Finishing off the last of the barium shake, Nick decided that he had never felt so alone at that point. The staff and his doctor convinced him that it would be easier for him to stay overnight at the hospital so he could have all the tests that was needed. Shifting to one side and drawing the thin blanket up higher towards his chest, Nick shivered. He could have laid down in bed but he decided that hospital beds were for sick people and he wasn’t sick at all.
Nick had already gone through the chest x rays and the cat scan. It was uneventful. Now they wanted to do some type of scope he didn’t remember what they called it, but he had to drink all that awful barium and it about made him sick again. The nurse told him if he got sick he would have to start all over drinking it. Nick inwardly wanted to sue the people that made that ‘Banana Flavored Shake.’
“Banana flavored my ass,” he mumbled. Suddenly a young girl appeared in the doorway with a wheelchair.
“Hi, I’m Tess and I’m going to take you down to radiology, are you all set?”
Nick managed to paste a slight smile on his face as he nodded and tossed the blanket off his body. He assumed the already growing familiar position of sitting in a wheelchair. He was thankful that the girl didn’t try to start a conversation or ask any questions. The ride was short and sweet.
“Hi Nick, I’m Kris. Did they tell you what we were going to do today?”
‘We? Why the hell were hospitals so preoccupied with the word we? Were they going to be joining me in the inconvenience of this test?’ Nick scowled for a moment.
“Something wrong?”
“Na..no, I was just thinking that y’all like to say we alot. Will you be doing the test too?”
The woman suddenly laughed. “Yeah, we do or I mean I do I guess, it’s a bad habit of saying we. It’s required in the job description plus you have to take a course in college called WE101.”
Nick didn’t laugh along with her, he was too nervous about the test he was going to have done on him. He was already sick of testing and blood draws. He just wanted a clear cut diagnosis and his doctor already told him he couldn’t do that until he had all the test results laid out for him.
“Okay, I will need your help for this test Nick, I’m going to have you swallow some of this stuff in this glass and it’s going to numb your throat slightly and then we will slide this scope down your throat and it will take pictures for your doctor to see. You will have to help me out with swallowing the endoscope. I know you can do this and you have to believe me when I say you won’t choke. You will only feel a slight amount of discomfort and the test should only take about ten or fifteen minutes, tops.”
Nick could feel the panic rise in his body. To swallow a long tube definately freaked him out.
“They’ve already done xrays and a cat scan, is this really necessary? I mean, don’t you think the doctor already has enough information?”
“The doctor would only order tests he feels is necessary,” the woman replied.
“What is he looking for in this test?”
She walked over towards a table and picked up Nick’s chart. “Well, it says here to rule out ulcers or a tumor, but that’s just generic, they always have to put something down for insurance reasons. Are you having trouble with your stomach?”
“Not really,” Nick lied. “I just get sick occasionally.”
“Well then, it’s nothing to worry about, this test will be done before you even realize it started,” she encouraged.
“Can I refuse this test?”
“We can’t make you do anything you don’t want to, it’s up to you but I would think it would be in your best interest to just have the testing done.”
“I’m skipping this, I don’t want to do this,” Nick replied.
“Oh, I’m sorry you decided that. I just need you to sign off and I’ll call transportation and have them take you back to your room then,” she stated as she started flipping through the chart.
“Can you tell me what other tests they have me scheduled for?”
“You’d have to ask your nurse,” she replied crisply. “Sign here.”
Nick scrawled his name and handed the pen back to the woman. He was thinking how obsurd all of these tests were. The final diagnosis wouldn’t be cancer, it would probably be something stupid and simple like an ulcer and then be told to lay off the drinks and greasy food.
“No big deal.... I can live with that diagnosis,” Nick decided.
