It Helps to be Specific

Years ago, while pregnant with my boys, I took a gestational diabetes test. Drinking god awful liquid while not eating and still extremely pregnant.

Good times.

At my next doctor's appointment, I sat in her office while she looked through her paperwork and said everything looked good. I decided to ask specifically, "Did the test come back positive for diabetes?"

She looked through the file again, made a face, and said, "The results aren't here. I'll have to make a phone call."

Dr. Dawn made the call and the results were in fact positive. The next week while I was in again to get the needed nutritional advice ("Just say no to fruit juice.") and lessons on how to test my own blood sugar, I ran into my nurse who asked about my gas pains and determined, after getting me up on an exam table, that I was in labor. Apparently I'd been in labor for a few days, but hadn't realized it.

I know. Sounds like me.

What does this mean? That if I'd never asked about my diabetes test, I'd have never gone in there for the nutritional advice, and would not have known I was in premature labor until...

You fill in the blanks.

So today I get a call from my gynecologist (catching up on all my appointments since I'm back home in Tampa) and she said, "You've got chlamydia."

Kidding.

She said, "Your blood work looks great!" I decided to ask specifically, "How does my platelet count look?" (Those of you who are new here can catch up on my medical history with ITP if you're bored and looking for something to do.)

The nurse said, "Oh yeah, your platelet count. That's right. Ummm. Oh. It says here that your platelet count couldn't be determined due to clumping. But it also says that the platelet count appeared low on the slide. So I'll have to get the doc to call you about this."

Great. So I made an appointment with my old Hot Hematologist for Monday and this gives me something to think about while I'm trying to enjoy the waves, ocean, and cocktails for the next few days.

What does this mean? That if I'd never asked about my platelet test, I'd have never realized it was inconclusive, and would not have known to call the hematologist until...

You fill in the blanks.