First hospital appointment

My first appointment at Auckland hospital (June 2001) was to have tests to confirm that I had myeloma. At 53 years of age I had led a healthy life style until myeloma appeared, the hospital system was a new experience for me. Suffering bone pain at the time with its associated limited mobility I turned up feeling rather apprehensive.
Lots of questions were asked of me followed by a physical examination, blood tests, x-rays and bone marrow biopsy. At the end of day there were no answers though an acknowledgement that there was an 80% chance of my illness being myeloma. Answers would be revealed the following week.
A positive was meeting and dealing for the first time with a medical team at haematology that set a high standard from day one. Being new to the system I had a large number of questions that were answered diligently, I was impressed.
Leaving hospital my apprehension had disappeared. I felt in good hands while needing to discover how I could respond to be a pro-active patient. Being a passive patient was not good enough for me.