Why the internet is sometimes a bad thing

[lnr]

As some of you may recall I took part in a clinical study at Addenbrookes in December, where amongst other things they took some blood samples. I was told I wouldn't find out the results of those unless there was anything to worry about.

Last Thursday I received a letter dated and franked the 17th March, which said that while my blood was mostly normal (and blood sugar in particular was fine) they were a little concerned about my blood calcium levels. Normal levels are apparently 2.1 to 2.5 and my reading was 2.55. They wanted me to get my GP to do another test, and if that showed worrying levels they'd talk to me about it.

So on Friday I got a local taxi firm to take me down to the health centre in Shelford and back (3 quid each way) and registered with the practice and waited until a doctor could see me to explain the situation and take the required blood. Which he did very competently, and also advised me that the 4-6 weeks til I should cycle again was probably wise, given the repetitive nature of movement when cycling and the fact it's a pretty serious injury really.

Anyway today the GPs gave me a call and they've asked me to go back tomorrow morning and give them some more blood samples, including a fasting one, which means nothing to eat and drink apart from water after midnight tonight. No prob.

The trouble is of course I looked up hypercalcaemia on the internet, and found that one of the main causes is cancer, and now I'm much more worried than I might otherwise have been. Drat. I could really do without this right now!

PS Thanks all for nice thoughts. I really am only a little worried about it, and writing about these things often helps. And I am at least mildly amused by how easy the internet makes it to be a hypochondriac :)