Friday, July 17, 2009

It Pays to Ask

Today I stopped in at the hospital to find out if I could talk to my doctor about that letter I received earlier in the week.

Diane-Who-Remembers-Me was there, which was great, since she remembers me. (Well, she would--she helped me fill out my leave of absence forms when Starbucks was being a little obtuse about them.) "Hi, Diane!" I said, "I had a test last week and . . . "

"Ohhh," she said, "You got one of those stupid letters, didn't you?"

I wasn't sure how to answer this question, and before I could she said, "The one that says there's an area that they think is benign? They're talking about your scar tissue. Let me show you the actual report they sent to the doctor."

She went away for a few minutes and came back with a photocopy of the report. She showed me the relevant documentation. In normal-people terms, it basically said what I already know, which is that these particular imaging tests don't really give them a ton of information for me, and that I have a scar.

Well, duh. I knew I was going to have to have follow-ups (using various testing methods) every six months or so. They do have to keep an eye on these things. But there isn't really an area of concern, even though there is an area they have to watch, if that makes any sense.

"They don't have a good form letter for this," said Diane. "So they send out that anxiety-inducing one every time." It sounds like it isn't the first time she's had this conversation.

I know I'm at risk, but I'm not more at risk than I was before I got that letter, and I guess I think that for now? I'm okay.

Thanks for praying. You can do that as much as you like.

3 comments:

Tina said...

*sigh*
of frustration.
of relief.
I am glad there was someone there who you could talk to and it PAYS to ask for your own peace of mind- valuable lesson.

I am glad it is nothing exceptional - and I am glad you found out. But I am annoyed that they know it's a problem - and don't correct it. To put people through the anxiety of receiving the letter is, in my opinion, cruel and unnecessary.

I got a form letter yesterddy saying that my results were fine - and I have an MRI scheduled next week - go figure! Makes you wonder about the validity of these form letters and the results contained within...

Prayers - always!

Jennwith2ns said...

I had the same thought about the letter. You'd think at the very least they wouldn't want to have to keep allaying people's fears . . . it seems like an extra step. Why don't they just write, "As you know, you have recently had cancer. We saw evidence of treatment and, as usual in such cases, we will be taking another look six months from now."

Sigh.

Your letter sounds equally baffling and frustrating. Thanks for commiserating!

Tina said...

Just an update - got a call back yesterday - MRI came back clear. We are good for another year - Praise God.