doctor's appt

grandma047 · October 2004

Hi all, I went to my family doctor today. It was a new doctor that I hadn't seen before and the medical intern with her is going to be an oncologist, so they were very interested in helping me. I have a referral for a second opinion with a urologist, but it's not until Nov. 3rd. I guess that's not too bad. I'll just have to put up with it until then. They were really concerned about the dizziness. They took my blood pressure lying down and then sitting up and the bottom number dropped from 87 to 68. They said something has to be causing this. She did a bunch of bloodwork. I think she's checking about everything. I'm going in for an EKG tomorrow. They are going to call me with appts to get a CT of my head, with and without contrast;A test to check my carotoid arteries(sp?), and an ECHOcardigram. She is also making me an appt with a neurologist and she'll call me with the date. This is to check the dizziness and also the numbness in my heel. She said I can't make you well today, but we'll work on it. I felt good when I left. I felt someone finally is listening to me again. I'm trying to listen to my body and I know things aren't right, just like I knew before I was diagnosed with rectal cancer. Please everyone pray for me that they can figure out what's wrong and fix it. Also does anyone know anything about these tests? What do they show? How are they done??? Thanks guys.. I don't know what I'd do without you.
Love and prayers, Judy(grandma047)

loiselizabeth · October 2004

hi judy my name is lois and i had colon cancer surgery mar 02 with chemo. then last yr it hit my liver more chemo then rfa of my liver.this was done in fl. the dr in canada gave me 3 months that was a yr last june. i get the symptoms u have but mine seems to be because of my sugar. i am now a dieabetic from my treatment. i also have seen a nurologist for dizzyness and tingling in my hands and feet and sometimes my face feels like it is asleep. don't worry the tests are painless and mine showed a spot on the left side of my brain i told the dr i was just glad they found i had a brain. you just need to have a laugh sometimes.they have done a bone scan and i get the results on wed. in nov 16 i get a ct scan and see my oncologist on nov 23 to find out if my cancer is gone or just hiding. well you will be in my prayers and please e-mail me if you would just like to chat i check it often it is thumpersbedpal@yahoo.com and my name is lois

jana11 · October 2004

Here is the scoop about the tests: MAKE SURE TO ASK YOUR DOCTOR IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!!!!!!!!
1.) EKG - looks at the electric currents of your heart to make sure everything is normal, will probably be fine.
2.) CT head - you know what that is, just to make sure there is nothing funny up there. Never can be too safe. I had a brain clot after starting hormones.... showed up on MRI of head.
3.) Doppler of carotid arteries - ultrasound to make sure there aren't any build up/blockages in the carotid arteries in the neck. Carotids supply blood to the brain.
4.) Echo - ultrasound of the heart. Just looking for anything abnormal; valve problems, clots, normal movement of the entire heart muscle, good flow out of the heart, etc.
5.) Neuro referral- see if the specialist can determine better treatments for the numbness in heel, and to see if they have other ideas about the dizziness.

I hope this helps. These are all good tests. Nothing should hurt. Echo is a piece of cake as long as it is the transthoracic (on the chest) kind, and it probably is.

Blood work is also very important and a review of all your medicines too!

Hang in there. jana

spongebob · October 2004

HEy, Judy -

Curious when they get your blood work back what they say your hematocrit is. When I was finally diagnosed, my 'crit was 14 - it should have been around 40. The low number was caused by internal bleeds.

Jana knows her stuff. Nice to have a trained professional here!

- SB

doctor's appt

Comments

Discussion Boards