Monday and Tuesday came and left faster than an occupied NY cab.Anxiousness speeds the passage of time.Wednesday had almost come and gone.I still hadn’t received the call.I decided to call Dr. Jane early that evening.
“Hi Jonathan, I was just about to call you,” she answered.What a strange coincidence, I thought.“Were the pathology reports in?” I asked eagerly.“That’s why I was going to call you,” she continued “the pathologists at Los Alamitos were not able to determine the exact diagnosis.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, they weren’t able to reach a final agreement on the proper diagnosis.”
“What do you mean, 'they'?”
“There’s a team of pathologists who work together.They consult with each other and they couldn’t conclusively reach an agreement on what it is that is causing this mass.”I was confused.She continued, “So they’re sending the sample to Stanford for further evaluation.”Stanford?I wasn’t sure whether I should feel good or bad about this.One on hand…it’s Stanford, one of the most prestigious schools in the nation.On the other hand, it becomes worrisome that your sample needs to be analyzed by a higher institution.“Why Stanford?” I asked, wondering why they couldn’t have sent it up the street to UCLA.
“Stanford has the best liver pathologists in the state.They will be able to analyze this with the latest technology.We should have an answer by…”I didn’t catch the last part as my call waiting went off.I looked at my phone.I didn’t recognize the number.“So, wait,” I cut her off “when did you say they would have an answer?”
“We should have an answer by the end of the week.”
“The end of the week?Are they shipping the sample to them overnight?”
“That’s what they do.It was sent out this morning.They should have it already.”
“So I’ll hear from you by Friday?”
“As soon as the results come in, I’ll give you a call.”
After we hung up, I noticed I had a voice mail from the missed call.
I was concerned.It’s not that often you get a doctor asking you to call him back ASAP…twice.It’s similar to accidentally overhearing the captain of your transatlantic flight saying “Uh-Oh, what was that?” after a sudden jerk half way through the flight.I hit redial.The doctor wanted to see me before the end of the day.It was already five o’clock.“How soon can you get here?” he asked in a raspy voice.“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” I said, already out the door.