This will be brief because regular readers and friends already know this story.
For a while this summer, I worried that I might have cancer. Colon cancer. I didn't. It was a pre-cancerous polyp.
While that notion still worries me a bit, it wasn't cancerous now. That was a huge worry that hung over my head at the end of the school year until the end of July.
Whew!
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Monday, December 30, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
I'm sure it's nothing
Within the last week, I have experienced blood with bowel movements five times. After the first time, I immediately made an appointment with my doctor.
She poked and peeked and could determine nothing that could easily explain the blood. Frankly, I was really pulling for a broken blood vessel or a pimple, but no. So, she ordered two tests for me. She warned me that for one test, I couldn't have vitamin C. I'm a vegetarian, so this was a daunting task, but like a trooper, I ate not much all weekend and produced a sample for the two bottles the lab had given me on Friday.
Sadly, there was blood on these samples and I worried. Okay, honestly, I cried.
I took those samples to a different lab, where I learned that there was one more test required - this one was the no vitamin C test. I did not cry. I mumbled to myself and went home to read the instructions for the three-day test. I could eat vegetables, so that was a plus.
I called my doctor's office and asked if we could just go ahead a schedule a colonoscopy. There was blood in the samples I turned in and there was blood on the sample I took when I got home, so why not? The receptionist was quite willing to to do so, but warned me that it could take two months to get an appointment. Of course, I could play the system and go to emergency. I've already spent time in emergency this year, so that idea doesn't thrill me.
My next option is to find a doctor, in the Detroit area who will take me on and refer me for a colonoscopy, more quickly than two months. I haven't been to an American doctor in at least six years. So, I turn to you, my readers, for referrals. If you really like your family doctor, please feel free to share the doctor's name, phone, and address.
I was not going to share this with anyone. Frustratingly, I need to formulate a Plan B and I need a little help to do that. I am sure that this is not a big deal, but I'd like eliminate all the concern that is creeping into my head.
She poked and peeked and could determine nothing that could easily explain the blood. Frankly, I was really pulling for a broken blood vessel or a pimple, but no. So, she ordered two tests for me. She warned me that for one test, I couldn't have vitamin C. I'm a vegetarian, so this was a daunting task, but like a trooper, I ate not much all weekend and produced a sample for the two bottles the lab had given me on Friday.
Sadly, there was blood on these samples and I worried. Okay, honestly, I cried.
I took those samples to a different lab, where I learned that there was one more test required - this one was the no vitamin C test. I did not cry. I mumbled to myself and went home to read the instructions for the three-day test. I could eat vegetables, so that was a plus.
I called my doctor's office and asked if we could just go ahead a schedule a colonoscopy. There was blood in the samples I turned in and there was blood on the sample I took when I got home, so why not? The receptionist was quite willing to to do so, but warned me that it could take two months to get an appointment. Of course, I could play the system and go to emergency. I've already spent time in emergency this year, so that idea doesn't thrill me.
My next option is to find a doctor, in the Detroit area who will take me on and refer me for a colonoscopy, more quickly than two months. I haven't been to an American doctor in at least six years. So, I turn to you, my readers, for referrals. If you really like your family doctor, please feel free to share the doctor's name, phone, and address.
I was not going to share this with anyone. Frustratingly, I need to formulate a Plan B and I need a little help to do that. I am sure that this is not a big deal, but I'd like eliminate all the concern that is creeping into my head.
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