Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Normal

Hypothetical situtation (well, sort of)

You go to the doctor for reoccuring migraine headaches despite being on a daily preventative medication and even having the dosage increased. Your migraines have dramatically increased and have become more than a nuisance at this point. Your doctor is very caring and seems concerned; he/she looks into your eyes for a great deal of time while shining a 60 watt lightbulb deep into your head causing your eyes water down your face. Then you are sent downstairs for a blood draw to run some labs and make an appointment for an MRI to take place two days later.

Deep down you feel that there really isn't anything seriously wrong but it never hurts to follow through with some basic medical measures just to make sure.

You think you've had an MRI before but quickly realize that you actually had a CT scan and the two things are very different. You keep your eyes closed and try to deep breathe (but don't move!) while inside a tunnel with a cage around your head for 25 minutes. All goes well and the tech says you should have the results in a few days.

Two weeks go by and you haven't heard anything. You could call to get the results but surely you would have heard by now if there was something seriously wrong. No news is good news, right?

OK, so you finally receive your hypothetical letter telling you that everything is fine with your MRI. It might read something like this:

Dear Mrs. Jabberblogger,

The radiologist and myself have reviewed your MRI films taken on Dec. 34, 2039 and want to inform you that all results were normal. If you would like a second opinion please contact me and I will arrange it.
If you continue to have an increase in the occurance of your migraine headaches or feel your symptoms dramatically worsen please call me. I would like to follow up with you in a month to check the effectiveness of the medication change.

Sincerely,
Dr. Kitterzapper


Or, you might receive a letter like this instead (actual scanned letter, just changed the names):So much white space, almost like I might be missing something but my brain is normal so I know that is just plain, white space. Happy New Year to me!

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