’Spidey Senses’

Thankfully, I now have the 12th cycle of H&P treatment under my belt, but for a moment there, I thought this was going to be suspended. eeek!

I returned from my ski break to an appointment letter from the hospital for an echocardiogram. So, I usually have these every 4 months due to the potential effect of the treatment regime on my heart, and I was a tad surprised as my last one  had been only 4 weeks previous. Convinced this was a mistake, but with my ‘spidey senses’ placed on heightened alert, I contacted the hospital about this rather unexpected appointment. 

 I have been quite fed up with the tooing and froing from the hospital lately, so I was keen to avoid an unnecessary trip, and the echo department helpfully agreed to look into the matter. Whilst the department contacted my Oncology Team and dealt with the query swiftly, they were unable to offer an explanation as to why the appointment was necessary, just that it was requested after my last Oncology review on 9th February. 

Ok, I admit that my first ‘unsaid’ reaction was that telling me to do something that makes no sense was completely ridiculous and a waste of my time and NHS money, however the echo department were clearly not going to/able to tell me anymore and so they were spared my exasperation. I did however, continue with my search for an explanation, at the very least to avoid an unnecessary journey to the hospital, but essentially to quell some worry that was beginning to build.

Dr Knight-in-shining-armours secretary, duly told me that  there was no mistake and that I had been called for an earlier appointment due to the ‘ejection fraction’ levels being below what is acceptable to continue with treatment.  I remained confused and the fact that I had treatment since the echo, concerned me , however It was agreed that  would have the echo on 28th February and direct my questions to the oncologist on 2nd March.

I hadn’t experienced any symptoms that were out of the ordinary, though my mind seemed to be manifesting symptoms with every twinge I felt in my body and almost  ‘convincing’ myself that there was now something wrong with my heart function.   I was of course all over ‘google’ about the possible implications and had reached out to my peers in the Young Breast Cancer Network site for advice. 

I was just happy that I had an explanation for the appointment and glad that I didn’t have to wait long for the appointments. During the echo, the echocardiographer confirmed that my ejection fraction level was 71(good) and that my heart was ‘working beautifully’.  Both relieved and confused by this, I went to the oncology review armed with a list of questions. Most of these questions however became irrelevant, when I was told that it had all been a mistake and that the concerns had been about another patient!

It seems the oncologist had identified the error and had cancelled the echo referral, but that the IT system had already generated the appointment letter and suggested that the secretary had not looked at the records beyond the referral information.

Some of those I have told, speak of this as worthy of a formal complaint. They would of course be right, however in the spirit of ‘choosing my battles’ well, this is one I have decided does not require any more of my energy.  With my ‘exasperation’ decorously conveyed, I was pleased there was an apology and acknowledgement of the anxiety caused. I actually feel I escaped lightly compared to the other patient who does have heart problems and will have experienced delays with her echo.  

It was all a rather peculiar states of affairs…..that quite frankly I could have done without,  but I’m glad ‘my spidey senses’  averted a complete spiral of anxiety.