Melanoma cont. 2
March 11th 2007 03:36
2. The medical system loves shoving patients around. My friend went to a dermatologist for the results of the tests on the mole that had been removed. She was told that it was a melanoma and that an appointment had been made for her with a surgeon. She was not consulted about what time would be convenient.
After the appointment with the surgeon (who was a nice person and treated her with consideration and care) she went to the desk to make an appointment for the operation (to have a wide excision done where the mole had been). After waiting about half an hour and being given some forms to fill in she was then told she needed to take them that day to the hospital. This was the first she knew of it.
Taking them to the hospital she discovered that she wasn’t just dropping the forms in. There were more forms to fill. She was then called into an office while someone entered the information on the forms into a computer. She wasn’t spoken to and was told to wait again once the information had been entered. She was then told that she would be having a blood test.
She found out that she will need to go to hospital the day before the operation to have a test to determine if the cancer has got to the lymph nodes. This will occupy the whole day.
During the operation they will remove extra skin from around the site of the melanoma and take out a lymph node. The lymph node will be tested to see if the cancer has spread. She has not been told how long after the node is removed she will know the results. Considering this is a life threatening cancer that is quite aggressive she is quite concerned.
After the appointment with the surgeon (who was a nice person and treated her with consideration and care) she went to the desk to make an appointment for the operation (to have a wide excision done where the mole had been). After waiting about half an hour and being given some forms to fill in she was then told she needed to take them that day to the hospital. This was the first she knew of it.
Taking them to the hospital she discovered that she wasn’t just dropping the forms in. There were more forms to fill. She was then called into an office while someone entered the information on the forms into a computer. She wasn’t spoken to and was told to wait again once the information had been entered. She was then told that she would be having a blood test.
She found out that she will need to go to hospital the day before the operation to have a test to determine if the cancer has got to the lymph nodes. This will occupy the whole day.
During the operation they will remove extra skin from around the site of the melanoma and take out a lymph node. The lymph node will be tested to see if the cancer has spread. She has not been told how long after the node is removed she will know the results. Considering this is a life threatening cancer that is quite aggressive she is quite concerned.
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