Prostate Patient

This is a tale of two ultrasounds. It marked the beginning of my current health scare eventually resulting in major surgery for prostate cancer. At the time I didn't know if it was serious, but I was concerned, as was my doctor.

With my six year history of close monitoring (six monthly PSA blood tests and two biopsies in the previous six years) anything 'down there' was a concern.

Overnight, one of my testicles had swollen up and was tender, something that had never happened to me before. Could it have something to do with testicular cancer? I didn't know, but I was definitely worried.

So, it was in that state that I arrived at a radiology clinic for the hastily made appointment for an ultrasound. I'd never had an ultrasound before. I knew they were something that pregnant women had. Other than that I was totally ignorant (as I am about many health matters).

To the reception staff of course ultrasounds were nothing new. They were dealing with patients all day, and here I was, another patient to be processed. They didn't know about my apprehension and fears of where all this might lead.

Now that I've set the scene for you, let's go back in time to Wednesday, 7 December 2005.

She then finished what she was doing and said, " How can I help you?"

I handed her my form for an ultrasound and said, "Am I in the right place?"

"Yes", was her one-word answer.

I explained that I already had an appointment for that afternoon, but I also needed to schedule a separate appointment for the following week and had a form for this (my doctor had suggested I get my shoulder checked for a long term problem). She took the form for the first appointment and told me, "We will do this first". She proceeded to process me pleasantly yet anonymously.

Neither she nor her colleague were wearing nametags.

As I sat waiting, I noticed another lady serving at reception ask an elderly ethnic couple something as she took a piece of paper that they handed over. She was looking down at her screen as she took it, not up at then. There was no connection. They had trouble hearing and understanding her.

After a while the radiography assistant called my name, then turned away and walked ahead of me as I went towards her. She stopped at one of the small cubicles, and smiled without eye contact. She said, "Take off your clothes and put on the gown. Knock on the door when you're ready."

On going through to the room, I was left for a while lying on the bed. The stained ceiling looked depressing and there was a stark white globe.

The radiographer, Dr R, introduced himself. He had an excellent manner and communication skills. I'd never had an ultrasound before. I didn't know what to expect and therefore was rather apprehensive. He was reassuring and had a warmth about him. The others could have learnt a lot from this radiographer.

Once finished, the radiographer's assistant told me to use my gown to wipe off the gunk that had been applied to certain parts of my anatomy prior to the ultrasound and gave me a barcoded form to take back to reception.

I handed in the form and a different lady at reception said, "Hi, I'll just see what I can do for you." She then walked away with the form and returned soon after with a Medicare Form that she had printed out. She asked me to sign it, but I wasn't wearing my glasses and I had to ask, "Where?" She then showed me. I handed her the form and she said, "Thank you". That was it, no more. I picked up my bits and pieces and as I left she again said, "Thank you". She did not use my name even though she would have had it on the form and I couldn't set the ball rolling by using her name because she wasn't wearing a name tag.

Does all this matter? I'm sure each staff member was conscientious and hard working. Yet, only the radiographer treated me in a way that made me feel valued and at ease. The others processed me. It doesn't take much to really make a difference for other people.

Lets compare this with my visit the following Monday, this time for a shoulder ultrasound.

All three staff at reception were wearing nametags. Katherine said, "I'll be with you in a minute." She said this with eye contact and maintained eye contact appropriately throughout her time with me.

When it was my turn to go through, the radiographer's assistant called my name. As I walked towards her she made eye contact and said, "My name is Candis." She then walked with me to a cubicle. Not ahead of me, with me.

Dr T was as good as the previous radiologist. When the process was finished, some of the gunky stuff dripped down onto my trousers. Candis gave me paper towels to wipe my shoulder. She mentioned that it was water-based so not to be worried if it got on my clothes. She was wrong about that. I had to get my trousers drycleaned the

next day.

On my way back to reception with my barcoded form, I noticed another receptionist talking pleasantly but to her computer screen rather than the client. I felt like calling out, "You're doing well. Just look at your customer occasionally and make sure you are being heard and understood." The receptionist I dealt with was pleasant, with eye contact, but very quietly spoken. Elderly people may have had trouble hearing her.

Aside from this, the visit was an excellent experience, in total contrast to my experience the previous Friday. And yet it was the same establishment, just different staff.

I've gone into this in some detail, because I'm going to send it to the radiological clinic involved. Hopefully they will use it in a positive way as a learning experience, congratulating those who are doing it well and discussing with others how they can make the total experience a more positive one for their patients. If they do, then the time taken to write this will have been worthwhile.