so, I went to the doctor....

[rm]

Right, so just went to the 24-hour clinic, because I have a UTI and that was too unpleasant not to get drugs for RIGHT NOW.

As per usual, there are a billion questions, including things about sexual orientation and how I know I have a UTI. These things are related, as women often get UTIs after penetrative sex, so the whole thing sort of came up in a context of "I've had these before, but not in ages because it happened more often when I was having it on with boys, but trust me, I know what this is and exactly how I got it" and also because the paperwork asked.

I was wearing, for the record, a white t-shirt, black pants and a black jacket. And a push-up bra ( really only have tow type sof bras -- push-up bras and bras I use for binding. There is no neutral). Sure I have short hair, and when I'm at the doctor's office and not freaked out I'm pretty calm and in control and authoratative and when I don't feel well, my voice tends to pitch lower, but seriously folks, if you've met me, and while it's easy for me to read as masculine, it doesn't really happen without effort. At all.

So imagine my "WTF?" when the doctor, very deliberated maked an x on the little line dividing the male and female boxes on my perscription form. Was it a 60+-year-old doctor trying to be cool about bisexuality and not quite getting it right? Was it bad hand-writing? (althugh his handwriting mostly didn't suck? Was it someone having a gender clue? Or was it more of the variety of the poeple at Citibank who call me "sir" even when I'm wearing lipstick and high heels.

The world may never know.

But now I'm home. And I have Cipro.

Comments

[salix-03.livejournal.com]

UTIs suck. I hope you feel better soon!

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Guh.
Get well soon.

[argentla.livejournal.com]

I had a similar awkward conversation with a doctor two weeks ago about a possible UTI and the likelihood of it having been sexually transmitted (i.e., "It's really, really outlandishly unlikely that I've gotten an STI from anything I've done since the last time I was tested"). He ended up insisting on doing an STI test anyway, which I finally agreed to just so I wouldn't have to go into any more detail about my sex life.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

Well, yay for happy endings!

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

Maybe he thought you were transgender?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Entirely possible, and wouldn't be the first time, but if so, you'd think he'd ask, since there were multiple ways such a thing could be potentially relevant to the condition in question and treatment thereof.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

OK, after a few minutes to calm down(ish), maybe, just maybe, Doc thought you might have a problem filling Rx if you happened to be dressed masculine at the time. Or something.
(I don't actually believe this. But possible. I guess.)

[capulet-rose.livejournal.com]

Heh- Brings me back to having to explain why I never tick the "yes" box next to the birth control question. The looks of mild surprise and genuine concern on the doctor's faces after they read their chart is almost worth having to have "the gay talk."

Don't worry. I hear that a combination of Cipro and Torchwood can clear up just about anything. ;)

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

People get all awkward and weird about gender issues; he may not have been comfortable asking.

Also some transfolk are VERY uncomfortable talking to doctors who they don't know about anything, fearing that said authority figure could choose to make a point of trying to assign the gender they think is correct instead of the one that the transperson has worked hard to be identified/accepted as. If this guy had run into that problem before, and felt that no matter what your answer was, it wouldn't change his prescription, he may have felt it was kinder to not bring the topic up.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

Torchwood usually prescribes Space Cipro.

[eac.livejournal.com]

It was my guess that he thought you were trans -- and didn't imagine that any of his potential questions would make a difference for the treatment. Or was too uncomfortable with those questions to pursue it (fail...)...

[realtsunamigirl.livejournal.com]

Okay, you guys have *gender* on prescription forms in the states? That's just...disturbing to me on a few different levels.

Cipro *shudders*, my deepest condolences. Hope you like yoghurt.

[nicoli-dominn.livejournal.com]

I hope they gave you ten days' dosage of Cipro...last time I had a bad UTI, my doctor only gave me three day's worth, and the UTI didn't go away for another two weeks after I'd tried another antibiotic, although I couldn't feel the symptoms. If they didn't give you enough, you should call and ask for another prescription before it runs out. I also hope you get better soon! UTIs are awful.

As for the question of how you got it, it doesn't always have to be about penetrative sex. There's also the "wiping back to front" after going to bathroom thing--I won't ask you about your personal habits, but I'm just throwing that out there--and sometimes they happen for no apparent reason, maybe even during menstruation. One way or another, bacteria gets up there and wreaks havoc.

Dumbass doctor, though. Shouldn't they at least ask if they're not sure about your gender? Or have you fill out your own documentation prior to the appointment, while in the waiting room? I thought that would have been standard procedure.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'm just cracked out and maudlin right now, but I find somethign endearing and sweet in the doctor's gesture. But then, everything is like a greeting card commercial and I keep crying so I could be nuts.

How could I NOT think of you

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

A Mitchell & Webb sketch about proper appreciation for fashion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9cP-1kC3So

[capulet-rose.livejournal.com]

Can that be washed down with Space Drink or is there a sticker on the bottle telling you not to?

I know you shouldn't mix Space Cipro with certain types of #moonfruit but that might just be if you're a Tweetafarian.

They're sensitive to that sort of thing, you know.

It overloads their system and they shut down for hours.

this icon is rarely this apt

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

Many condolences on the pain!

Maybe the doctor doesn't think anybody needs to know your gender to give you antibiotics either. Or wanted to give you the option of picking them up while looking male and not having to argue too much if you didn't appear to match the forms.

I'm sure you know already that the pain pills for UTIs are available over the counter these days, but I'll mention it just in case anybody else here might be saved by that helpful knowledge. (And I am so glad they may finally have found a drug for those of us with long-term damage from the damn things, which I get to pick up on Tuesday or so and find out if it makes me puke or anything fun like that.)

[marchek.livejournal.com]

Oh god. Sorry to hear about the UTI. It seems as though one of us always has to be sick these days.

I've got a follow up blood test today so I'm crossing my fingers that the liver infection is gone, I'm less hopeful about the mono.

I don't think I've ever noticed a male/female box on my prescription meds before. I'm with the others in saying the doctor probably thought you were transgender if the x placement was that deliberate.

[st-aurafina.livejournal.com]

Prescriptions in the US have a gender ticky box? I can't get my mind around that, let alone the doctor's deliberate marking between the boxes. (Hope you're on the mend soon.)

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

So.... what would you have liked best?

I sometimes read these things and read people's responses to them, and can't figure out what the doctor should have done. Would gender make a difference in treatment? I doubt it.

So... I'm reading this and thinking that the doctor listened to you, gave you a 'scrip, and didn't put a gender on you. But had he, would you have had an issue? I don't know.

I'm confused as to why it's an issue at all. It seems like no matter what he did, there would be an issue.

Color me confused.

N.

Re: this icon is rarely this apt

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

What are they?

Over the past two years I have had recurring bouts of UTIs (enough that my GP has given me a standing perscription for Cipro (no anthrax for me! ;-p)) and generally just suffered through with cranberry juice until the meds took effect.

[njc2007.livejournal.com]

UTIs suck and can happen for no reason whatsoever. I hope the Cipro helps quickly.

[sykii.livejournal.com]

I think I'm getting senile, because I could have *sworn* you were allergic to Cipro. Who am I thinking of?
Hope you feel better soonest.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Similarly baffled about the M/F boxes (I can't think of that many drugs that would interact differently, with a few obvious exceptions, between Ms and Fs), but glad to hear you're on the good stuff.

[meirion.livejournal.com]

There is something particularly fun about collecting contraceptive pills marked as for "Mr $name". I imagine it must cause the pharmacist a shock! They should use "Dr $name" instead (dammit, what was the point of slogging through a PhD if I can't use the gender-easing title to make my life just a little more bearable?) but didn't.

Doctors, though. Last time I went (when I thought I had gallbladder problems or some other such horror and was in agony) sat there and quizzed me about what surgeries I might or might not want doing from a transition point of view!

And, ugh, UTIs. I seem to have a propensity to them, as well.

[1-mad-squirrel.livejournal.com]

Cipro! Man, that's some serious stuff!

Re: this icon is rarely this apt

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

Thanks! This is good info to have on hand!

Re: this icon is rarely this apt

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Maybe the doctor doesn't think anybody needs to know your gender to give you antibiotics either. Or wanted to give you the option of picking them up while looking male and not having to argue too much if you didn't appear to match the forms.

Yes, I think this is exactly it.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

It has to do with making sure the correct person is picking up the prescription, so the pharmacy has correct identifying information. All that relates to the concerns about prescription abuse, theft of drugs, pharmacy competency, etc.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

It has to do with making sure the correct person is picking up the prescription, so the pharmacy has correct identifying information. All that relates to the concerns about prescription abuse, theft of drugs, pharmacy competency, etc.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

It has to do with making sure the correct person is picking up the prescription, so the pharmacy has correct identifying information. All that relates to the concerns about prescription abuse, theft of drugs, pharmacy competency, etc.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

It has to do with making sure the correct person is picking up the prescription, so the pharmacy has correct identifying information. All that relates to the concerns about prescription abuse, theft of drugs, pharmacy competency, etc.

Re: this icon is rarely this apt

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

There are now several over-the-counter varieties; the best known one is Uristat, but any generic containing Phenazopyridine Hydrochloride is fine. (That's the turns-your-pee-orange-novacaine stuff you may have had prescribed.) They're in the same drugstore aisle as the yeast infection meds.

Cranberry extract pills can also be a lifesaver when your stomach's irritated by all that acidic juice. I take a gelcap daily to keep my cystitis/UTI damage under control, and add another couple of pills if it gets worse. (The gelcaps seem to work better than the powder kind for me; I think I'm taking Nature's Bounty, which are also a pretty high concentration.)

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

And yet I send my boyfriend to pick up my birth control pills all the time! (Although I think I had to sign a form saying he was my designated drug picker-upper.)

[realtsunamigirl.livejournal.com]

Theoretically a good idea, but doesn't it break down in practice? For one thing, I can't count the number if times my roommate and I have picked up prescriptions for each other. Like the time when I was recovering from Meningitis and was literally forbidden to leave the house (a *very* boring month I might add.) How do people cope with things like that?

And aren't there protests and even lawsuits from intersexed and trans communities?

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Meh. I'm going back to 'We should have never given them home rule before they were ready.'
Gad. Just, Gad.

Re: this icon is rarely this apt

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

After last year's string of UTI's, cranberry pills are part of my daily regimen. So far, they've been working fairly well and are so much easier on my tummy. (I find both the acid and taste of cranberry juice unpleasant.)

[realtsunamigirl.livejournal.com]

You can also get them from seemingly innocuous things like holding off on peeing too long or even just not drinking enough water to properly flush your system.

Ooh and some advice from my Doc that I found really helped out after I went through years of recurring UTIs of some form or another: cranberry juice is great for helping *prevent* UTIs, but once you already have one cease and desist immediately. Also, stop taking in any other acidic food or drink, especially citrus or tomatoes. Once the damage has been done you'll just be aggravating matters if you keep up with the cranberry.

Here endeth the pontification;-D

[sethg]

"It's Doctor Evil! I didn't spend six years in Evil Medical School to be called Mister Evil!"

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying it is a perfect system. Any system is open to abuses. Usually a pharmacy has a form or way of designating someone to pick up your prescriptions, ostensibly as a way to prevent people from stealing drugs from family members or strangers - but clearly not all pharmacies are the same about enforcing that or how they deal with it.

[realtsunamigirl.livejournal.com]

Fair enough.

You're absolutely right that any system is open to abuse. I've often thought that ours could be easily taken advantage of. I take some meds that are basically legal, pharmaceutical grade narcotics. The way the drug store I go to works, all someone would have to do is get there hands on one of my bottles with a refill on it, call into the store's automated refill system with the prescription number and then walk in and ask for it with my name. No ID, no nothing. Pretty scary.

So yeah, a system is a good idea, I just wonder how one can be practically enforced.

I just think that having gender as an identifier seems like a problematic idea at best and a ethical and political tinderbox at worst.

[nicoli-dominn.livejournal.com]

Both of those are excellent points...I forgot about the first, and I think that one's happened to me, too. ::sigh::

I didn't know about the cranberry/acidic substances during the UTI, though. I guess I've made that mistake more than once, and my doctor wasn't even smart enough to mention it. Thanks for the pointer.

[nicoli-dominn.livejournal.com]

Oh, and...excellent "Sinfest" icon. :-D

[realtsunamigirl.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.

Don't be too hard on your doctor, this seems to be a widespread information gap. It's totally logical once you think about it: pushing acidic fluid past a horribly aggravated and raw surface? Ouch!

I've heard a bit of debate on the other side, but man, did it ever help me when I needed it.

[realtsunamigirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you:-)

'Nique is my trademark (she said pretentiously.) I use her for virtually all of my icons.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I just think that having gender as an identifier seems like a problematic idea at best and a ethical and political tinderbox at worst.

Any more so than having it on drivers licenses?

One last argument in defense of the gender box - useful for indicating if they are going to call you Mr or Ms on the phone.

[st-aurafina.livejournal.com]

How strange! Australian scripts don't have a box for gender - we have all the same concerns regarding abuse and drug-seeking behaviour and so on, though.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

But do you have the totally cracked out government War on Drugs we do here? ;)

[rm.livejournal.com]

They gave me three, which I just finished and I still have some symptoms, I called, to explain and ask for me, and the nurse was snippy saying three was normal and I should be better now but she'll give the doctor the message. I'm assuming I won't be given more drugs, despite the fact that I am ill and need treatment, I'm apparently less entitled to it because I'm allergic to the more common medication (sulpha drugs) and everyone always thinks I'm trying to scam Cipro 'cause of bird flu or some shit.

I'm seriously unhappy right now.