Medical Merry go Round

[FinallyRetired]

I've been on the medical merry go round for about three months and still can't get off. This is the go round where one medical test leads to another unrelated test, then another one, and so on. I think it's more prevalent in military health care because tests are essentially free and make for good training.

I first went for one of my periodic back aches, hoping to get PT. Doc sends me for back X rays first. X ray of back and spine are fine, but there's some ill defined mass in my upper right abdomen that's "probably nothing" but I should get checked out with CT. Earliest CT is three weeks in future which gives plenty of time for some imaginary mass the size of a football to grow in my side. Go to CT scan, no problemo, it was just some artifact of the X ray. But, the CT shows some thickening of the stomach that's "probably nothing" but better get it checked by a gastroenterologist. Go to get a shot of versed and a tube stuck down my throat, stomach is fine but there's something in my esphagous that's "probably nothing" but may be a sign of something called Barrett's esphagous. So now I have some Prilosec to take for two months and get another tube down my throat.

Oh, my back's fine, healed by itself

 

[Moemg]

Sometime those medical merry go rounds uncover serious problems .I've seen a few patients who had large aortic aneurysms that were discovered during screening for kidney problems.

 

[Meadbh]

If a test has a 95% probability of being accurate, one in 20 people who take the test will show something abnormal. That's statistics, not necessarily something wrong. I vote you quit while you're ahead.

 

[TromboneAl]

Wow, interesting story.