Jump to content

What to do when getting 2 completely different medical test results


okumasheffield

Recommended Posts

Updates from my last post of my relative's story.

 

He went to the 1st doctor and was told to get an ultrasound test done.

 

Not trusting too much about the system we have, 2 days later he went to the 2nd doctor and was

also told to get another ultrasound test done.

 

1 week later, the 1st doctor told him that he is perfectly fine based on the ultrasound report which stated

"No abnormalies were found".

 

1 week + 2 days later, the 2nd doctor told him that he needs to get a CT scan for further analysis based

on the 2nd ultrasound report which stated "Right kidney was found severely swollen". Even though he was puzzled, he asked the 2nd doctor that how long it would normally take for a kidney to get as swollen as his and the answer was "At least 2 months". After the CT scan, he also got a enteroscopy done to determine that he actually got a kidney infection & went on the treatment.

 

In other words, if he were never to get 2nd ultrasound done, his condition would have gotten worse to the point it might be too late!

 

My questions are:

1) Who/where can this be reported to for an answer/justice?

- want to get actual ultrasound images of each test to figure out whether there was a mistake by radiologist or mistake by technician who took images

 

2) Should he always get a 2nd opinion from now on?

- it might mean a waste of medical resources

Edited by Okuma-Sheffield
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No problems were found with the first test. Doesn't mean the abnormality wasn't there.

 

My urologist did a prostate biopsy on me and none of the 13 chunks showed signs of cancer. Dr. "Goldfinger" told me he didn't find cancer cells, but that doesn't mean I don't have them.

 

Be happy you found the problem and it's being treated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm still trying to figure out how, in our system, he found two doctors in as many days..

 

... Usound.. CT..... all depends on how it was done and from what angle etc. Same reason they have a 10% "error" allowance for measuring cancer tumours on growth and shrinkage.

 

.. and what TG said, be glad it was found and it's being treated and move on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

to be fair here, the mistake was not made by either doctor.

 

family doctors and specialists do not interpret Ultrasound/ CT results.

 

this is done by a radiologist, who then sends their interpretation in the form of a report to the physician issuing the request for the tests.

 

so, yes a radiologist potentially made a mistake.

 

but it was not either doctor's fault by the sounds of it. they are reporting what they were told.

Edited by 12 Volt Man
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recent Topics

    Popular Topics

    Upcoming Events

    No upcoming events found

×
×
  • Create New...