I had a little medical "drama" recently. Without going into detail, I'll give you enough of the story so you'll be able to "feel my pain," figuratively speaking. I went in for a routine cancer screening at the hospital. I signed a release authorizing them to obtain my screening results from the hospital I previously used. They told me I would hear results in a week to ten days after the radiologist read the films and compared them to my previous screenings.
Three days after the screening, the nurse at my doctor's other office (the one I don't go to) called to tell me that they needed to see the films from my previous screenings for comparison because the written report noted that a "density" was detected...
Wednesday, August 1. 2007
My Rant Against Crassness In Helping Professions
Well, I was under the impression that those films were obtained by the new radiologist already, since I had signed the release of medical information form. I took a moment to step back and think...what's going on? I had to come up with a logical list of questions:
Why don't they have my films for comparison...did someone fail to fax the authorization?
If not, how long should it take?...apparently the nurse thought they should be with the written report she received.
Why is a nurse I've never met calling me to tell me I have a "density?"
What is a density?
Do I have a problem?
After a few deep, cleansing breaths and a good strong hug from my Sweetie, I determined I should first call the lab where the screening was done to ascertain whether they had acquired the films. The woman at the lab told me that they had indeed faxed the form, but it could take as long as 2 weeks to get records from this other hospital!
Potentially, then, I had two weeks of hell to look forward to, wondering whether I had a medical problem...thanks to that crass nurse who called me prematurely! She could have just asked me if the films had been given to the radiologist. She didn't need to say anything about a "density" to me, because she didn't know anything except that the report said they needed to compare these films to the previous films. She just blithely blurts out this word that scared the shit out of me and caused me to hold my breath for a whole week, hoping for the best, but still fearing the worst.
Yes, I said a week. Just today - one week after the fateful call - I received a letter from the radiologist saying that my screening detected no sign of cancer!!! My week of hell is over!!!
What was weird is that I read the letter, and didn't believe it. I called Nurse Ratched back to make sure this letter wasn't some automatically generated thing that can be contradicted by the radiologist comparing the films. She actually read me the new report that said that the "density" was not new, so was inconsequential...Whew!
The clincher is that when I expressed relief and thanked her, her response was, "OK, bye now." Apparently she was too busy ruining other patients' weeks with her lack of discretion to actually take a moment and share my joy at not having cancer!
Why don't they have my films for comparison...did someone fail to fax the authorization?
If not, how long should it take?...apparently the nurse thought they should be with the written report she received.
Why is a nurse I've never met calling me to tell me I have a "density?"
What is a density?
Do I have a problem?
After a few deep, cleansing breaths and a good strong hug from my Sweetie, I determined I should first call the lab where the screening was done to ascertain whether they had acquired the films. The woman at the lab told me that they had indeed faxed the form, but it could take as long as 2 weeks to get records from this other hospital!
Potentially, then, I had two weeks of hell to look forward to, wondering whether I had a medical problem...thanks to that crass nurse who called me prematurely! She could have just asked me if the films had been given to the radiologist. She didn't need to say anything about a "density" to me, because she didn't know anything except that the report said they needed to compare these films to the previous films. She just blithely blurts out this word that scared the shit out of me and caused me to hold my breath for a whole week, hoping for the best, but still fearing the worst.Yes, I said a week. Just today - one week after the fateful call - I received a letter from the radiologist saying that my screening detected no sign of cancer!!! My week of hell is over!!!
What was weird is that I read the letter, and didn't believe it. I called Nurse Ratched back to make sure this letter wasn't some automatically generated thing that can be contradicted by the radiologist comparing the films. She actually read me the new report that said that the "density" was not new, so was inconsequential...Whew!
The clincher is that when I expressed relief and thanked her, her response was, "OK, bye now." Apparently she was too busy ruining other patients' weeks with her lack of discretion to actually take a moment and share my joy at not having cancer!
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Glad you are okay. I have denisty also. I think it is rather common
#1
Carole W-G
on
2007-08-03 21:48
(Reply)
