still waiting for ds x-ray results and my anxiety is increasing

[kaylasmum]

Hi i posted on here last week about my ds having x-rays done because of a lump on his back and that i suffer terribly from anxiety. The x-ray was done last Wednesday at lunchtime and the consultant said that i would receive a letter if there was anything that showed up and that he tends not to send one if not, he also said that he would phone if there was anything important. I'm in such a high state of anxiety that i'm finding it so difficult just to function normally on a day to day basis, but i have to try to cover it up as i don't want to worry my other kids. Surely if anything really worrying had shown up on the x-rays i would have been notified by now. I feel sick with worry. My ds is also being referred for an ultrasound and the consultant could'nt say how long i would have to wait for an appt. just that its non-urgent. I know i should take reassurance from that but i just keep thinking what if he's made a mistake and it should be an urgent scan and what if the x-rays have gone missing. I know this makes me sound like a complete freak but my anxiety totally takes over my rational thinking. Its been a month now since i went to the gp about the lump and i worry so much that if its something awful then too much time is passing.

Please can someone give me some reassurance about the time that x-rays results take. I feel like i'm going mad.

I've no idea about timing, but why don't you ring the consultant's office & ask?

(Or you could try your GP, but if it has turned out to be nothing serious I think they will just be sent a non-urgent letter at non-urgent speed)

I am also always inclined to think the worst when it's one of the children so I do sympathise & you need to know - "he tends not to send one if not" is a really unhelpful attitude for anxious parents

hi, thanks for replying.

I was thinking about phoning the consultants office but to be honest i'm scared to do that. When we saw the consultant and he said that my son was to get an x-ray done i broke down and told him i'm extremely anxious and worried. He did'nt really seem to sympathetic but did say that he would call if it was serious. I asked him if he thought it was and he said that my ds would'nt be moving around so freely if it was and that if he suspected anything nasty then he would be doing things differently, not too sure what he meant by that. Like i said i'm just so scared that maybe he's missed something.

anyone else had to wait for x-ray results, and how long did they take

ring your gp and get them to badger the consultant. We were waiting for mri results for over a week and the excuse was that the secretary had not had time to type up the findings which when you are on your back in agony is a poor excuse.

I am sure there is nothing to worry about, but making a positive action might make you feel better about the waiting anyway.

x rays are seen by consultants quite quickly and in most cases if anything untoward had shown up you would know by now I should think but wednesday last week may be a bit quick for postal results to be sent out. call your GP rather than the consultant then and explain your worry, a good GP should call the hosp straight away and call you back with results if they haven't already got them by post themselves.
rarely will you get to speak to a consultant even if you did call, you would go through to their secretary who often understand and know their consultants are busy and strange people, and are often quite helpful (except one I know of at my local hosp who is a bit of a dragon!!)

Hi,

I have been thinking that surely if anything bad had shown up on the x-rays then i would have been contacted by now, or at least this is what i keep telling myself! i'll give it another day or so and then phone my gpto see if they have the results. I don't want to do it too soon as i'll just get myself all hyped up and they might not have the results anyway. I'm also waiting for an appointment to come through for his scan, all this waiting is hell.

Well still no word on my sons x-rays, i know i should phone the hospital or my GP but i'm scared to and think that no news is good news.
If anything was found they would have contacted me by now, woud'nt they?

I would have thought so, but phone your gp anyway and tell him your are on tenterhooks and can he chase it up, if by a slight chance there is something showing, getting back to the hosp as quick as will be the best thing so you cannot loose really. sorry if that sounds bad to you, I know how you feel but from an outside perspective now (and not my niece who is like a daughter to me like it was last year) chasing up stuff in todays NHS is what is needed sometimes.

good luck

hi, i don't want to phone my gp yet just incase the results are'nt back, the thought of waiting on the phone to hear them and being told that they don't have them yet is awful. The consultant did say specifically that he would phone if there was a problem. They could'nt just leave it if something serious showed up on the x-ray, they would have to let me know, surely. i'm going to give it to Friday and if i've not heard anything by then i will phone. Nobody mentioned to me at all that i'd need to phone for the results. The consultant did say that if nothing untoward shows up then he does'nt normally contact the patient. I just have to trust them.

kaylasmum - I'm a bit like you at times, especially when I am worried about dd. Dd was born with dislocated hips, and we have to go back to Alder Hey every year for a check up. I got myself into such a state just before her check up, that I ended up just ringing Alder Hey and having her seen the same day.

For me, the anticipation is much worse than dealing with whatever comes next, and I would be more inclined to try and find out. If it's good news, then brilliant, and if not, at least you know what you're dealing with.

Big kisses. xx

My dd has regular check-up x-rays and scans. The x-rays are all digital now and so can in theory can be seen by the consultant immediately on their computer screen although they then have to wait for the x-ray report.

I would assume all is well if you haven't been contacted, but do know how worrying it is. I am sure your GP won't mind you ringing. Why not say you were unsure whether you had to ring and find out the results?

hi, thanks for your replies.

rosealbie - just wondering how long you have to wait for reslts of your dd's x-rays and do you get told right away of the results of the ultrasound. I know i should phone but can't bring myself to. I really am sure that they would notify me if they had found anyhting worrying. I was told it would take a couple of days if there was anything, thats a week now.

anyway i'll keep you updated.

Imaging results go back to the person who requested it, so the only way your GP would know what's going on would be in the letter from the consultant lettign them know what happended at the consultation.

You could contact your GP surgery and ask if they could get a copy of the report faxed to them so someone at the surgery can let you know, I'm sure they will oblige.

Not all x-ray departments are digital so piles of films have to be moved around the reporting system and most still rely on sending reports out in the post so we advise our patients so contact their surgery in 7 to 10 days to check if results are back before booking an appointment.

My dd usually has a clinic appointment with her consultant on the same day as her x-ray so they can say there and then if the x-ray looks OK. Then we are notified by post once the consultant has had the report. This can take a couple of weeks.

The ultra-sound results usually take a couple of weeks.

vole3 - I was'nt told to contact my GP, the consultant said that he would send out a letter if there was anything that showed up but as i was so anxious then he would call. If there was anything glaringly wrong on the x-ray would'nt the radiographer fast track the x-rays to the consultant? I once had an x-ray done on my back due to bad backache, the results were never given to me until about 3 years later at a GP appointment i asked about them, i was told i had a bony abnormality at the bottom of my spine. Is it not just common practice not to notify the patient if there is no need?

Rosalbie - I really wish my sons x-rays were looked at there and then. I thought ultrasound results would be given straight away. Still waiting for an appointment to come through for one. My ds is absolutely fine in himself and the lump does'nt appear to be getting any bigger and the consultant did'nt seem unduly worried but i'm going out of my mind with worry.

the x rays are seen by the radiology consultant the same day normally and if anything wrong passed to the consultant that ordered the x rays as soon as.
the reason I suggested calling your gp was to save you going through to the hospital, but as it has been a week now, why not put yourself out of this misery and call either your GP and ask them to chase this up or call the hosp and get through to the consultatants secretary and ask if the results are in?

Ask your dh/dp (if you have one) or even your mum or dad to make the calls if you are too anxious. This sounds like it's making you ill.

Yep, we do operate a fast track policy, but it is very much dependent on whether or not a) the radiographer recognises something not being quite right which is pathological rather than normal variation b) there actually being a radiologist available to hot report the images (or as we call them the Lesser Spotted Radiologist).

Unfortunately doctors and their secreatries are human and some may be guilty of filing reports without actually reading them, so it is always advisable for the patient to make sure they know what the result was, if only for their own peace of mind.

ok, thats fair enough but this is a young child we're talking about and i was'nt advised to call for the results, just told that i'd be notified if there was anything worrying. I can't beleive that they could just let something important slip through the net. Both the consultant and the radiographer said that the results would take a couple of days. I would have thought that normal practice on any serious findings would be to call the patient so that treatment could start as soon as possible. Our local hospital is'nt particularly large so would'nt think there would be a huge backlog of x-rays. I understand that you are talking from experience but i suffer so badly from anxiety that its not that easy for me just to pick up the phone and wait for the results, or be told that they are not in yet. All i was really hoping for by posting on here was that maybe some other people had been waiting for x-ray results and how long they waited for them. I appreciate you taking the time to reply to me but i'm feeling more and more anxious. I just felt that as i'd not heard anything 9 days later then there can't be anything serious and have been starting to relax a little. If i'd been told to phone for the results then i would have done.

kaylasmum
I think we have all been saying that you should call as a way of allaying your fears, no critism or worry and pressure intended I am sure. many people say what should happen but thats an ideal world, in the busy understaffed (at the sharp end) NHS of today, ideal world is not always achieved. if no results have come by post by tomorrow, why not ask a friend or someone you know on here to call for you, just so you can have peace of mind over the weekend?

as am example, I was in a road accident 20 years ago, I was in hospital as you can imagine as I had a smashed knee and deep cuts to my arms and head. I was taken down for x rays for my head and knee. the radiographer was too busy to look straight away except to make sure the prints were clear. he said I should go back to A+E and he would send the results up within the hour. I sat there for 12 hours before my dad complained bitterly. they found my x rays on the radiographers desk with a note to say, ''to be checked ASAP'' but he was at home tucked up in bed no doubt as this was 3am in the morning!! I had to wait till 8am for a consultant to come in to check the x rays as the on call ones over night were too busy. I had my knee bandaged and told to come back in 5 days as my knee was too swollen to see anything

Kaylasmum, have faith in the medical profession. You will know soon, it will be OK. Keep yourself busy in the mean time, waitin is horrible I know.!

Don't know what you mean that because you suffer from anxiety you can't call them, sorry - I don't understand this. Very good advice from Misi, get someone to call on your behalf. x

wowooo, I have had some very anxious clients before and I wouldn't wish to have experience of anxiety myself, it can be quite debiltating to the sufferer and can be very overwhelming

My anxiety is stopping me from calling as i honestly think i would pass out with fear just waiting to hear what the receptionist has to say, and i'm scared that the results won't be there anyway so i'll have gone through all that for nothing. I know to anyone who does'nt suffer from anxiety that this will sound totally crazy, but i am sometimes paralysed with fear. My rational thoughts are gone and all i can think of are the worst case scenarios. I don't enjoy being like this and i wish so much that i could get some help to get over this. I know most people would have phoned for the results by now but obviously i'm not "normal"! I love my kids so much, i'm just so scared.

What if i phone up tomorrow and they don't have the results, that just means i'm back to square one.

have you got someone to be with you when you phone / phone for you...? make a plan that seems manageable and do it!

I'll try to phone tomorrow.

Thanks for your replies its appreciated.