Who calls Who

Always, always, always call and get test results.  Never assume that no news is good news.  I'm saying this as a nurse and BC survivor.  I had an incident this month that really reinforced the issue.  I'm two years post dx (IDC,DCIS), umx and chemo.  Currently taking Tamoxifen.  I had my yearly MRI earlier this month.  After a couple of week I realized I had not heard from BS office.  I called and left a message on Wednesday.  I had an appointment with Onc on Friday.  While there, I casually asked if she had gotten a copy of my MRI results.  She went to the computer and got the results from the (out-of-town) hospital.  She gave me the report and told me to have my BS do an ultrasound.  The radiologist findings stated there was a "4-5 mm slightly irregular/lobular focus" in my left breast that was not there last May and "at most mildly suspicious."  "Consider MRI guided bx vs short-term interval follow up."  Needless to say I was a little upset that the BS office had not called me back and they were not in the office on Friday afternoons.  Now, I don't know about you folks but for someone who has been through multiple biopsies, bc dx, surgery and chemo there is no such thing as "mildly" suspicious.  Over the weekend I decided that I did not want to waste my time with an US because it would eventually result in another MRI.  On Monday morning morning I called the BS office and told the girl I needed to make an appt with her to discuss the MRI results I had received from the Onc.  I was told to come in that afternoon.  The office assistant who took me back apologized saying that she was the one who took my message and "thought" she had forwarded it to the dr for review.  They had just gotten a new computer system.  I told her it was not an issue for me because I would have followed up.  When the dr. came into the room she looked mortified.  She said the report had gotten filed without her knowledge.  I told her what really upset me was the fact that it could have happened to someone who might have assumed everything was ok only to come back in 6 months or a year to find something worsre.  She told me that those are the things that keep her awake at night.  As a nurse I understand about things that keep you awake at night.  She said she spoke to all the back office staff to ensure it did not happen again.  I knew she had not seen the report because she would have called immediately.   She is not one to waste time.  The moral of this story is that no matter how much technology we have there is always room for human error.  Btw, I'm having the bx on the 9th.

Never assume no news is good news.  No news usually means your paperwork is on the bottom of a pile somebody hasn't looked at yet.  There is no magic sorting machine were all the test results are separated by good and bad.  They all just come in and the doctor should make time to sit down and call each night.  Yours just got busy.

I never waited more than a day for results.  So call!