I am somewhat bemused when I have the Oncology receptionist, God bless her cotton socks) chase me at work to have an apologetic chat with me. It usually means that a doctor somewhere, in the higher echelons has given her the directive to chase. I have discovered that Oncology doctors only want to see you when there is cause to, which in some respects is great, but generally not when you don’t expect them to call and when you only had this trip a week ago. That call came through today, at recess, between chatting to a new batch of Student Teachers and morning tea and on my husbands birthday on all days. “They want to follow up the testing they did in emergency.” “oh why is that so”? says I wondering, considering that the tests were, as far as I was concerned, done and dusted so to speak. A colposcopy is what I need to book you in for, she continues – to which I ask why and to which the hedging begins – we most certainly live in a litigious society don’t we! So of course, our natural reflex kicks in – a quick double click of the browser and up comes Google. Yes. Hands up those who have diagnosed all sorts of weird and wonderful things with Google! I am a doctor of Googling. A supreme expert! This was no exception – I actually had a medical term! (yes folks, we find ourselves in exciting times!) “Many premalignant lesions and malignant lesions in these areas have discernible characteristics which can be detected through the examination. It is done using a colposcope, which provides an enlarged view of the areas, allowing the colposcopist to visually distinguish normal from abnormal appearing tissue and take directed biopsies for further pathological examination. The main goal of colposcopy is to prevent cervical cancer by detecting precancerous lesions early and treating them” Isn’t that funny, not ha ha funny but bizzare funny because last time I looked I had a TAH (Total Abdominal Hysterectomy) which means out with all the girly bits except the ovaries and YET we still manage to have ‘abnormalities’. May as well tune me up into Darth Vader so all I have to do is “restart” or press ctrl + alt + del :P On the count of three, lets get hysterical. One , two…just kidding. The test results came back as ‘abnormal’ so whats the plan now? I don’t know about you but I have a lemon meringue pie waiting for me and a birthday cake to make with two little kids and one big kid one hovering to lick the bowl! Life is a beautiful puzzle of uncertainty, coloured with many shades, hues and tones. We’ll take it one step at a a time, one day at a time, one test at a time. For now, its time to celebrate a birthday and to wish on a star who knows what tomorrow brings 🙂 We may just be suprised or simply mutter....bugger.
8 Comments
benlisecca
Contributor
I hope tomorrow brings many surprises........and no "buggers". Sending hugs, Sharon
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Jules2
Super Contributor
Hey Teach My friend had a hysta and she has a vault check up rather than a smear. We used to giggle about that one. I had to giggle at you ctl alt del'ing. lol THis is before coffee too ... crickeys! Hope you all have a great day for the b'day boy and enjoy the yummy cake. Julie xo
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harker
Frequent Contributor
My medical knowledge comes from Wikipedia. I had a similar thing happen to me. I had an ultra sound of my heart and the operator said everything looked OK. The next day I got a call from a receptionist for a heart surgeon wanting to book me in for a tube down the throat test (see Wikipedia for the real words). It was a great shock to me to be caught in a net like that. I rang the surgeon and explained how upsetting it was have news that I may have a heart problem delivered in such a manner. He said my oncologist was the one in charge of all of that...hmmm. Wikipedia also helped me find out what a picc line. One day I'll go on Wikipedia and find out what Wikipedia means. H
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Jules2
Super Contributor
Hey Harker I have to tell you, your dry sense of humour always makes me smile. That must have been horrid having a receptionist tell you about your heart. Sometimes i feel like having cancer is like being in a tumble dryer, I feel like I go round and round in circles a lot! Julie
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samex
Regular Contributor
My phone call wasn't nearly as dramatic but the Gp's receptionist rang to tell me that my LFT (worked than one out to be liver function test)was elevated and that they would like it to be redone. Not something a bowel cancer patient wants to hear. Response in the staff room - melt down!! Others response - cuddles and a cup of tea!! And I'll take your next class. Thank God for supportive work mates. All a false alarm of course.All within range, Just an overly cautious GP. My husband's b'day today. Pecan pie for us. Bloods and checkup on Thursday. That anxious week awaits. S
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Teacher_Mum
Contributor
All the best S! Steady as she goes! 🙂
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samex
Regular Contributor
Thanks Teach. Not a lot of other options other than see how it goes!! Oh and spend half the weekend marking essays! S
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Teacher_Mum
Contributor
Yep! I just finished my first round of Year 12 reports (we are a tad excessive in marking here) which is great. The weather is too nice to worry 🙂
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