prison

I never thought I'd be sitting here at home in the evening, practicing square knot technique, and worrying about a prisoner. But I'm sitting here thinking about a guy who came in today worried about a mass he found on one of his testicles. If I were working on "the outside" at the moment, I'd order labs and an ultrasound, possibly even a CT or MRI after that, in a heartbeat. But working within federal government rules and protocol, all I can do is get the labs and put in a request for an ultrasound, hoping and praying it goes through. I even had to argue my case: this guy is 34- prime age for testicular cancer. The mass is hard, immobile, and unilateral. He's lost some weight in recent months. And he's worried crapless. As I would be, if I were in his situation. Ok, yes, he is a prisoner, he did a crime, and in general, I agree that you loose many basic privileges if you commit a crime. I even think that extends to some areas of health care, for example, cosmetic procedures or medications, or even just the luxury of having medical at your beck and call. But for something potentially life-threatening like a mass growing on a body part, I do believe that some form of diagnosis should be available. So I'm sitting here thinking about how I worded the report, hoping the government agrees with my recommendation that an ultrasound is necessary. At least I'll have the lab results I suppose, which include some tumor markers, but that still doesn't make up for an ultrasound. I'll probably be on to my next rotation before I even know what happens to this guy. Kinda sucks.