All my pouchoscopy come out normal I was reading ct scan results and saw that it said There is irregularity at anastomotic site with a blind ending portion of bowel on the right? what does this mean? It also states irregularity of the bowel at anastomtic site may be post surgical. I looked back at a scan from 2013 and it says also says post operative changes persist in the region of the rectal anastamosis. Is this basically the same thing.? is this normal? I have no symptoms and when i had pouchoscopy nothing was stated of irregularity except for what looked like a mass but was just inflammation.
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That sounds normal to me.
Is this just the way CT scans describe things?
Yup. The radiologist sees things that aren’t factory standard and describes them, and points out that they may just be what things look like after surgery.
In my business I read MRI and CT reports all the time and whenever evidence of a prior surgery is seen it is noted and commented on in exactly this fashion and it does sound like pretty standard language. If there was something abnormal- a finding that was not expected- your doctor would have called you.
It’s also industry standard that a doctor that orders a CT or MRI scan discusses the findings with the patient by phone or sets up an appointment to do so. I have read countless records or orthopedic surgeons and the pros always schedule a follow up after an MRI. So I am not really sure why you got left twisting in the wind on this. Most of my docs who order tests communicate with me by email on the results. Even blood labs - I get emails on both the test results and the doctor’s interpretation of them. This is 2019 and this is how real pros operate.
CTBarrister... you are right!
After going through different cancer 3x and I’m being treated at Johns Hopkins I have found that local hospitals need to learn about bedside manners and should treat patients as people... not just “the disease”. My Hopkins doctors treat me as a person that’s had a hard time. They have heart and mind ... they’re geniuses. Maybe I just got spoiled there.
Janie
CTBarrister posted:In my business I read MRI and CT reports all the time and whenever evidence of a prior surgery is seen it is noted and commented on in exactly this fashion and it does sound like pretty standard language. If there was something abnormal- a finding that was not expected- your doctor would have called you.
It’s also industry standard that a doctor that orders a CT or MRI scan discusses the findings with the patient by phone or sets up an appointment to do so. I have read countless records or orthopedic surgeons and the pros always schedule a follow up after an MRI. So I am not really sure why you got left twisting in the wind on this. Most of my docs who order tests communicate with me by email on the results. Even blood labs - I get emails on both the test results and the doctor’s interpretation of them. This is 2019 and this is how real pros operate.
I typically get all my results online before the doctor even sees them. Typically if I have a question on the results and I call, the doctors office will sometimes say the doctor hasn't even gotten to them yet.
Poucho,
As I mentioned I also get my test or scan results online via the Yale Health Network which sends me an email alert to log into my account. Sometimes I see the scans before my doctor does, sometimes not. Because of Thyroid Cancer my TSH and tumor markers are checked quarterly and for my Remicade treatment my liver chemistries are blood lab checked monthly because of methotrexate. My endocrinologist will usually shoot me a quick private message on the Yale Health Network offering his interpretations of the lab results which are usually pithy statements like “TSH and thyroglobulin levels both look excellent!”
My GI is older and usually calls. He also sends letters on biopsy results.
I remember when I had the cancerous thyroid removed the pathology report came to me online via an email alert to log in and noted that I was a stage 3 cancer, the measurements of the tumor and the locations of the metastasis into the lymph nodes which were removed. I asked the surgeon how he knew where the lymph nodes were into which the cancer metastasized and he said by the color. Cancer turns a lymph node bluish in color.
Bottom line on this thread is that diagnostic testing of any kind is easily accessible online and one can speak to his or her doctor about any language contained in the report that is unclear or mystifying.
Even doctors get confused. I had a lung x Ray recently which ultimately confirmed I had pneumonia and a second x Ray last week (2 months post pneumonia) that confirmed my lungs are now clear. There was a delay on the first X Ray report discussion because my PCP was confused by language the radiologist used to refer to the pneumonia indicator. It was pneumonia though.