An update on the Paul/cat kidney stone situation: today, a day short of two weeks since he started feeling pain at a level that made him unable to drive, and a week after the cat had HIS surgery, Paul had a procedure done to break up the stones. (My co-worker: “He should have asked if the vet would take him!”)
I don’t know if you know this, but Paul is extremely squeamish. So he has been very conflicted: his very strong urge to get this taken care of and make the pain stop, but also his very strong urge not to go near a hospital, or near an IV, or HEAVEN FORBID near a stent. All of those things he wished to avoid have occurred. And also: the doctor told me they were only able to get one of the two large stones, and Paul will have to go back next week to get the other one taken care of. In the meantime he is peeing blood and feeling, as the nurse described it, “as if he has a UTI.” As someone who has had many, many UTIs over the years, it did briefly flit through my mind that this would give Paul an invaluable opportunity to work on empathy. (It gives me a similar opportunity for personal growth, as he keeps explaining to me that it feels like he has to pee ALL THE TIME!! and when he does pee, it HURTS!! and he can’t CONCENTRATE or SIT STILL!! And I have to work hard not to turn my head nearly upside down like an O RLY WHAT’S THAT LIKE sarcastic owl.)
Meanwhile, the cat has had a week to recover, and is doing very well and is not complaining about how frequently he needs to visit the litter box. I am still putting his cone on him at night just in case, but I suspect we are past the nightmare scenario the vet laid out for us, where he might lick his stitches open. (I am not extremely squeamish, but I did grip the countertop when she described that possibility in compellingly vivid detail.)
Paul’s doctor did not give me a cone for him, so I assume he doesn’t have to wear one.
Meanwhile, not to make this all about me (though I did already mention all my UTIs in a paragraph about someone who just had KIDNEY STONE SURGERY), but on the way home from the hospital I got a call I couldn’t take because I was driving, and I listened to the message when I got home and it was someone calling from the mammography center about the mammogram I had yesterday. They tell you at the mammogram appointment that no news is good news—which means it is not pleasant to receive news. The message was left at 4:15, and said that I should call back at my earliest convenience and that someone would be available to talk to me until 5:00. I arrived home at 4:30, and I called back at least every five minutes (approximately once a minute for the first five minutes, then every five minutes after that because I was imagining my number showing up embarrassingly on a call log) from then until 5:00, and no one ever picked up, I just got the recording; I also left a message (as instructed by the voice mail) fairly early on (I’d wondered if, like at the office of one of Edward’s specialists, the nurses really ONLY return messages), and no one returned that call.
I realize things can get unexpectedly busy. But THEY should likewise realize that when THE MAMMOGRAPHY CENTER (WHERE NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS) calls and leaves a message, it is a CONCERNING THING. And if they choose to say in their message that they will be available to take a call until 5:00, they should BE AVAILABLE TO TAKE A CALL (or return a message) UNTIL 5:00. This wasn’t a situation where they left a message at 8:30 a.m. and I tried to get ahold of them five minutes before closing: they called me at 4:15, they said they would be available until 5:00, and they were not; so now I will spend all of tonight, and also all tomorrow morning because I have to work and can’t call them again until afternoon, wondering why they called.
Oh good grief, I am so sorry about the mammography call. I do think it is quite routine (not that it feels routine) to be told that one needs to come back in for fairly straightforward follow-up imaging, and although I’m assuming that “no news equals good news” means that “some news isn’t as good as no news,” I wouldn’t put it past an office to mess that one up, either.
Regardless, I hope you are able to connect with the office first thing in the morning and get the full story — and of course that it is nothing to worry about.
And … I’m glad the cat is recovering well, and that Paul has been able to get at least some of the medical care he needs, even if it’s an ongoing process.
I am sure I will be the first of many to commiserate with you about calls back from the mammogram place when you can’t return the call right away. I have had several of those calls, a couple resolved with second look screening, for one I did in fact need a biopsy (results of which were fine). Even though I have a 100% percent track record of No Serioius Problem resulting from these callbacks, I dread the waiting part, almost more than the dealing with the second call which now always feel is inevitable. (Even though the past 2 mammos have not resulted in callbacks)
Once, back in the days of land lines, I had a mammo, waited on tenterhooks for 1, 2, 3 days, breathed a sigh of relief. Only to have the then c. 12 year old show up at the door to my bedroom Friday evening: “Uh I forgot to tell you some doctor’s office called for you yesterday….I did write down the number though….”
In any case, solidarity, and here’s to continued healing all around.
I strongly suggest, as a mother, that you have your phone with you while at work and take the call when it comes in. More important to take 5 minutes and answer the call than not. I also suggest you make the call to the office during work and leave another message. Your work schedule will permit it. What are they going to do, fire you….!?
Yes! Agreed. Make the call, take the call during work. Go to the bathroom or something if you feel weird doing it at the desk.
Xoxoxox thinking of you re: mammogram call, I HATE that. All appendages crossed for you.
Ah, Paul, it would be nice if he caught a clue.
And so glad the cat is feeling better
Ugh, I hate suspense and would be spending every waking moment until I have to go to work tomorrow with my headphones playing podcasts or audiobooks to distract my brain from dwelling on it.
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Oh my goodness, what a cure!
Ugh! I hope the mammography people call back First Thing (it is perhaps too much to hope that they also apologize profusely for making you wait).
I loved the bit about Paul not needing a cone (presumably).
Ooof. Sorry Swistle. I hope you hear back As Soon As Possible.
Also, sarcastic owl, lol.
Your sarcastic owl imagery made me LOL. This is why we adore you.
Hope the call comes quickly and is nothing whatsoever to worry about. I’ve had at least 2 mammo callbacks that were nothing, but the waiting is truly terrible.
Oh my goodness. I hope you get some reassurance this afternoon.
Ugh. The mammo callback sucks. I hope you’re able to get through quickly this morning.
FWIW, I’ve had to have extra views a couple of times and they turned up negative. It involves extra-large “banjo” paddles instead of the smaller, standard ones. Sometimes an ultrasound of the breast.
Anxious-making but often negative. Hugs.
I remember hearing in my graduate statistics class when we were talking about false negatives and false positives (Type I and Type II error), that it’s more likely for your mammogram to give you a false positive than to detect actual cancer. So even if they need more imaging, the odds are much higher that it’s nothing than that it’s something. (Maybe a good time to listen to that Barenaked Ladies song about probably being just fine!)
Ugh, I’m so sorry about the mammogram call.
We had a similar experience getting a call from my OB after the routine 20ish week ultrasound with our first child. The call we missed was on a Friday, so I had to wait until Monday morning to finally speak to someone. I was four months pregnant, and we were in the process of moving out of our apartment and into our first house, and because my husband was running back and forth between the two residences, I have memories of many long hours spent alone, crying and fretting while I sponged down counters and walls in the hopes of getting our cleaning deposit back.
Adding that I hope it turns out to be as benign an issue as the one our daughter had.
Are you quite certain Paul doesn’t need the Cone of Shame? Maybe it’s just me, but if my DH had behaved as badly as yours has in the last month or so, I would have presented him with pain meds and the cone and said “well yes, this IS what your dr prescribed for post surgery and you can’t have one without the other”
I wouldn’t worry too much about the mammo… I’m in my 60’s and have had numerous call backs. False positives are waaay more common than actual positives