Pre-op tests

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I am going for a biopsy under GA next week. It's such a relief, I've been waiting 6 weeks. However, I have a trivial question! At the pre-op tests she asked me to put my nails of my index fingers together to make an 'M' shape and then looked closely. I should have asked, but struggled to understand what she wanted me to do so felt a bit dim already! Why? What's she looking for? What will it tell her...?

court over 2 years ago

Hi LesB

That is a new one for me ! I wonder if they were looking for signs of anemia , but honestly think blood tests might be more reliable!
I think they used to look for moon shapes !
However could be something else altogether!
Hopefully others will know !

Take care ,

Court

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NannyAnny over 2 years ago in reply to court

I think you could be right, Court. When I was little, 60 odd years ago, I can remember doctors looking at your finger nails. Another way they found anemia was by looking under your bottom eyelid. My husbands anemia was picked up with a blood test and other tests followed which showed he had early bowel cancer. We were completely oblivious!

LesB over 2 years ago in reply to NannyAnny

Thanks for guesses. But she didn't look at my nails at all, she was looking at how my fingers went together. It's not important, I'm just curious. Next time I'll ask!

LesB

LesB over 2 years ago in reply to LesB

Oh, some persistent Googling later , it looks like they are checking for clubbing, where if there is no gap between the fingers it could be a sign of lung cancer or heart disease.

LesB