Thursday, March 25, 2010

False Alarm

It's funny, in an ironic kind of way. 

After 2.5 days of anxiety over the thought of a cerebral angiogram, after getting it pre-approved by my insurance, after getting instructions from the hospital about the procedure, and getting registered with the hospital for the procedure (all in separate phone calls), I got a call from my neurosurgeon's assistant saying I needed to call the hospital and get rescheduled because the machine they needed to use wouldn't be available at 8 a.m. as I was scheduled. 

Turns out, what I'm having done on Friday is not a cerebral angiogram. Instead, I'm essentially having a CT version of the MRA I had earlier this month. 

Instead of having to be there two hours before my appointment, I'm supposed to arrive about 10 minutes before it. Instead of a procedure that takes an hour and requires me to lie flat for six to eight hours, it will take about 10 minutes and I can leave as soon as I'm done. 

Apparently, someone at the hospital had sharp eyes and called the neurosurgeon's office to verify that the very invasive cerebral angiogram was the procedure they really wanted me to have. 

No one would tell me whether the error was the neurosurgeon's (maybe checking the wrong box on a form?) or his assistant's. But I'm grateful to whoever it was who questioned the procedure for me!

I was so happy I was giddy with it. 

Mind you, depending on what the CT shows, there's a chance I'll end up needing that cerebral angiogram anyway. 

But not this week. And for now, that's good enough for me!

p.s. Thank you all so much for the warm wishes and good thoughts. I appreciate those more than y'all know.

1 comment:

queenofoptimism said...

Oh my goodness. I read your previous post earlier but couldn't get to my computer to reply and have been thinking of you and worrying about you all day. I suppose the CT scan is a relief in some ways but I am really holding you tight in my heart!!!