Waiting

I still remember when my parents went to Hawaii in the 1970s.

My Dad wasn't feeling great. Figured he needed a rest. Went to see the doctor a few weeks before. 

The morning before they left, Mom asked, “Did you ever hear from the doctor about what you talked about at that visit?”

“Nope,” Dad said. “Guess everything looks good. They would call if there was a problem.”

Mom called, of course, and the doctor read the file that was still sitting on his desk, and that’s why Mom took three books on cancer along on their trip to Hawaii.

I think of that story every time I wait for test results. Now doctors have prompts to remind them to message you in MyChart or whatever your application is. It’s a much better situation. And I never feel, like my Dad did, that it’s a sign of weakness to inquire about your own health. 

I suppose there are just some people who don’t want to think about problems (Dads) and people who want to deal with problems (Moms). There are also some people who say, “Didn’t you get all your test results back last week?” (Husbands). 

Actually, I feel a lot better after I compared internet liver images with what I saw in my scan on Saturday morning: I think I just have one little round stone, like a gallstone, only it’s in my bile duct and they took many photos of it. That’s the compromise I’ve reached between Mom and Dad in my head: half ignoring and half dealing.

Comments

[KC]

... OH. So your fat intolerance might actually be partly a bile duct partial/complete blockage problem, not a medication problem? Also I am pretty sure they can fix that, which is nice, although surgery recovery is a "the older you are, the longer it takes" thing, unfortunately, to at least some degree. But YAY for not-cancer and an actual explanation!

[theQueen]

KC - the not-cancer is confirmed. As for an actual explanation, not yet.

[KC]

Phooey. I was hoping the gall bladder thing would Explain It All while also being fixable. Sorry for the continued ??? stuff.

[theQueen]

KC - it’s okay. Any cancer other than the one that got my brother is welcome. Well, not welcome, but tolerable. More likely it’s the statin I take for cholesterol, and in that case, I would try another or do without.