When my mother-in-law retold what the doctor had said, I can't help but think of professor Trelawney in Harry Potter and her life-at-danger predictions. The doctor was no different. Bile salts accumulation in Gal bladder, Biliary tract disease, stones in kidney... his guessing list was a lot longer this when she visited him with a complaint of ulcer pain. She was advised to take scans to diagnose the problem.
So it wasn't surprising when my MiL came back, visibly shaken by his frightening prophecies. After a day of silent prayers and mental agony, she reluctantly went to the testing centre, which was overfed with deadpan-looking people.
An hour or two later, she returned back and thank God, with a relieved smile. "The results are normal. I wonder why the doctor asked me to go for a scan?" Before I got time to ponder over her question, a call from my sister-in-law brought back the gloomy ambience at home. Apparently, another doctor had suggested to her to get her five-year-old daughter's digestive system scanned.
Prayers resumed, grim mood was set again and we all waited to know what was in store for her. Results were normal for her too. Thank God again! Mentally drained SiL was frustrated and cursed all the medicos she knew under sun.
Good to know their biological system function perfectly. But who is to take responsibility for their undue mental stress? Okay, the doctors can't assure the patients before knowing what went wrong. But isn't it only human to resist blurting out probable diseases?
For obvious reasons, scans are only to be taken at a centre suggested by them. Scan reports that are printed in any other letter head will not enjoy as much attention as the one that the docs suggest.
Being journo doesn't really help you at this point of time. In fact, they make matters worse and the frustration level shoots up to dangerous heights. These are tagged as sensitive issues and we need solid evidence before putting them on paper. So all I could do was to sigh (twice!). And yeah, vent it out in my hardly read blog :p