Anyone who has ever had a UTI understands how painful and debilitating they are. Unfortunately, I know that pain very well. For the last few months I have suffered from severe and chronic UTIs. I haven’t been able to live normally since, always searching for the bathroom or planning a strategy to get there in time. I can’t effectively perform my duties at work, as I'm usually in the restroom or taking time off to see doctors, - I'm now driving 2 hours to these appointments (which with a UTI can very well turn into double that time). I’ve missed my college graduation and my best friend’s wedding. My life cannot continue on like this. 

Around 50-60% of women will experience a UTI in their lifetime, but only about 12% of males will. This is mostly due to anatomy. Usually one notices symptoms, visits a doctor, gets a urine culture to see what kind of bacteria is growing, and then is prescribed antibiotics to clear it up. Seems simple enough, right? It certainly should be. But as I’ve discovered during this saga, it is not. I, along with thousands of other women, have been misdiagnosed many times. After being prescribed 18 rounds of unnecessary antibiotics, doctors told me they still couldn’t figure out what was wrong, as sometimes my urinalysis would come back negative, or my culture would come back contaminated and the doctors would act like that was the final determination. 

It made me wonder if my doctors were treating me as a patient, or just my results. My symptoms should be the most important factor, but because of the standard method of testing being inadequate and outdated, doctors often pass off women with terrible symptoms, instead of working to get to the bottom of it. This leads to women living for years with awful pain. 

Standard urine cultures are the most common testing used by doctors across the US to diagnose UTIs. When these tests come back negative but symptoms continue, women are often diagnosed with painful bladder syndrome or Internal Cystitis. This can lead to years of living a limited life, unable to participate in normal activities due to symptoms and flare ups. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are advanced tests that allow for a clearer view into the patient’s symptoms. It wasn’t until I had the Microgen DX test (DNA sequencing) that I was fully able to convince my doctor that I didn’t just have a painful bladder. 

Unbelievably, this kind of testing is not commonplace in the US market yet- meaning that doctors won’t usually offer it. This shouldn’t be how it works. Women should not be ignored or misdiagnosed when there are options available. That’s why I’m starting my petition to the American Urological Association. I want advanced testing to be the standard next step after a urine culture shows negative results and symptoms persist. It’s 2023, and these tests can bring answers and relief to many women. Join with me in calling for the Association to change its standard of care to fit the current times.