OT: SCD vs. Oxaltes?

[Guest guest]

I marked this " OT " because it's my own story, with no moral and no

scientific conclusion beyond the fact that sometimes Too Much

Information (TMI) has odd results for me.

My family doctor practices in a clinic that offers other services and

visiting specialists. When a urine test for a bladder or UTI came back,

she detected kidney stones and set up a consult with one of Toronto's

leading urologists who examined me and said he'd get back to me with

detailed results and a diagnosis. Meanwhile the oxalate information had

been presented and the new Internet support group formed. I had a

flurry of emails back and forth with their scientist who was interested

and helpful.

Months passed without a word from the specialist. I was busy with the

food lists, stopped making my raw kale, pear and ginger drink and was

busy eliminating from food lists from which I never even had half the

stuff to begin with.

Repeated calls to my health clinic seemed fruitless so I contacted the

urologist's office at the hospital where he practices. Apparently my

info got lost in the system, so he never contacted me and it appeared I

could be without greens forever. Every time I moved a piece of

furniture and got a backache, I imagined I was about to pass a kidney

stone.

Finally the day of the appointment arrived and I dragged myself down to

the hospital by subway in a freezing pouring rainstorm, waited an hour

and was finally ushered in to learn my fate. The specialist looked at

me gravely for a moment and then said, " Mrs F. There was a mistake. You

have no evidence of kidney stones at all, not even a bit of gravel. "

I ran home, got the car and stocked up on green vegetables and almonds.

i also concluded too many support groups and too much " Googling " was

making me a worse hypochondriac!

I refer to that episode as " the Emperor's New Oxalates, " LOL!

Carol F.