OK, so it’s Christmas Eve, and the postman has delivered an urgent letter. I am now scared and upset, and have no way of checking out where to go from here.
I shall begin at the beginning……
Back at the beginning of November I picked up a pretty nasty bout of flu, and have just not been able to shake it off. My chest has been tight and my breathing shallow and painful.
On the 20th December, After 2 separate lots of antibiotics, I called the local surgery and asked for more, and this time they wanted me in so they could check my chest and do a lung function check with the puffa thingy.
I failed all miserably, and was told they wanted me to have a chest x-ray.
Off I trotted to the little cottage hospital round the corner, where I did the necessary, and was told to call my surgery on Friday 23rd December for my results.
I called on Friday afternoon, after work, and was told, by the receptionist no less, that I had a shadow on my chest x-ray and they wanted me to have another x-ray! I was to call back after Christmas…….
Panic set in, but after sitting down and talking rationally with my friends and hubby, we decided it was nothing to worry about.
Then, Saturday 24th December,( the point at which I started this post) when the surgery is closed until after Christmas, I received an urgent letter from my GP asking me in for an appointment on the 3rd January to discuss my X-Ray results and the course of action planned.
Needless to say both Paul and I were distraught. I was convinced I had the Big C, and had him check the mortgage policy for our cover!
Following a really crappy Christmas and New Year emotion wise, I dutifully turned up for my appointment on the 3rd, with Paul in tow for moral support.
The GP was was horrified that the receptionist had even told me anything, and that no-one has spoken to me on the phone to put my mind at rest. No it is not anything like what we were thinking. I have a fatty sack growing around my heart, and they need to keep a check on it.
In the meantime, I am on steroid tablets to try and relieve the symptoms of chest pain and tightness.
I have another x-ray in a couple of weeks, and my course of steroids has just been extended once more.
Is it me, or are all GP receptionists, bloody know it all’s who can’t wait to inflict as much emotional damage as possible in one single telephone call? They did not train for 7 years plus to make a diagnosis or read an x-ray, so why do they feel the need to think they can give a verdict on something they know nothing about!
Anyway, rant over. I'm hopefully on the mend, and will update again when I have my next x-ray results (hopefully given to me by a GP and not an over eager secretary)
Jo Anne
That is disgusting Jo - she should never have said anything to you - I hope she got into a lot of trouble!
ReplyDeleteOf course I now know what it was all about as we talked on Facebook.
It reminds me of when I had the lump removed from my thigh and when I went for my check-up at the hospital afterwards the doctor (yes the doctor)told me it hadn't been cancer but they didn't know what it was. The hospital pathology department weren't able to tell him. He then went on to tell me that they had sent a sample of it off to Manchester, London and Birmingham hospitals!
Next time I went to see him again he apologised and said that it had been cancer and was a very rare form and that I now needed to go to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital for them to check me out. This ended up with me having a 2nd operation to check that our local hospital had not only removed the lump but enough of the surrounding area to make sure they had taken all of the cancer away!!!!
You will of course know how I felt being told that.