Tuesday, May 11, 2010

And the Verdict Is.....

Well after 5 days of "you need to get that checked" by doctors, I finally found out that the pulmonary nodule in my right lung is not cancerous. Some sort of benign mass as the doctor called it. It was probably scarring that was discovered by my ER doctor after the accident.

Now for the rant.... My primary care doctor is affiliated with Jackson Hospital here in town. My hospital of choice is Baptist East which is where I went for treatment after the accident. There lies my dilemma. The ER referred me to get my PET Scan at a Baptist-affiliated imaging center in which my doctor's office had no clue even existed.

I got my PET scan last Thursday and was told by my doctor's office to come in on Friday (after they called the imaging center to confirm when the results would be ready) to get the results. First of all, I had to wait for an hour in the lobby waiting room. Then I was moved to the "secondary" waiting room where I had to wait for another 30 minutes. (For those who know me, I did manage a nap in the secondary room before work.) I get into the exam room to be greeted by a nurse practitioner (NP). There is nothing wrong with an NP but with the potential for a cancer diagnosis, I would have thought that I would see my doctor.

To top it all off, the staff had no clue why I was at the doctor's office at all. I was asked by the intake clerk, the accounting clerk, the triage nurse, and the nurse practitioner on why I was there. It wasn't them asking me to make sure they had the right patient - they truly did not know why I was there. The NP who say me on Friday was the same one that gave me the referral on Monday and had no idea who I was. I had to remind her that she was the one that gave me the referral form in the first place.

To top it all off, my results were not even there. Nobody called to have them faxed over. That was the last straw to me. Yeah, the doctor and the imaging center do not have a "relationship" but goodness, does anyone take notes around there at all?

This doctor has been my primary care physician since 2005 but only since him once at my initial appointment and fast lab follow-up. Every time I tried to make an appointment in the past when I needed to see the doctor, I couldn't get scheduled within 3 days so I would go to Pri-Med (an urgent care medical center).

After this experience with my "cancer scare" and the lack of communication and professionalism with this doctor, I am seeking a new one. I was under so much stress from the wait that I had a migraine for the rest of the day. It was almost like I actually did have cancer and nobody wanted to tell me. I understand that medical care is a volume business but this is my only bad experience with any doctor and it has soured me on the profession. If I didn't need it, I would kick them all to the curb.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The Great Crash of 2010 (and the Fall Out)


Well fellow bloggers and readers, it has been determined by me that people cannot drive. This past Sunday, I have had my fourth accident in my Mazda 6. None of the accidents in this car have been my fault and now with a few payments left on this car, it might be totalled out. Jasmine, my 16 year old daughter, is a bit distraught because this was supposed to be her car possibly this fall in case I got something new.

I am fine and will live but I have learned some lessons with this accident that I am not going to go into at this point. I got checked out at the ER and the doctor has certified me okay, in regards of the accident. I have a knot and a cut on my head from hitting the windshield (now is the time I wish I had hair up there to cover it) and my knee hurts a little so I got a cool ass limp.


I thought I was going to walk out of the ER with nothing on my mind but wondering if they are going to total out my car or fix it but it couldn't be that simple. After the CT Scan of my head and chest, I was advised of something going on that was unrelated to the accident.

It seems that I have some sort of pulmonary nodule in my right lung. The same lung that I had pneumonia in which could be the cause of it but of course the doctor has to give you the worse case scenario and dropped the Big C Word on me too. The good thing going for me is that I recently had pneumonia so that connection is there. I don't smoke (unless you want to count the 2 or 3 cigars I have a year). I do not usually tend to hang around smokers when they are smoking. So I think my luck will hold.

Never thought that someone would throw the C word at me. Just one of those things you would think happens to someone else (not that you want it to). When he said it, I just figured it was nothing serious and the remote possibility of it being cancer (yeah I said it) was slim to none. But of course as you have time to think about it and the doctors keep saying "you need to see your primary doctor and make an appointment for a PET CT Scan." I didn't really think about what a PET CT Scan was until yesterday when a friend of mine said it is what they use to look at cancer in the body. Well DAMN!

I think I will be okay. I am going to stay positive that it isn't anything serious. Just needed to vent it out a little bit. So is the journey of life- let's see where this turn takes me.