Monday morning I called the Dr. McNellis’s office to see if they had my biopsy results and I was told that the doctor would be in surgery all day and would not be able to review the results until the following day. I was pretty anxious so I pulled a favor from Dr. Eads, my former boss, who is now my primary care doctor. I knew that Dr. Eads could get the report so I decided to email him. I would have made a call to his office but the last months events were way too much to relay through a receptionist! The problem was I lost his email address ages ago so I decided to send him a Facebook message to let him know what was happening. I followed my email up by asking him if there was a CPT code for a Facebook consult, which I’m sure he found amusing.
Dr. Eads knows my family history and probably knew I was a little freaked out by the whole situation. I didn’t hear from him that afternoon, nor did I hear from McNellis’s office so I called them on my way home and was told “You know, the doctor is really busy seeing patients.” Having run a medical practice I’m well aware of how it all works, but I also know that after my CT scan at this practice I NEVER received a call with my results so I had no problem with being persistent.
The next morning I received a call from Dr. Eads with the “unofficial” test results. He told me that all the samples were benign but there is still a slight chance (10%) that cancer cells may exist deep within the calcification. He said that surgery was probably inevitable but of course that was Dr. McNellis’s call. He also said there might be a chance of McNellis ordering a more invasive biopsy. Ugh. I felt much better after hearing this, but was still really aggravated that I was hearing this from Dr. Eads and not Dr. McNellis. I think I much prefer a physician that is patient satisfaction driven and not numbers driven!
Later in the afternoon I called Mcnellis’s office again and was told that he STILL has not had a chance to review my results. I was really thankful for Dr. Eads because at this point I would have been going nuts not knowing what was happening. Dr. McNellis knows nothing about the high rate of cancer in my family, but that shouldn’t even be a factor. What if it really was something serious and needed urgent attention?
On Wednesday afternoon I called Dr. McNellis’s office for the fourth time. The nurse got on the phone and said “Oh, he JUST gave me your chart. The cells in the specimen were a-typical and no cancer was present and he wants me to schedule a follow-up for you to come in and discuss surgery options.” Now, really? How difficult was that? It probably took him two seconds to look at my chart and make that decision.
On Monday, the 8th of March I have an appointment scheduled with his office for allergy testing so I made my follow-up for Wednesday, the 10th so we can discuss the allergy test results as well as possible surgery. I am not really excited at the thought of surgery but I will do what I have to do to not suffer like some of my family has.
Dr. Eads knows my family history and probably knew I was a little freaked out by the whole situation. I didn’t hear from him that afternoon, nor did I hear from McNellis’s office so I called them on my way home and was told “You know, the doctor is really busy seeing patients.” Having run a medical practice I’m well aware of how it all works, but I also know that after my CT scan at this practice I NEVER received a call with my results so I had no problem with being persistent.
The next morning I received a call from Dr. Eads with the “unofficial” test results. He told me that all the samples were benign but there is still a slight chance (10%) that cancer cells may exist deep within the calcification. He said that surgery was probably inevitable but of course that was Dr. McNellis’s call. He also said there might be a chance of McNellis ordering a more invasive biopsy. Ugh. I felt much better after hearing this, but was still really aggravated that I was hearing this from Dr. Eads and not Dr. McNellis. I think I much prefer a physician that is patient satisfaction driven and not numbers driven!
Later in the afternoon I called Mcnellis’s office again and was told that he STILL has not had a chance to review my results. I was really thankful for Dr. Eads because at this point I would have been going nuts not knowing what was happening. Dr. McNellis knows nothing about the high rate of cancer in my family, but that shouldn’t even be a factor. What if it really was something serious and needed urgent attention?
On Wednesday afternoon I called Dr. McNellis’s office for the fourth time. The nurse got on the phone and said “Oh, he JUST gave me your chart. The cells in the specimen were a-typical and no cancer was present and he wants me to schedule a follow-up for you to come in and discuss surgery options.” Now, really? How difficult was that? It probably took him two seconds to look at my chart and make that decision.
On Monday, the 8th of March I have an appointment scheduled with his office for allergy testing so I made my follow-up for Wednesday, the 10th so we can discuss the allergy test results as well as possible surgery. I am not really excited at the thought of surgery but I will do what I have to do to not suffer like some of my family has.
This morning I woke up to get ready for work and while taking a shower I felt something a little unusual where the bottom of your butt meets the upper inside of your thigh (if that makes sense!) … almost in what Robin would refer to as your “bathing suit area” At first I thought it was a large pimple and scratched it. When I looked at what I scratched off it was black and a little bloody. Ew! It was a freakin’ tick! I felt again to see if I got it all but really couldn’t tell. I finished my shower and sent Robin a text message telling her to hurry home from work! Next, I called my boss with probably the most insane call-in ever! I told her I would be a little late because of my “situation!”
I took a nap so I wouldn’t have to think about the thing still being inside of me and Robin arrived a little after 8am. After an up-close inspection Robin said I got the whole thing out and the hole was still very angry. Also, I guess the tick was a little picky because it bit three different places until it found the tastiest spot.
I have no idea where the tick came from since we haven’t been in the woods this week. Robin had one on her last week (very close to her front bathing suit area) but that was right after a day of geocaching. I can only assume that when I let the dogs out at 4am this morning (they woke me up!) Lucas brought one in with him. He always sleeps under the covers with us so I’m thinking he jumped off of him and on to me. I think we need to have a conference with him to let him know that he needs to leave his “friends” outside where they belong!
2 comments:
How absolutely frustrating to be left hanging by a doctor's office. I think nearly everybody has been there. Of course that doesn't make it any easier.
The atypical results sound a little ominous, but better than positive for cancer I guess. If it was me? I'd probably just say take the dang thing out all at once, no more biopsies.
And I love the tick story ... that would be the best of all time ... I'm going to be late for work because a tick ate my butt! Sorry to make things seem light. Ticks are no fun, and watch out for lime disease now. sigh.
I asked my boss later if I win the prize for most bizarre call-in story and she said "by a landslide!" I had lots of nicknames yesterday at work... "ticker" "Tick Tack" "Tick Tock" - you name it!
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