Health Post 2 - San Antonio Miracle Worker

We planned on visiting our eldest son Nathan; Judy, his wife; and our grandsons, Adam and Jack, on May 27, before Nathan's deployment to Iraq, June 19. So, at the last minute really, I called our family physician, Dr. Naguib, and made an appointment to see him on Tuesday, May 25. Thought I might as well see if there was something he could do to relieve the pain, etc. - maybe an Xray, who knows.

Dr. Naguib, a lovely man, was very concerned and thought, from the symptoms, that I might have a gall bladder problem. So he ordered an ultrasound and asked me to go to the hospital and have it done that evening (the soonest appointment). The ultrasound showed nothing wrong with the gall bladder but did show something disturbing in the lung. So he asked me to stick around (you talk via phones in the waiting area) and have a CAT scan done.

After the test, we spoke again by phone and he told me there was a small mass and fluid in the lining of my right lung. He also said he would try to get me an appointment asap with a pulmonary specialist and that I should make an appointment with my oncologist. He strongly suggested that we postpone our trip as well.

I think not seeing Nathan, or interfering with the plans he and his family had already made for his time before deployment, was more upsetting to me than anything.

Enter my daughter in law, Dr. Judy, who is a hospitalist at Methodist Stone Oak Hospital. Before I had time to cancel our travel arrangements, she had scheduled an appointment with me with a pulmonary critical care specialist, an ultrasound to remove and test the fluid in my lung, and a guided CAT scan biopsy on the mass for Friday morning. Eventually, she also set up an appointment with a hem onc physician for the following Tuesday and and MRI (brain scan) for the following Wednesday.

John checked and we were on the same network from a provider perspective, so we were able to hop on that plane to Texas as planned. As Judy and Nate said, these appointments and tests were set up faster than they probably would have been here in Cleveland (especially because of the holiday weekend) largely because Judy is so well-respected by her peers.

I was treated like a queen. I even had the head of Radiology transporting me for my ultrasound and CAT scans! Wonderful hospital.