The good thing about electronics is that we won't waste so much paper

That's three inches of paperwork, plus the disk that has my latest CAT scan on it. Dartmouth-Hitchcock has (presumably) sent all of this on to Dana Farber, but they suggested that I take copies along. I hope that the doctor there gets them and has a chance to read them before we arrive, because it's taken me an hour and I'm only about half way through.

Reading my own medical records is the kind of fascinating/boring experience I haven't had since grad school, when I went through obscure articles in learned journals hoping to find that one bit of esoterica which would make my paper look meaningful.

I find that I am a pleasant 65- or 66-year-old female, alert and cooperative, apparently capable of understanding what the doctors say ("pt was advised of and understood risks of the procedure"). Everything is tracked and recorded: my blood pressure, blood counts, subjective pain, weight (ha! I caught them. One week it was suddenly 148), and of course, the frequency, doses, and reactions to the chemo. I am impressed. Dartmouth-Hitchcock does not lose track.

D-H also uses electronic record-keeping, so they made two copies of the whole thing on paper to get to Dana Farber. Plus of course the disk. I wonder, do I play that on the computer or the DVD player? I'd hate to use the wrong one and maybe erase the whole thing, but I would like to show off to Jerry what my insides really look like. I peeked during the CAT scan, so I can at least find the spine and the lump. That one's easy, because it has the needle sticking out of it.

I read on the pancreatic cancer forums about others dealing with this who also deal with incompetent, rude, and lazy hospitals and staff. I am thankful for the wonderful people at D-H, large amounts of paper and all.