Re: Blood in Urine--Update

In article <e6335n02nnm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Pete" <pete@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Jason Johnson wrote:
In article <Xns97D9A934EC8EFkenkderucom@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, Ken Knecht
<kenkknot@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

jason@xxxxxxxxxx (Jason Johnson) wrote in
news:jason-0506061221460001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

In article <e61u0f02u6q@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Pete" <pete@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Jason Johnson wrote:
This is an effort to update the information related to
red blood cells that were found in my urine. I would appreciate
your comments.

Blood was found in my urine during a routine urine test.
My doctor referred me to a urologist and he decided to
deal with the problem by conducting three separate
urine tests on three separate days.

The urol. told me that he would examine each urine
sample under the microscope to determine if any blood
cells were present.

He checked that first sample under the microscope and
told me that there were NO blood cells in the first sample.

I went to the office about an hour ago and provided the
second urine sample. The doctor's technician measured
my weight and took my blood pressure. I asked her to
have the urol. do a dip test on the urine sample after
he checked the urine under the microscope.

This is what the tech. told me. She said that the doctor
method was to do a urine dip stick test and did not bother to
check the urine under the microscope if the dip stick test
indicated that there was no blood in my urine.

It's my GUESS that the doctor did check my urine under the
microscope during my first visit to his office since he left
the room for about 15 minutes and when he returned--he actually
stated that he "checked my urine under a microscope and did
not see any blood cells."
However, based upon what the tech told me today--I don't believe
that the doctor checked my urine under the microscope today.
Either the tech or the doctor done a dip stick test--when the
dip stick test indicated there was no blood in my urine--the
urine was not examined under the microscope. Of course, I can't
prove it since the door was closed and I was not able to observe
any tests that were done related to my urine.

One of the posters told me that urine test strips rarely ever
indicate trace amounts of blood cells in urine even when blood
cells are in that urine. That poster told me that he worked
in a hospital lab.

Do you think that my urol. is or is not dropping the ball in regard
to determining whether or not I have blood in my urine?
Jason

Welcome to the real world of doctors Jason. This *** goes on all
the time.

Pete,
Thanks for your post. I have read posts about "bad doctors" that do
not provide proper medical care but this is only the second time that
it happened to me. The sad truth is that the urol. probably believes
that he had done a great job related to my case of "blood in the
urine". Various posters have told me about three other tests that he
should have done. I purchased some urine test strips at a local drug
store and it's probably the same brand of urine test strips that the
tech. or doctor used to test today's urine sample. In other words, I
did the same urine dip test that the doctor done. Today's urine test
was a waste of my time and he probably charged my medical insur.
company over a hundred dollars for conducting a urine dip test. I
should note that I did not even talk to the doctor today. I only
talked to the doctor's tech. I wish I knew how much the bill was
related my visit to the urol. office today. Jason


I always get reports with cost info from my insurer: United Health as
AARP Medicare supplement.

I never get reports from my insurance company--Blue Shield HMO

Jason...you must be kidding. They are called "explanation of benefits" and
I have boxes of them going back to 1992, along with a copy of every friggen
test report for everything scan and procedure, as well as all my blood
tests.

I doubt whether you bought the same dip sticks that your uro uses at a local
drug store. You would have to send away for them (I have a good supplier
that sells a generic type version). The uro probably uses Multistix (by
Bayer - checks 10 things). You may have bought azo strips (or something
like that), that just checks for leukocytes and nitrites.

My uro bills my insurance company $110 for an OV and $22 for a urinalysis
(which includes the dipstick plus the microscope). Naturally the insurance
company only pays a portion of that for PPO's.

Pete

Pete,
One of local stores that is NOT part of any chain sells all sorts of test
strips. I copied this information from the side of the container:
Bayer Multistix 10 SG Reagent Strips for Urinalysis.
10 items in the urine are tested including Blood and Protein.
One of the posters that works in a hospital blood/urine lab told me that
he checks urine every day under the microscope and by use of urine dip
sticks. He said that on a regular basis that he will find blood in urine
under the microscope but when he checks that same urine with the test
strips that it shows there is NO blood in that urine. He said that the
test strips only show that there is blood in the urine when it's more than
a trace amount of blood. Of course, I know that I can't trust every post
but I believed him.
I was pissed off when the tech. in the urol. told me that the Urol. does
not bother to test hardly any urine samples (except the first one) if the
urine dip stick test indicates there was no blood cells in the urine. In
my case, I believe the technician was the one that done the dip stick test
since the doctor did not talk to me and I did not see him anywhere in the
area when I entered and left the office.
My insur. company does NOT send me any info. related to any bills.
Jason
.