med student with ic

[the_effendi]

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Hi

I am a first year medical student in England and I'm English. I am posting here as the student doctor always generates lots of hits on google with respect to topic ' medical student with illness'
I have a condition called interstitial cystitis. meaning I'm controlled by my bladder. unfortunately, 2 weeks before I started med school, my bladder flared up (or could be kidney stone ..awaiting ultrasound).
I let med school in advance and they said wait till I'm better before coming back. luckily my school has 2 weeks of introductory lectures. But this week, I am missing group work/tutorials.. I can catch up lectures online.

Point being.. I don't know when I am going to feel better... to go in. As before this 'flare', I was managing but now it seems I'm stuck.

is there med student with urinary problems who manages????

 

[italiancowgirl]

I don't have urinary problems but I will say two possibly relevant things. 1)taking care of you sometimes has to be the most important part of life so you can be ready for everything else. It makes me angry when my neuromuscular condition "decides" my ability on any given day, but that happens FAR less now then 5 years ago because I took the time needed to get under control, and to rebuild myself.
2) there are many ways of approaching school. Right now you need to learn science and pass tests, but you don't HAVE to be super participatory if you don't feel up to it. If you can skate by doing the bare minimum of required activities, and do lectures from home for now, it could be the time you need to get back on your feet.

Only you can gauge if this is a semi-normal occurrence that will not be feasible for school, or if this is a transition problem that needs to be addressed so you can get back to a more normal state. Good Luck!!

 

[hokiefan]

Hi

I am a first year medical student in England and I'm English. I am posting here as the student doctor always generates lots of hits on google with respect to topic ' medical student with illness'
I have a condition called interstitial cystitis. meaning I'm controlled by my bladder. unfortunately, 2 weeks before I started med school, my bladder flared up (or could be kidney stone ..awaiting ultrasound).
I let med school in advance and they said wait till I'm better before coming back. luckily my school has 2 weeks of introductory lectures. But this week, I am missing group work/tutorials.. I can catch up lectures online.

Point being.. I don't know when I am going to feel better... to go in. As before this 'flare', I was managing but now it seems I'm stuck.

is there med student with urinary problems who manages????

 

[hokiefan]

My daughter is a thord year now and has been suffering with ic symptoms and also abdominal symptoms. She found out that certain foods etx seemed to trigger it and she used antihistamines and bladder relief medications such as azo standard to go to and stay in class. Also Tylenol for pain. Recently she was diagnosed with a mast cell disorder and as ill as she has been she has managed to tough it out and just passed part 1 of her boards. She says the Zyrtec helps her bladder . Her school has mandatory attendance and they really didn't care if she was ill but now that she has been diagnosed they've been kinder to her about it.
Just keep trying ways to get relief!

 

[NotyourNurse]

I don't have IC but something that causes similar type of pain. Ironically, I just started a post for chronic illness. We will see what happens. My goal-over the long run is create a safe place for people to have these discussions. My school was great until I needed them. They almost delayed my graduation by a year (After I matched) cause I had to make up 4 days after having surgery....that was for only 4 days. I felt betrayed and angry. I had managed not to miss any days at all despite dealing with it for two years. You will find having an illness quite isolating and trying to figure it out during training is very hard. Most chronic diseases have a cycle of good, fair, bad and severe. Generally you are not always in the "severe" end of the spectrum. I am really glad I stuck it out through medical school and residency....as I am in a long "good cycle" now and am much better equipped to deal with any flare-ups. You will learn all kinds of tricks to get you through but you may have to discover many of them on your own. I had to throw up a lot and figured out ways of having the emesis around or even during rounds by being creative (yours will be how to deal with your bladder during rounds/surgery rotations!!). On occasion I did have to talk to my attending or preceptor: it is a balance between saying too much and saying too little! You learn it as you go. Find a few key friends if able.....otherwise it is too much!! At one time I could only drink fluids and had to give myself IV fluids to stay hydrated so I could make it through the next day..I cannot believe how well I can eat now, 5 years later. I never thought things would improve but if you can figure out how to adapt and get through when it is at its worst you will surprise yourself. If I had this before medical school I would have never tried but I got it my third-fourth year so had a huge amount of financial debt at my back.....it pushed me on in a good way. What we can actually survive is usually greater then we imagine! I am much better physician because of it; I had to fight hard to do well and I understand my patients much better. Patients pick up on that! I also know more things clinically from all the research I did. Please hang in there. Hopefully there are more resources in the future for physicians/students with medical illnesses.