teachers
Calliope considered the sketch of Doctor P. “Not too bad Drawist! She’s surely a powerhouse… in a petite frame.”
“Do you think she likes Mondays?” asked Thalia. “Because it’s her office day! And she get’s to wear cute clothes and jewelry, instead of scrubs and a goofy surgical cap. If I was her, I’d love Mondays!”
“Honestly. Where do your thoughts come from?” Nia squinted across the table and noticed Thalia’s early morning lips were tinted with pink gloss. The Muse of Determination adjusted her glasses and continued, “She’s a powerhouse because she knows what she’s doing, cares about her patients, and passes along her skills. Almost every time Typist has seen her, she’s had a student with her.”
Words from Typist:
Last week I noticed what I called thick tissue (not a mass, definitely not a mass) above the incision on my breast.
A majority of me (Cal and Tal) wanted to ignore it, chalking it up as a normal post-surgical result. It’s just scar tissue!
While a determined piece of me refused to shut up about about the thick tissue — Remember how long you ignored the first mass, errr… thick tissue? How smart was that?
I’m delighted to report I saw Dr. P yesterday, who emphatically ruled out a c recurrence. Throughout my exam and ultrasound, Dr. P modeled an empathic bedside manner and shared her technical skills with a Physician Assistant in training.
Cal and Tal were right. The thick tissue is below surface scarring.
Nia was also right to ask for further investigation.
BUTTON: “If I’m on life support, try unplugging me and plugging me back in. Maybe that will work.” 😁
(Sorry, IT humor!)
Yes, always ask the doctor about stuff you don’t understand or are suspicious of. That gave you a chance to learn, and gave Dr. P. a chance to explain what to look for to her PA trainee. Win-win!
So glad it was determined to be scar tissue. My daughter had her thyroid removed two years ago. They told her there would be scar tissue and sometimes that causes lumps. She has had a little lump in her neck for a good while now that she assumed was scar tissue. She told me about it and I asked her endocrinologist if he thought it was scar tissue. He said it probably wasn't and sent her to an ENT doctor. He didn't think it was scar tissue either. He ordered an ultrasound/with biopsy. They couldn't get a big enough sample to run all the tests he wanted so yesterday she had a CT scan with contrast done. Now we wait. The CT scan order was to look for leukemia and lymphoma. It's got me scared because after the biopsy the lump got smaller. Now it has gotten bigger than it had been. They told her 26 years ago when she had her brain cancer that your chances of getting cancer increase dramatically once you have had cancer. I now some types accelerate once they get biopsied. I really really hate this wait the results. She noticed the lump several months after her thyroid was removed but she didn't ssy anything to me until a couple months ago.