Wednesday, December 02, 2009

CT scan

I had just about convinced myself that I had rampant secondaries and this morning had a crushing central chest pain. It seemed to be a heart attack, but I remembered having something similar caused by esophageal spasm. I took some Gaviscon and lansoprazole and felt better. It was probably down to anxiety because I had my CT scan today.

I spoke to the radiologist afterwards. He hadn't had a chance to measure anything, but just eyeballing it, there seems to have been no change since last times. No more worrying this side of Christmas.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Truth be told, we are all our worst enemies when it comes to worries.

Burke said...

Hang in there, Doc. I was worrying about you after reading this by political pundit, Dick Morris, who used to be Bill Clinton's political strategist:

"As the Congress prepared to vote to let us enter the world of waits for doctors, waits for specialists, waits for testing and waits for surgery, radiation and chemo -- we should pause to consider the relative records of the private medical care system in the United States with the socialized system in the U.K.

"In 2008, Britain had a cancer death rate 0.25% while the United States had a rate of only 0.18%. The UK cancer death rate was 38% higher than in the United States.

"The Guardian, the UK's left wing daily, estimated that 'up to 10,000 people' are dying each year of cancer 'because their condition is diagnosed too late, according to research by the government's director of cancer services.' While many people die because of late detection due to their own negligence, there is no reason to believe this self-neglect is more common in the UK than in the US.

"In Canada, the cancer death rate is 16% higher than in the United States."

Brian Koffman said...

Terry,
As those in the know as MDs, we are capable of imagining the worst possible. In fact that is often what we are paid to do: Figure out what the worst possible cause is fora sign or symptom, and then rule it out.
It just makes for a mess when we turn that same microscope on ourselves.
Glad all turned out well, but I would get a second opinion ( besides your own) on the chest pain.
Be well my friend
Brian

Terry Hamblin said...

But people in the UK have a longer life expectancy than in the USA. I suspect that the explanation for cancer figures being different is a lot more complicated. In my own case my cancer was diagnosed after it had metastasized but even so no primary could be found. It was found on an incidental screening test when I had no symptoms. Had I had a screening test before I did, nothing would have been discovered because it was the secondary that the screening test discovered. Had I not had the screening test I might have gone for months or more probably years before the cancer was dicovered. Then people would have blamed the system for not dicovering it earlier. Cancer is a lot more complicated than the simple figures would suggest.

Burke said...

If I remember correctly, Doc, the articles I've posted here in the past that were critical of your system had been from the Telegraph, and you didn't think too highly of the Telegraph-- saying that it is comparable to Fox news in the US. Here, however, Morris is quoting The Guardian, which, I understand, is quite leftist.

So, I find myself wondering what newspaper there you would approve of.

(BTW, I was worrying so much that I had MCL at one time, a couple of doctors told me to "stay off the computer." You can see how much attention I paid to them.)

Terry Hamblin said...

I don't trust newspapers, but there was a good article in yesterday's Independent by Nigel Hawkes http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/the-mysterious-dr-foster-1831647.html

about the difficulties in comparing health services.

Burke said...

This is off topic, Doc, but you have written about global warming before.

How much confidence do you have that the investigation discussed in this article re the ClimateGate scandal will be objective?

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9CBVM701&show_article=1

Terry Hamblin said...

Zero.

Anonymous said...

Hi Terry...Understandable concerns on your part I think. I really don't know how you're meant to "switch off" everything you know, go through treatment, stay confident, and then remain confident in the face of further symptoms, and of course not self diagnose! That is one big ask! In any case, just great to hear the CT is looking in good shape. So pleased. All the best. Karen

Burke said...

Doc,

It seems to me that the most effective non-scientist opponent of GW in the world is a Brit, Lord Monckton. Al Gore refuses to debate him, and the Democrats in Congress refused to allow him to testify there.

I think he is brilliant, and I find myself wondering what you think of him and his ideas.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/01/lord-moncktons-summary-of-climategate-and-its-issues/

You may be interested in the complete report linked at the bottom of his article.

Terry Hamblin said...

Yes I know Christopher Monkton's work. He is hated by the Cooling Deniers.