They may be mere digits on the monitor but they tell a lot. They determine my life’s direction, whether I take the right fork or the left. One will be a journey longer than the other. Where one prolongs, the other hastens. Inexplicably, both will lead to the same conclusion at some point in time. There is no escaping.
I wonder how I will choose when the time comes. I am glad I do not have to make that choice yet, or so I thought. The 3 digits that mattered most were 294, 294 umol/L creatinine that is, from the blood sample taken in December 16, 2009 as compared to the previous serum creatinine count of 299 umol/L, according to the attending doctor this morning. The KUB (Kidneys-Ureter-Bladder) ultrasound done in February 11, 2010, as expected, showed little change from the previous report as was confirmed by the radiologist when I asked her, which is a good thing.
As I went through the entry on my renal profile and KUB posted on June 2, 2009, I discovered suspiciously similar results, 294 umol/L for the latest results as compared to 299 umol/L for the previous. Surely, there is a mistake somewhere. The blood test results before the sample taken in December 16, 2009 should show 294 umol/L and not 299 umol/L.
Thinking back, I guess I have an idea of what happened. The blood sample taken in December 16, 2009 must have been misplaced somewhere along the chain of process. It was not extracted at the laboratory as is the usual procedure but at the rehabilitation clinic. Therefore, what I thought was the result for the December 2009 sample was in actual fact from May 2009. There is no result from December 2009.
I assumed. I was mistaken. I guess the doctor who attended to me this morning did not know a test was ordered to be done in December 2009 by another doctor. Somebody messed up my blood test but I am not going to pursue this. Anyway, the doctor has ordered a renal function, liver function, lipid profile and blood glucose be done before my next appointment in August. Till then, there is no reprieve for me yet.