Q&A with Jeannie Snyder, R.N.

Jeannie Snyder works in the Day Surgery Unit/PACU at St. Joseph East. She has worked many years as an Operating Room R.N. and in the past, worked 3 years as a Research R.N. She has also worked with Debra McDonald on her Hope Eye Care team for the North West Haiti Christian Mission.

May 13, 2005
1- Why is IC so hard to get a diagnosis?

From my experience, IC is difficult to diagnose because physicians are not well schooled about the disease and often it goes undiagnosed properly. From a woman's point of view, we are treated as if it's all psychotic! The physician, instead of sending you to a Urologist that is knowledgeable in IC, send the patient home with a "band aid" such as medication for depression and sedatives!

The best way to diagnose IC is to do a cystoscopy (scoping of the bladder under anesthesia) with hydro distention and biopsy (filling the bladder to capacity and taking a biopsy to be sent to pathology). When the bladder is distended, you can see the hemorrhagic areas. Some have a "Hunners" Ulcer...and ulcer in the bladder wall. Others may not. During one of my Hydro dilatations, I opted to have a spinal so I could see for myself what the tissue looked like. It was like raw hamburger! I thought, well no wonder I hurt!

2- Explain your personal pain management approach to IC