My CT scan report gave me a good chuckle today.

[SpaceflightAddict]

My doc sent me for a CT scan, since I have not been feeling great, and some weird things came out of my nose recently. My insurance company decided that they would not pay for the place I had been getting my CT scans done at anymore, and sent me to another facility across town to get them done. I made sure the new place had received all of my previous scans and my medical history before I went in for the scan... but I get the feeling they did not look at them before doing the report.

When reading this report, please keep in mind that I have never, ever, ever had any surgery on my sinuses...



I got a pretty good laugh out of it, but I am sure my doctor will not be as entertained as I am.

[windchime]

The sad state of American medicine. I'm guessing that someone else got your report. It is funny is a sick, twisted sort of way.

[SpaceflightAddict]

The sad state of American medicine. I'm guessing that someone else got your report. It is funny is a sick, twisted sort of way.

I am pretty sure that I got the right report, what I think happened is that whomever was "reading" the CT scan has never seen a Wegener's patient, and assumed that the only way for all those bits of my sinuses to be missing was extensive surgery.

Don't get me started about the state of American medicine... my insurance provider dropped Johns Hopkins from my list of approved providers at the start of this year, and I had to fight with them for two months to keep them paying for my appointments there. I could rant for hours about the whole situation.

[me2]

I had sinus surgery a few months ago for the first time and just before getting wheeled in one of the docs was talking to me - you know the little talk to comfort you with their competence and omnipotence.
He then mentions my previous sinus surgery....
Uh, doc, I've never had sinus surgery- I would have remembered it.

He looks rather puzzled and says that he just assumed I had because of how my CT looked.

I didn't freak out. The place I go is a teaching hospital and he was not my ENT or my surgeon just someone helping out on my case- and learning.

So, it was a bit funny.

Oh, and my sinus surgery was a ROARING success. I had been suffering from infections that even antibiotics were not clearing up. The surgeon did an amazing job of rearranging things so that my sinus's feel better than they have for many years. I also had a dacryosystorhinoctomy (called a DCR) at the same time. The drainage for my left eye was scarred shut (common in WG) and I had infections in my eye that would not go away. That too is a roaring success. My eye drains normally now and feels better than it has for years.

Many years ago I had a DCR on my right eye. At that time it was a fairly major surgery that involved cutting into my face and drilling a one inch hole through the bone. The current method of DCR is minor in comparison and this is FANTASTIC news for WG patients as we are common customers for this procedure.

It will be interesting to see what your doc wants to do with the condition of your sinus's. Mine have been bad for many years but I was not a candidate for surgery because I had active disease.
I was told that because of the active disease I would not heal properly and likely end up in worse shape than I already was. I'm thankful for that advice and the fact that I have been doing good enough to finally get my sinus's fixed.

[mishb]

I am pretty sure that I got the right report, what I think happened is that whomever was "reading" the CT scan has never seen a Wegener's patient, and assumed that the only way for all those bits of my sinuses to be missing was extensive surgery.

Don't get me started about the state of American medicine... my insurance provider dropped Johns Hopkins from my list of approved providers at the start of this year, and I had to fight with them for two months to keep them paying for my appointments there. I could rant for hours about the whole situation.

Yes, I assumed that it was your report - and hey, you don't seem to have much sinus left from all accounts

I'm thinking that you may have been abducted by aliens and they performed sinus surgery on you without your knowledge - it's the only possible explanation

[Debbie C]

I think its pretty scary that they can be so wrong..makes you wnat to go to the drs.

me2- That first surgery sounds horrible,I'm glad surgery techniques have improved and you are feeling better.

[Alysia]

I don't understand much from that report, but isn't it similar to what is going with you, Anne ?

[annekat]

I don't understand much from that report, but isn't it similar to what is going with you, Anne ?

I don't know how similar it is, some, I'm sure.... but it is true than my scan technician also misinterpreted the info. My ENT had another scan done from a different viewpoint, there at his office, and interpreted the scan himself, which showed a different result. I'll go into more detail when I get the results of next Tuesday's MRI, which is being done mainly to analyze the areas around my eyes, to see if sinus bone erosion is causing my double vision. I'm hoping to get some answers on the dizziness and vertigo, too, and get a clearer picture of what I've been told about the sinuses and ears so far. They'll be checking for things like strokes and other brain stuff, as well, though the eye doc doesn't think the brain is causing the problems. I haven't said a lot about all this lately because it still confuses me and I hope to be able to clarify later.

[annekat]

Alysia, I think you are right about the part about the wide open sinuses, probably meaning that in Andy's case as well as mine there is a lot of erosion of the sinus bones, especially the thin ones that border with the nasal cavity. It will be interesting to see how much clearer the MRI is and if there is as much room for misinterpretation by the technicians reading it. I'm hoping the ordering eye doc has put a notation on my chart saying that I have WG, so they can take that into consideration, if they know what it is.

[sbeach78]

Anne, just to let you know I also have double vision, after scanning my eyes there was fluid building behind my eyes, due to the small veins that usually act as a sump pump, no longer working. They belive it's the pred. I am not sure so I too would like to hear the results you get also. I have sinus involvement too.

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