Wednesday, February 13, 2013

'Did My Poop Sample Arrive Yet?'

(Thank you, all nurses and doctors at the Davies Hospital ER, for taking care of me again with albuterol and sympathy.)

One of the benefits with the San Francisco Department of Public Health's digitizing of my medical records is automatic alerts are sent to my doctor about screenings I should receive based on demographic info.

Last month, during a regular medical visit to get my latest blood lab results and go over other health matters, my doctor said it was time for me to undergo a screening for colon cancer. He gave me a kit containing a small tube for a stool sample, instructions on collecting the specimen at home and a pre-paid box imprinted with the address for the microbiology lab at General Hospital.

On Monday, my doctor called to discuss my two recent visits to the emergency room at Davies Hospital. He receives notifications from the ER after they've examined me and results from any tests performed along with notes from the ER doctor. It's about time such info is easily shared between healthcare facilities.

After we went over how successful the albuterol inhalation treatment went for my latest bout of pulmonary troubles and discussing the chest X-rays, I asked my doctor if my poop sample had arrived yet. It had.

Thank goodness the colon cancer screening results came back totally negative.We both cheered this good news. I said even though my initial screening was supposed to be when hitting fifty (four years ago), I'm glad DPH's new electronic program was the catalyst to getting the colon test now.

More info on colon cancer and who should be screened available here.

1 comment:

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