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CRAB FOOD: Eaten From Within [1]

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Date: 2023-02-01  

It made its first appearance about three years ago when my inflamed gallbladder required immediate surgery; the condition diagnosed in Honduras when hospitalized with Dengue. After being discharged I bought a plane ticket and flew to the Seattle VA Hospital where, admitted the night I arrived, by noon surgery to remove the gallstones ended the immediate danger, the gallbladder removed a month afterward.

A small, black growth had been detected on my liver MRI. A biopsy classified it as benign and the surgeon recommended I have an MRI done every 6 months.

I travel a lot within Central America and the United States of Northamerica and a year later I arranged to be in Seattle for a month. My annual VA Hospital physical exam due, I included the recommended MRI on my itinerary.

I had been trying to schedule an MRI appointment for weeks before my plane landed and also during the month of March 2022 while attending to other business. No one at the MRI Clinic would return my telephone calls. I completed my personal and family interactions including other MD appointments before having to return to Honduras: No MRI.

A couple of months later, the VA Hospital radiology clinic emailed me and informed me that it was important for me to have an MRI done ASAP in as much as more than a year had elapsed since the last one.

I subsequently purchased a ticket to Seattle specifically for the completion of that preventive health care maintenance procedure. I arranged for a 2-week stay in Seattle during September of 2022.

Every day I called the MRI Clinic to schedule an Appointment. Every day there was no call back response.

Finally, three or four days before my flight lifted off for Honduras, I left a message on the VA Secure Messaging Line for my primary care provider. I explained the situation and my multiple unsuccessful attempts trying to schedule an MRI appointment. Doctor K answered the same day. She had intervened and told me the only MRI appointment available was in the PM on October 6th. My plane flies out on the 6th, I told her. That is all there is available, she replied.

Mierda. I called United Air and extended my stay until the next day, the 7th. It cost me $500 for that extra day: double mierda.

I completed the MRI on a Friday night. Flew home on Saturday. The doc called me Monday. You have to return to clinic. I just returned home yesterday, I replied. I’m sorry, she said, but the MRI revealed an abnormality. The radiologist identified a growth on the liver.

This episode in my life will be continued in a second DK posting soon. I am currently undergoing chemotherapy. It’s rough.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/1/2150581/-CRAB-FOOD-Eaten-From-Within

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