The Post about Poo -- and I don't mean David

So many people are asking Johnny what made him go to the doctor in the first place. I thought I would fill in the blanks for everyone here and hopefully it will encourage ANYONE having a medical issue to make that appointment and see the doctor.

***** ALERT: There are multiple references to Johnny's poo in the following post. If poo-talk bothers you in any way, I probably wouldn't keep reading.

We can't remember exactly when it was, but probably six to eight weeks ago Johnny told me that he had some blood after poo-ing. Being the medical person that I am I asked, "Is it bright red blood?" To which he replied, "Yeah, it is pretty red." In my infinite wisdom I told him, "Its hemorhoids, don't push so hard when you poop." Done. End of my diagnostic expertise. Cancel my Wife of the Year nomination.

So, a couple weeks go by and he mentions nothing. We go on vacation to the U.P. -- or as we like to call it, God's Country. When we got home, he mentions it again only this time it was darker blood. Shoot, I have nothing in my diagnostic repertoire relating to dark red blood. Hmm.

For Johnny the Great Hunter to explain it, he said that it reminded him of a "gut shot" deer. The blood is a maroon red, not bright arterial blood, but darker. And not just on the T.P., also in the bowl. That bugged me just a little, but I was seriously not that concerned yet.

He asked me to make a doctor's appointment on Monday after vacation. Since I was no longer up for Wife of the Year, I forgot. Evidently on Wednesday he noticed more blood and called me at work. "Did you call the doctor for me yet."
Me: "No, sorry I forgot."
Johnny: "Well, will you."

Ok, so now I'm just mildly concerned because seriously, what man wants their wife to make them a doctor's appointment.

I called Dr. Al-Fadhl's office to make an appointment at 11 o'clock on Wednesday, July 1st. Johnny had never seen Dr. Al-Fadhl, he was just changing doctor's and planning on getting him in for a complete physical. I expected the first visit to "establish care" to take a couple weeks to get scheduled. This is where I credit Dr. Al-Fadhl's office with catching this as early as we did: The girl scheduling his appointment asked, "Is he currently having any problems that he needs to be seen for?" To which I replied, "Well, he has noticed blood in his stool several times and wants to be seen for that." She put me on hold for a minute and came back to the phone and said, "Can he be here at 3 o'clock?" Whoa. "Um, yeah, I think so. I'll call him to find out. He will be there unless I call you back."

I called Johnny at work. "Can you be there at 3?"
Johnny: "Wow, that was fast."

So, Johnny keeps his appointment and had a thorough exam (and I do mean thorough!) from Dr. Al-Fadhl -- on their first date, or appointment rather.

They talked about family history and previous health issues. Ginger's mom (Grandma Freund) had colon cancer so it was in our minds. Johnny has never had any health issues AT ALL, but the doctor thought he should go ahead with a colonoscopy. Always good for a baseline anyway, so it certainly wouldn't hurt.

On Friday after the colonoscopy and CT, Dr. Al-Fadhl himself called to speak with Johnny. He had been receiving the reports and wanted to see how Johnny was doing. This is a doctor that has only seen Johnny one time in his whole life, and already he is calling to follow up. He actually told Johnny that if he needed to talk, he could see him in the office or they could meet for coffee somewhere to talk. Wow. Now that is a doctor, if you ask me.

You know from the previous posts where the story goes from here. And tomorrow is the PET scan at 0930. For some reason, I am really nervous about it. Probably because I expected nothing more to come from the CT and WHAMMO! I won't make that mistake again, I think I will always dread tests from this point forward.

So, here comes the public service announcement ---

• If it is time for you to see the doctor then GO.
• If you haven't had a physical for umpteen years then GO.

Don't make me get the Rear Admiral on you!