The Ever-changing Relationship with my Angry Bladder

Hi! This is Teri. I’m a urology patient and this is my story. Right out of college and after a move from upstate New York to Virginia I began my new life. I was living in a small apartment, working temporary jobs to pay the bills, but I was young, healthy and happy. After a year, I landed a full-time job at a publishing company and finally felt like I was getting settled. That is when my health started to become an issue in my day to day life.

I began having urinary tract infections (UTI). I was put on antibiotics; the infection would go away and then I would quickly have another one. After going to the doctor multiple times, I was getting frustrated because I was still in constant pain.  I had an urgent need to go to the bathroom all day long and all night long because of the pain. I was exhausted and needed answers.

I looked up urologists in the yellow pages. This was 25 years ago before the internet. I found a urologist who specialized in cystitis. So, I made an appointment. During my visit, the doctor asked me if my bladder hurt when I went over bumps in the road while driving. I said yes. He asked me if I had pain inside my bladder, but not when I voided. I said yes. And, he asked me if I had pain after intimacy. I said yes.  Based on my answers, he recommended a cystoscopy to look inside of my bladder and do a biopsy for cancer.

I had the procedure and at my next visit he showed me a picture. It was my inflamed bladder with little red dots. He explained that those were ulcers or lesions that were the source of my pain. I was relieved to have a diagnosis of interstitial cystitis with Hunner’s ulcers.

Back then the treatment options were few and the in-office treatment I did for 6 weeks after the procedure was painful. However, it helped me get on the road to recovery. Listen to more of my story and hear from an expert in the field to learn more about what it is like to live with this chronic, painful condition that mostly affects women.