Hello, and apologies in advance for what will be a repeat subject to current members. I visited my GP in February with unilateral head and neck symptoms. Upon examination and after a brief look up my nose and a check of the back of my throat he said I will send you for a CT scan, no blood tests just a quick referal. After a ten day wait ..nothing. I rang surgery who said gp on holiday but the radiology dept had returned his request saying MRI may be more suitable. When he returned I saw him and he referred me again under 14 day rule I presume. To cut a long story shortdespite having previous MRI I couldnt do it as the whole experience on the day was very negative. I have recently as a result had a CT scan as originally planned and am waiting on results. Now the boring bit for the more enlightened, how long do you wait. I know the standard script says 10/14 days , and as I had in effect two scans to interpret, is the two week wait a given or do you ever get results earlier. Apologies again for covering what must be a common subject and thanks for reading my whole question
Regards and best wishes to all Stuart aka Oldsid.
Hi Stuart and a very warm welcome to the online community
There's no need to apologise for asking a question that's possibly been asked before. However, as I have no experience with either MRI or CT scans could I point you in the direction of the head and neck cancer group who should be able to answer your questions. I'm not suggesting you join that group because I think you have cancer but because you have symptoms around that area.
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All the best with your results
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Don't worry Steve. We all know what an anxious time waiting for results is and how it affects us. A scrambled brain is perfectly normal!
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi , 10 - 14 days can be the normal for a Consultant Radiologist to check over the scans, make up a report and send out the results.
If anything was very obvious and needed quick treatment a quicker report can be done to shorten the wait.
Hi again Stuart, I also (for my sins) have asbestosis and my Chest Consultant is a very good friend so on our yearly clinic we get the medical stuff all done and then chat.
He actually showed me how referrals come onto his system and how results (CTs etc) come back into the system.
Each CT request is given a Red, Amber or Green classification so once your Consultant puts the request into the system the Radiology department will act on the level of request, so say a Green request can take a good number of weeks for the appointment to be arranged and the CT done. CTs when you are hospital can be done very quickly but a Outpatient Red Flag can take a week or so.
The results are then reviewed by the Consultant Radiologist and report completed and put into the system. This actually can be done on the day, but normally a few days. The requesting Consultant will see all his/her reports come up on the central system.
Again they will show up on the report system with all the Red flags at the top. So logically the consultant will work through the top priority reports and move through the list but if more Red flags appear it will take time for the consultant to go through the work load.
And to add to the time some reports have to wait for a weekly MDT meeting (Multi Disciplinary Team) to review the correct treatments.......... then letters...... then appointments......
This is a long description but it's how it works.
Stuart, a wonderful day up North so just back home and sorry for not getting back to you sooner.
This is how it’s done in Inverness anyways. I did ask my friend, when a CT/PET comes back on a Red flag what does he actually do?
He said that each team and even Consultant will do their own thing. He tends to contact a Red flag CR/PET by phone more or less immediately and have a clinic date for them (within the week or even quicker if required) Hence whey lots of clinics never run on time.
He gives some basic details and tells them if the case needs to go to MDT. the Amber and Green flags tend to work through the 10 - 14 day time frame but for those the clinic appointment depending on the results could then be days or weeks after the letter.
Over my 20 years with my Lymphoma I very quickly came to understand that I could not control this part so put my energy into living life and controlling the battle between the ears.
