What are you thoughts on the trigger to consulting a doctor? Do you err on the side of caution? Or do you wait to see if a symptom persists and worsens?
Well in the case of my cancer I think there was a trigger involved but of course I can never be sure. I don't know if you recall but between June and November 2001 I was seeing a young lady, during this time I wasn't really looking after myself and certainly over indulging in the pleasures of life :) I think my tumor first made itself known around 9/11. I can't be sure but I think my lifestyle then could have been the trigger.
I had symptoms for sure but they were confused by the doctors with a kidney problem I had leading to left nephrectomy (kidney removal) in Feb 2002 (the kidney having exploded due to a stone in 1998, again mis-diagnosed by doctors as something connected with my genetic condition).
In the few months following completion of my chemo and radiation therapy in 2003 I had two emergency trips back to the hosiptal (>100 miles away) because I was fearful that the tumor was growing again. I could see that they didn't really take me seriously so I just gave up. At my last check-up they said "we're not going to do any more scans unless you tell us we need to", which I thought was quite humorous.
So you almost have to be your own doctor in the UK. I would have to get very sick before doctors would take a serious look to see if anything was wrong. As a result of all this, I have very little faith in >99% of doctors, but there are a group of far less than 1% who lead the way and save lives, you just have to find them! (PS. The nurses are on the whole just great).
One thing that is clear is that worrying is not going to help you, but it's hard not to when you are feeling off. I think you'll be ok - please keep me posted !
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment