We treated the infection again and again, but it kept returning
When my daughter Shevy was four years old, she came down with a fever. I wasn’t overly concerned, she didn’t seem to be in any pain, but my pediatrician decided to test a urine sample to rule out a urinary tract infection (UTI).
Surprisingly, the test came back positive and the doctor prescribed a round of antibiotics. I’d heard of childhood conditions that could affect the bladder so I questioned the doctor, asking if further testing was in order.
He reassured me that there was no need to worry about a one-time UTI. He went on to explain that conditions like vesicoureteral reflux (where there’s backflow of urine from the bladder to the kidneys) mainly affects infants within the first few weeks of life (presenting with a high fever) and is usually resolved by early childhood. As Shevy was already four, had never experienced a UTI, and rarely got sick, we had nothing to worry about.
Unfortunately, our relief was premature; that UTI was just the very beginning. Shevy continued to have UTIs over the next two years with alarming frequency. The cycle repeated itself over and over — the diagnosis of a UTI, a round of antibiotics, a brief period of calm, and another UTI.
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