New Labs

I went to the WFBH Hemo/Onco Lab today for some blood work ordered by Dr. Ellis in August. Getting there was somewhat of an adventure because some cops had the short section of Cloverdale Rd. between the off-ramp from US 421 and the Cancer Center parking deck entrance blocked off. So, I continued across the intersection onto Medical Center Blvd. and turned into the main parking deck for the hospital wings. Immediately I saw confusion and a long hike in my future if I parked in this deck. After going up to the third level I turned around and went back out. The parking attendant who looked at the time on my ticket must have thought I was nuts since no more than a couple of minutes had elapsed since I entered. The best part is that the first 15 minutes are free! After leaving that deck I turned back onto Medical Center Blvd. and noticed that all the police cars on Cloverdale were gone. What a difference two minutes can make! I then went into the Cancer Center parking deck, proceeded to the purple level and walked over to the Hemo/Onco lab on the third floor.

When I checked in my number was L100. I thought surely there weren't 99 people ahead of me, especially since the lab waiting area I was in was empty except for yours truly. There's a larger lab waiting area for people who have labs and consults with their physician. Since it was only 7:30 I thought I would be taken back right away - didn't happen. I saw the wonderful lab techs walking around in the lab getting their acts together for the coming rush of patients wanting to know what's going on with their blood. Lazy lymphocytes, poor platelets, nutty neutrophils or randy red blood cells, this is the place to come and get  your diagnosis, prognosis and progress report.

At 7:45 I was finally called back to the vampire station and asked my name and birth-date which I gladly gave.

"Hmmmm, we don't seem to have anything scheduled for you today Mr. Turner. What's your address?"

I gave the lab tech my address and she consulted her computer again. A few minutes later she came back and said I had two MRNs (medical record numbers) in the system with two different addresses. One of them was from my old Kernersville house. I told the lab tech that I haven't lived there in almost 10 years and she informed me that the two records would need to be merged. I concurred with that assessment and offered up my arm for the three-vial blood draw, a paltry amount compared to the 10 vials they take when the LGLL Registry gets their share. Within 2 minutes I had my bandage, purple heart and was back on my way to work. The updated lymphocyte count is shown in the panel to the right, up from last time at UVa but down slightly from my last visit here. Odd.

Someone from Dr. Ellis' office called me later the same day and left a voice message stating that although my lymphocytes were elevated my hemoglobin, platelets and neutrophils were still in or near the normal range so watch and wait continues.