mark
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2008
- Messages
- 4,174
- Reaction score
- 16
I'm not the most public person when it comes to my personal life. We all have problems and I don't feel comfortable whining about mine, but I'm pissed off and a rant is in order. Earlier this year I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and told to get my affairs in order. After the shock wore off I headed for a second opinion and another round of tests, with the same results, so I gathered family and broke the news. A friend advised me to seek a third opinion and with nothing to lose I did. More scans and a few weeks later a surgeon removed a benign tumor lodged next to my pancreas. The first two specialists misinterpreted the scan results. Okay, shit happens, I'm alive but my wife and I are nervous wrecks after months of dealing with it.
My wife has a heart valve problem from birth which causes a slight murmur. During her work physical last month the murmur disturbed our new healthcare nurse so a CT scan was ordered to evaluate any damage from the years of malfunctioning. Before we received the heart results she got a call advising her the scan revealed she had lung cancer and needed a PET scan to determine the extent of damage. Now we were worried about both heart and cancer. As you can imagine, panic struck us. The PET scan was taken but results would be two weeks in coming. A lot of pacing went on and a bit lot of drinking while we waited.
The CT scan revealed her heart is fine, the PET scan revealed she DOESN'T have lung cancer but a slightly dark spot in her lower back requires an MRI (another scan yet). Again, scan interpretation seems to be a loose area of expertise and it seems it's not an isolated problem. I had four scans misread and my wife one so far. I understand there are variables involved but we're not dealing with a new technique here and I've lost most of what respect I had for medical technology. Rant over.
My wife has a heart valve problem from birth which causes a slight murmur. During her work physical last month the murmur disturbed our new healthcare nurse so a CT scan was ordered to evaluate any damage from the years of malfunctioning. Before we received the heart results she got a call advising her the scan revealed she had lung cancer and needed a PET scan to determine the extent of damage. Now we were worried about both heart and cancer. As you can imagine, panic struck us. The PET scan was taken but results would be two weeks in coming. A lot of pacing went on and a bit lot of drinking while we waited.
The CT scan revealed her heart is fine, the PET scan revealed she DOESN'T have lung cancer but a slightly dark spot in her lower back requires an MRI (another scan yet). Again, scan interpretation seems to be a loose area of expertise and it seems it's not an isolated problem. I had four scans misread and my wife one so far. I understand there are variables involved but we're not dealing with a new technique here and I've lost most of what respect I had for medical technology. Rant over.