At long last this afternoon, Steve had a visit with a pulmonologist. The referral took a while to receive, and then the appointment was slow in coming, but he finally got in.
Last night we completed 16 pages of new patient forms, answering questions about symptoms, medical conditions, medications, etc. On the first page of all the forms, we noted that Steve has a Grade IV glioblastoma in the pons, diagnosed in January 2008.
After the nurse checked for vitals and took some spirometry readings, we waited for Dr. L. He came in with Steve's already thick chart, filled with notes from his neuro-oncologist and the 16 pages of paperwork.
On that first page, we listed the reason for the visit: shortness of breath, wheezing, crackling, low blood oxygen levels, all beginning in February.
And then Dr. L asked, "Hmm. What was going on in February?"
We politely pointed to the brain cancer notes a few lines later on the page and silently wondered why some doctors don't read notes or charts before they walk in the exam room. (No offense to our medical friends who read the blog, who we are certain read charts in advance.)
We left the appointment with no answers but lots of possibilities. Steve will have three tests in the next couple of weeks: a stress test, a chest CT scan (last done during an ER visit in February) and pulmonary function test. And then he may have a barium swallow study and/or a sleep study to look for sleep apnea.
We learned that Steve has thrush in his throat again -- a really awful case of it. He'll try a new prescription this week. He'll also stop taking the steroid inhalers he's been on for a couple of months -- they can contribute to thrush and may not be necessary because of the Decadron he's also taking.
After the appointment, we picked up Cooper and Katie (being very well cared for at the DeGraffenreid-Fink home) and headed for the movies. Three of us watched Wall-E and one of us napped. Poor Katie is running a huge sleep deficit. Her new big-girl bed comes with new-found freedom, which she has been exercising late at night and early in the morning. She's also been wearing herself out at vacation Bible school every morning this week and missed her afternoon nap today. So she curled up on a theater seat, wrapped herself in her special blanket and dozed during the last half of the movie.
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1 comment:
I often wonder why some doctors don't do their research before an appointment. It's so frustrating for the patient and immediately sets a tone as if the doctor doesn't care.
Our little ones enjoyed Wall-E. I know how Katie must feel. Ryan was the same the first two weeks with his new bed. He thought it was great that he could finally get out of bed and pick on his brother. Thankfully, he's settled down!
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