u/cottagefaeyrie

So, I started working in an outpatient facility a few months ago and I really enjoy it for the most part. The department I work in is great and I could see myself working there for a long time. The problem is, a coworker in my department has been rude to a number of patients, acts like he is my boss, and constantly says catty things regarding the CMAs working with the physicians and he is very close with our supervisor and her supervisor.

One interaction left a patient very upset and made her cry. I documented the incident in detail to pass along to the head clinic nurse and the department's operations director. The operations director told me that we were to document any instance in which a patient is extremely upset so there is a trail of what happened. There was an instance there a patient was yelling at my coworker and me, and it was documented and the operations director reached out to him to let him know that wasn't acceptable. I figured he might want to know what happens in cause the patient refused to come back or made a formal complaint.

I received an email from my supervisor to remove the documentation because that is not something that we put in a chart. If I had any concerns, I should go to her. Nobody feels like they can go to her about my coworker because they are very close and he is even closer with her supervisor. I'm just not sure how I should be navigating the workplace when a problematic person is good friends with the boss and their boss.

I just saw a new provider the other day about my bladder issues and left the appointment feeling frustrated and like I hadn't really been heard. I'm not really sure if this is just me venting or moreso asking advice on what my next steps should be.

I'm 28f and have dealt with sporadic urge incontinence for the last seven years. I can go weeks or months without having any problems and then experience them out of nowhere. The first time I experienced any issues, I was at work and got a very intense, very sudden urge to urinate and couldn't walk without leaking. By the time I'd made it to the restroom, I'd emptied about half my bladder on myself. I brought it up at my next doctor's appointment and she ordered an ultrasound of my bladder but she told me the reason it happened was because I drink caffeine occasionally. Ultrasound came back normal.

Since then, I've gotten incredibly intense and extremely sudden urges to urinate more times than I can count. Most of the time, I've been able to make it to the restroom with minimal leakage (or I'm at home and I can clean up and change my clothes if it's more) but there have been times where it's so intense that I can't even walk and end up emptying my whole bladder on the stop after a minute or so. It doesn't matter what I drink, what I eat, how much I'm moving, or anything. It just happens out of nowhere and for seemingly no reason.

I've gotten a regular bladder ultrasound, a transvaginal ultrasound before and after emptying my bladder, and have done the test where they do imaging of your full bladder and imaging of your bladder after you empty into a hat to see how much you can actually empty. Everything has come back normal.

I made an appointment with a new provider after my must recent episode. I had a bad cold and fell asleep on the couch. I woke up after a few hours and was going to fill my water bottle before going up to bed. Zero urge to urinate and didn't feel any fullness in my bladder at all. I was standing at the kitchen counter and suddenly could not move because of how badly I had to go. The more I waited to see if the urge could subside long enough to go upstairs, the worse it became. I emptied my whole bladder on the spot just so I could move.

My appointment was this past Thursday and I explained to her that it doesn't matter what I drink or eat or how much I weigh (because my weight has fluctuated a bit over the last few years). It just happens out of nowhere. But more recently, I have been dealing with pain in my very lower back. I've had back pain since I was 16 but it just became worse over the last six or so years. It's pain that starts right above my hips and then radiates into my hips. I brought this up to her because I've noticed that I will oftentimes have this back pain when I have bladder issues. I wanted to see if we could rule out sciatica and any nerve damage while I wait for a urology appointment since they don't have any openings until December.

She made a note of the back pain in my chart and told me to keep a log of what I eat and drink and if I have any bladder issues. She also placed a urology referral and I have the first available appointment on December 22, and she also told me to get bloodwork and a urinalysis. I'm just feeling kind of defeated because the urine tests always come back fine, my bloodwork always comes back fine, and I feel like she didn't actually hear me.

I guess I'm mostly just wanting to vent but am also asking if anyone has any advice on what I should do next?