Thank goodness for technology failures

Typically you trust your doctor to be correct in any diagnosis they may give and their computer systems to work properly.  Right?

Well, earlier this month I found out mine wasn't...and I could not be MORE grateful!

Back in April, I found out that during a routine test run by an LPN at my OBGYN office, they found an abnormality that would probably need a biopsy.

They quickly scheduled an appointment to do the procedure for the beginning of May.  However, we were surprised when a few days before that appointment, I found out I was pregnant.  I called my doctor to see what they wanted me to do, and they decided to cancel the procedure until I could get in for my first pregnancy visit and talk more about it.

My doctor assured me that the procedure was okay to do during pregnancy, but that just to be safe he preferred to wait until I was safely into the 2nd trimester.  He took another specimen just for his records, and rescheduled the procedure for July 11th.

As I went in for the procedure, I was a complete bundle of nerves.  Which is understandable since I was told that if they didn't remove the abnormality, I basically had a 75% chance of it becoming cancerous.  Plus there was a chance that it already was because the abnormality was the highest level you can get with this particular test.  Great.

When the doctor came in for the procedure, he said "When I ran that second test at your last OB appointment, it came back normal.  As odd as it seems, I think there may have been a mix up in that first specimen somehow.  I still want to take a closer look, but we won't need to do a biopsy."

After a closer look he said, "Yep, everything looks completely normal to me.  I don't know how this happened."  

It was then that I remembered the day I had that first test done - back in April - the power had gone out at my doctor's office and their computers were still down.  The nurses were writing all their labels by hand and doing the best they could.  When I told the doctor about this, he looked almost relieved.  He thanked me for remembering that detail and said that he is certain my test and someone else's were mixed up.

Good news: It wasn't my results that had an abnormality and I got a clean bill of health.

Bad news:  I had to worry for 3 months over nothing.  Someone else thinks they had a normal result and really don't.  And the doctor said he will have to call every patient from that day to come back for the test again.  

So, as much as we rely on technology and procedures to always be perfect and right.  I am SO glad for this little time when human error combined with technological failure worked out in my favor.