Missing My Time at Wealthy Affiliate – Three Weeks Later: Why I Vanished

byRobbyofstone

554 followers

6 months ago

Missing My Time at Wealthy Affiliate – Three Weeks Later: Why I Vanished

It’s been just about three weeks since my last post here on WA. Not something I planned, but life threw a spanner in the works.

It all started with a call about some anomalies in my recent blood tests. That call kicked off a run of repeat and further tests, appointments, and a whole lot of waiting around while the system did its thing. What should have been a simple follow-up turned into a drawn-out medical detour.

I wasn’t happy with the way a surgery receptionist passed on this information, as I’m not a specialist in how to interpret blood tests. More on that in a moment. I was left a little bewildered, and the “what if” syndrome started.

I tried to get through to the doctor’s surgery, but that’s a big challenge these days in the UK’s NHS. Eventually, I managed to contact them through their “only usable when the surgery is open” online system. To be fair, I did get a call back later that same day from my doctor. He explained that there had possibly been an overreaction from another doctor in the practice, as the anomalies were very slight. He also apologised for the way I had been informed.

So I thought, fine. I’m back on track and there’s no major concern. It was quite a relief. But while I was waiting for the results of the second round of tests, along with some additional ones, I received a text from the NHS hospital telling me I needed to attend a CT scan. It was scheduled just a few days before my follow-up appointment for the test results.

Even for someone like me, who usually takes a logical view of most problems, this one really got to me. It happened over a holiday weekend, and there was no way to speak to anyone beforehand to find out what was going on.

I attended the appointment, passed the security checks, and asked questions like: What are we scanning? Who ordered this? No answers were given. Just the usual line of “wait for your doctor to inform you”. That raised my anxiety quite a bit.

For those who don’t know, I spent most of my life in the US and only returned to the UK in recent years. The NHS works very differently to the American system, and navigating it — especially when communication is unclear — hasn’t been easy. That said, once you get past all that, the actual treatment I’ve received has been spot on and refreshingly not based on how much they can bill your insurance. But this experience, with the lack of information and clarity, took up more time and headspace than I would have liked. It completely threw me off balance.

At this point I want to mention how using ChatGPT (Mr Chat) helped in a surprisingly positive way. I found my blood test results online, took screenshots, and asked Chat to explain them in simple English. I wasn’t prepared for the clear and thorough response I got. Every warning was explained gently, advice was given sensibly, and it even suggested what I could say to my doctor or ask for next. It never missed a thing, but always reminded me to check with my doctor before doing anything.

That happened a couple of days before my follow-up, and it brought real relief. I also had a solid list of questions ready. So I went in feeling much better prepared. Let’s just say I didn’t hold back. I’ll remember the look on the doctor’s face for a long time. A moment of disbelief, followed by a quick stall, and then straight into action. The keyboard started clicking rapidly.

Then he said something I wasn’t expecting. “Nobody from this surgery or our other practices ordered this scan.” That alone was a huge relief. He then asked me what part of my body they scanned. I said from the neck down to below the stomach. I also told him that the detailed report I’d been given by ChatGPT didn’t show any reason for a scan like that based on the tests we’d done.

That’s when the lightbulb went off.

“Have you recently been contacted by the new lung cancer screening department? You’re an ex-smoker and a certain age, right?”

Yes, I said. I’d had a letter and a follow-up phone call from them a while back, but nothing in recent weeks.

Turns out it was all just bad timing. The scan had been booked through the lung cancer screening programme and had nothing to do with the current round of tests and appointments. Just a coincidence. Unfortunately, it landed in the middle of an already stressful period.

The doctor’s final words were something like, “Well, if they don’t find anything at all, not just in your lungs but across the whole scanned area, that’s a good result.” Hard to argue with that. Just not the kind of journey I’d like to repeat.

So for now, I just wanted to say I haven’t disappeared. I’ve just been out of action briefly. I’m slowly catching up with comments, posts, and messages, and I really appreciate everyone’s patience.

Back in the saddle. One step at a time.

Take care All Rob

Ps. Now I have to work out all the changes here too, but it's a piece of cake compared with the last few weeks