After a very bad bout of infection in the bladder, I was left with a pain on my left side around the kidney area. I was kind of worried a little because the numbing pain came after my bladder infection. The doctor I went to at Pasir Ris was shocked I have not done any regular tests that should be for my age and worst of all, I have no doctors to monitor my diabetes! So he put a lot of thoughts on my mind when I saw him three weeks ago. I must say he did a good job with me because he got me very worried about my kidneys. I have always thought about how if my kidneys would go and this thought haunts me. I am never comfortable watching people being pricked with a needle with tubes of blood running around them as they watched their blood being cleansed. I always feel their pain.
And as usual, I suffer in silence and not trying to worry anyone because since my last episode of bladder infection, my sister came down to keep watch over me. According to the doctor, if I so develop a fever, I will have to be rushed to a hospital for emergency treatment because I am a diabetic. He really scared my family and so no one had a good sleep that night. So this time, I decided to keep really quiet and feared for my kidneys.
I thank God that He is in control. He was really really wonderful. He knows what my fears are and He very gently persuaded me to go see a doctor. I picked up some courage to check online about kidney stones and kidney diseases. And the symptoms were all there and the area that hurt was there too. It is not a sharp pain but a numbing one. I checked with some friends and their response were like yours...go and see a doctor.
I didn't want to go because I was afraid to be on MC and I would like very much to finish what I need to do with my class. So I hang on until yesterday. The pain was starting to annoy me a little. I drank lots of water hoping the stone would pass out by itself. But no such luck. The pain was there for two weeks already. So I decided to go for a massage. May be just may be it is a muscular thing? Well, I spoke to another colleague who assured me that it would be stones and it could be more severe after a massage. At that I cancelled my appointment and called up Dr Lee's office.
Dr Lee's clinic is all the way in Boon Lay Way. Dad would drive me there when we need to visit his clinic. He is the Christian doctor who used to serve down my block but he has changed company. We bumped into him at SGH recently when Dad went for his endoscopy. He is now lecturing part-time. Well, you may think I know so much about him. Thankfully, all the doctors that we came to visit have become very good friends with my family. But Dr Lee was special. He gives a human touch to his doctoring and cares for each of his patients like a friend would. He could nothing about my diabetic situation though because of my stubborn nature. But this June, I will let him take control of my situation.
I didn't know the way to Dr Lee's clinic. I checked google maps and hoped the GPS system works. Well, it didn't. I didn't know why but it wasn't navigating. So I prayed and trusted Him to guide using my spatial intelligence ( a geographer has to have this, right? Yes!) My spatial intelligence tells me that as long as you have a full tank in your car, any limited spatial intelligence will also get you somewhere. Ha ha.
But mine was not so bad. I found the place and I knew that God has provided an answer to the pain. When my turn came, Dr Lee was so shocked to see me. He couldn't believe I was coming to see him. Then he told me that actually he was not supposed to be in. He was to relieve another doctor yesterday! So we both knew it was God's providence. Me not getting lost and him being just right there was perfect timing.
We chatted about some things with regard to being a doctor and then talked about my diabetes and I promised him I will come back in June for monitoring. He didn't complain about my blood pressure but he was concerned about my pain. So we checked for kidney stones and he pounded on my back quite hard and I didn't feel any pain except that numbing pain. When the dipstick showed I have no problem with my kidneys and there were no blood, he ruled out kidney stones. Instead he told me that it is a muscular thing.
He gave me two days of rest because it is a muscle and I cannot sit up straight for long. When I drove all the way home 30 minutes later, I have a phone call from my masseur. I took the chance to go get a massage and by the time I reached my masseur I couldn't wait for the treatment. She did work on my muscle and it was really badly injured.
She asked me if I carried anything heavy? Then I told her I had a bad fall in December last year. I got up rather quickly and could even walk. I believe I was in shock then so I felt nothing much until the next day. My left side was badly hurt then but I didn't take any notice of it. Until now. The muscle has become swollen because it was rather tight.
Last night I had the best sleep in two weeks. Knowing it is not kidney stones! But most of all knowing that no matter how small a matter, how silly a conclusion, God is in control. He truly sits at the throne and watch over us and even knows how many hairs have dropped because of all our worries. If He can take care not to let the birds fall and drop, He surely will take care of us.
So no matter how unimportant it is, remember to tell God what you need, what you fear, what you want. He truly listens.
