By the end of the day I was almost regretting that I had been drinking so much water throughout the day. I was in the bathroom about every 20 minutes or so.

It started yesterday when I got a twinge and a sort of seize when I used the bathroom. It was different from the feeling I had gotten (or seemed to remember) when I had a urinary tract infection in the past. But I knew something was still definitely wrong. Especially when I got up at 4 a.m. last night to go potty, and then again 20 minutes later, and still getting this seizing twinge of a pain in my very low abdomen.

I decided I'd load up on water today and even--gulp--drink some cranberry juice even though I really can't stand cranberry juice (I found some cran-grape at the gas station, which may not have the same effect as cranberry, but it was all I was willing to tolerate, especially since it wasn't sugar free).

And then in one of those the-knee-bone-is-connected-to-the-leg-bone moments, I remembered that urinary tract and bladder issues are connected to the kidney (hello, Anatomy 101!), which need tender loving care for those of us with diabetes.

I suspect that if I didn't have diabetes, I would have simply drank my cran-grape juice and overloaded on water and reevaluated in a few days. I think (some) people who don't have diabetes have that luxury to sort of wait things out and see what happens.

I'm glad I called the doctor, although we're all a little puzzled. I don't have a urinary tract infection, but I do have blood in my urine. This is not a good thing, as you can imagine. There are a myriad of circumstances that can cause blood to show up in your urine, but the bottom line is that it means something wonky is up with your kidneys.

I'm taking three days of antibiotics and I'm to go back to the doctor in two weeks for another urine test. And I have instructions to call or come by if my pain doesn't subside. I think I'll check in sooner than two weeks, though.

One of those circumstances that can cause blood in the urine is kidney stones, of which I've been through once before (shortly before I was diagnosed with diabetes). Thank goodness I still have some pain killers hanging around from when my back quit working.