lies in the bottom of the bladder. The sediment tends to lay down there and this is what can cause the problems.

We are currently flushing Jim's bladder with saline every other day to get it out. But, some still remains. The idea of using betadine seems logical since it would not sit in the bladder for long and it is an antibacterial substance. It would be diluted with the saline. Jim's spinal cord doctor never heard of this and is looking into if it's ok and to see if there is something else to try. The medicine that is discontinued is also an antibacterial but no longer available. So, Dr Babu is looking into another possible pill. These pills are not antibiotics and will not cause resistance so that is attractive to us for sure.

So, we are waiting to hear from Dr Babu, the spinal cord doctor to see if this doctor yesterday wasn't off his rocker. To Jim and I he seemed intelligent but you never know. lol Personalities aside, it is frustrating, but at some point Jim and I have to accept that this is our 3-4th opinion and so far everyone has said the same thing. All we can do now is look at alternative medicine and basic therapies to see if that helps.

Hope that makes sense. We are NOT giving up, we're just shifting our thinking and expectations.