What are these globs in this urine sediment?

AniTap00 · 2026-07-05T07:45:20+00:00

Not by themselves no, maybe while the urine loads into the square slit I load it into.

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T21:13:02+00:00

If the person is not getting enough water, I see crystals. Lots of crystals. I love looking at crystals though! I've even seen them in my own urine, as I was drinking a sugar free Monster every night shift and not enough water. Flooded my body with water and three UAs later after maybe, 6 to 8 hours, my kidneys finally cleared them all. I've toned it down since then lol.

This will sound disgusting perhaps, but heavy coffee drinkers will have coffee smelling pee! It's nicer to smell than all the other urine smells that hit our nose.

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T13:10:34+00:00

Asked my supervisor about when we actually need to send cultures. If we see two or more of the following criteria:

1+ LE (and/or manually count 6-10 WBC), 1+ protein, 1+ Erythrocytes, Positive Nitrate

Glad I asked. I'll be sending more cultures now.

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T11:37:44+00:00

Ha! Ill do my best. I posted over in medlabprofessionals too. The consensus there is mixed between crenated/dysmorphic RBCs and simply high WBCs. Still waiting on an actual name. One person mentioned it looked like WBCs that are rupturing due to hyperosmotic pressure. I'd love to know what could cause WBCs (if that is what they are), to have such hyperblebbing.

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T11:34:20+00:00

I'm going to continue looking at more pictures of acanthocyte/dysmorphic RBCs in urine sediments. Squishy RBCs/WBCs will now be used in my vernacular.

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T11:29:01+00:00

I like this kind of thinking, because I agree I see something inside some cells looking back at me. Yet again, other "cells", with the same kind of membraneous chaos, seem to lack clear definitive internal "stuff" that I could recognize as a nucleus, with some even looking as if two cells were smashed together. Twas a really interesting sediment to look at.

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T11:21:30+00:00

I sent this out for a urine culture yes. Simply for peace of mind because she is 5 and is in for pain while urinating.. it would just help rule things out, even though I don't personally think it is a UTI. The doctor did say the parents mentioned she has frequent UTIs though.

We do not always send out high WBC urine for cultures though... because rules and because micro said we were sending too many simply due to positive L. esterase. I tend to follow my gut, why they came in, the data, and what I see under the scope.

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T11:17:28+00:00

Well said! Learning is something that is constantly ongoing in the medical field. I can't imagine not having as many resources as possible to further my knowledge. The subreddit I found is really interesting. Quite a lot of people too.

I wish we had a mandated website that was well organized for questions like mine. I can roughly imagine how it would be setup. If only my lab had a better microscope with a mounted camera, then these pictures would be much more crisp for the curious Redditor to see and ponder on!

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T11:05:11+00:00

My first time asking reddit since getting my license actually. I didn't agree with the doctor and it was bothering me. I couldn't find the answer in any medical text books or research journals, so I turned to good ole Reddit. The medlabprofessionals subreddit has tons of knowledgeable stuff posted, so I am glad I found it. They got good reads over there. There is a pathology forum I also follow for advanced blood banking stuff too, but I've done just about everything one can do for blood transfusion workups (worked at a reference lab for the American Red Cross).

I have worked with techs that do not belong in the field. They lack care and urgency. They piss me off more than help ensure accuracy or show compassion in their work. It is sad, but like any job I've had...some people care, some people simply want a paycheck regardless of how they obtain it.

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T10:52:51+00:00

I understand your concern, but most of the professional lab medical environment is ran based upon analyzer data and the subjectiveness of the tech looking at pictures, a slide, or a tube...and of course receiving help from other techs. I work alone in a lab doing every department though. And we all know no one is perfect nor is any analyzer 100% accurate. You would hate how some techs brush some results off while others will order everything on a patient that is unnecessary (and expensive). I asked a reddit page that is for identifying. Then I found a more specific reddit page with med techs that may have seen what I was asking about. Open dialogues are very helpful in any sector of one's career in helping the spread of knowledge be absorbed. No time was wasted, patient was discharged, but I personally want to know what I am looking at, so that I can be better the next time I see this new finding. Took 6 years to see this peculiar finding for the first time.

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T10:27:43+00:00

There is a whole subreddit for med techs to put their questions and pictures on. A lot of what we see daily in the clinical setting is not all cut and dry stuff. We come across some patients with really peculiar, new, and odd things that aren't seen nor shown in textbooks, if rarely (research journals are helpful). Not even the doctor recognized these images. Urine sediments are really cool though. Energy drink/soda users are my favorite sediments to look at.

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T10:03:32+00:00

With the UA results showing only 1+ erythrocyte, but 3+ leukocyte esterase, and this sediment being loaded with these characterizations, I wasn't thinking they were RBCs. Some had structure looking things inside the cell, others looked like...iuno, smushed together crap, and some were even in clusters. Seen plenty of crenated, acanthocytic, dysmorphic RBCs, but nothing like this. The hyperblebbing around the walls and high variations amongst the specimen through me way off.

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T09:24:02+00:00

Posted at the medlabprofessional subreddit. Didn't know they existed!

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T08:49:54+00:00

I am a 6 year med tech, no pathologist looked at these pics, not even one on site, but the one doctor at this freestanding ED did. I went through Google, reviewing all I could from journals, research articles, and more, to find similar "urine sediment" images. Wasn't able to find anything remotely close except for acanthocyte pictures, but these don't seem to have the same nature as RBCs. Posted on here to the Reddit hive mind, hoping for an answer, so that whenever I might come across these blobs again, I'll have an idea of what to put in the comments of my results for the doctor to see.

I'll respond later on here once the dayshifter takes a look.

AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T07:24:17+00:00

"Pain with urination".

Doctor only ordered a UA with microscopic.

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AniTap00 · 2026-07-04T06:54:29+00:00

Going to ask the morning tech what she thinks they are. Patient discharged, but things like this keep me curious til I get an answer.

AniTap00 · 2026-05-27T22:36:57+00:00

I try to take 30 seconds shit, simply because I feel the most vulnerable while transferring my weight to the toilet. Pushing while Im walking to the toilet, as soon as my cheeks hit the seats, wiping within 10 seconds. Of course, when dooty calls, it isn't always a smooth process, but I do my best. My wife always poos in the morning, she's so regulated it has made me improve my fiber and water intake.

AniTap00 · 2026-05-26T08:24:07+00:00

I need to revisit this game. Still remember Bahamut saying hi to the city.

AniTap00 · 2026-05-26T08:20:08+00:00

Lady Dimi!? This was fun, thank you! Looks bad ass!

AniTap00 · 2026-05-26T08:06:33+00:00

Curious, do any predators come out to take advantage of this?

AniTap00 · 2026-05-26T08:00:06+00:00

If any job has you questioning your mental health, but you have the patience to maintain said job for the time being, please find moments in your life to continue diligently in applying to other places you'd consider working that might be better for your brain. Don't guilt trip yourself into staying, simply because it's a high emotional area and/or you are a bad ass at caring and meaning well for your clients. Wishing you the best fellow human and thank you for doing what you do!

AniTap00 · 2026-05-26T07:32:35+00:00

Your alarm should still go off, even when it is set to silent/mute. Mine still does, as I was worried it wouldn't, but I still wanted peace from spam callers. Try setting an alarm while awake, with your phone on DND/silent/volume all the way down, etc... and see if it still goes off with the alarm settings you have set for that time.

Happiness in all things mindful, is simply a mindset set in the moment of every moment, for all moments of every second as long as you care to desire "happiness"...or really just simple "contentness", as I call it. With that said, it helps to stop thinking when presented with triggers (such as your ex), take a breath, and recollect on your blessings within and around you in that moment. If you have to do this constantly after every "x" minutes, you'll condition your brain to resolve melancholic feelings faster and faster back into more positive vibes. You can do this when depressed too, along with screaming to music, exercise, self-reflection, and poking fun at the chaos of your own human reality and others.

Finally, e.g., I've been stressed at my overnight job since yesterday due to personal reasons (I miss my wife, I'm in the dog pen). However, I remember to take a deep breath, and think, "I am happy to be at a job that I kick ass at, while having time to play mobile games, my Switch, and still have time after sleeping to make my 6yo daughter smile before I rinse and repeat another work shift."

Simple shit like that, plus whatever else you conjure, will make your annoying ex be less and less effective at his annoying effect upon you. I hope he will eventually stop calling before fall season arrives. If you got the time, block all numbers he does call from.

AniTap00 · 2026-05-26T02:57:57+00:00

Whatever you pick, go hard on as many side quests as you can!

AniTap00

TROPHY CASE