Got my tumor blocks

[StephN]

Ok, folks -
The deed is done, thanks to Sheila's prompting.
Was delayed a few days because of the icy roads in our area, and appointments taking me the opposite direction to the cancer center.

What I was given are the TUMOR BLOCKS - 17 in all. Paraffin blocks from 3 different procedures and clearly marked.

The lab will keep the slides through the 10-year period, when I can then have custody of them. The lab manager said that at the 10-year mark they routinely go through what they have and just toss them out without calling the patient or the doctor. It is up to us to keep track of this time frame.

I gave my driver's license as ID and signed the simple release. They were very cooperative.

It was suggested I keep them in a cool, dry place - they do not require refrigeration. I will keep the little styrofoam box with the blocks in our wine storage area. Good company, huh?

[AlaskaAngel]

Maybe we will never need them--but I'd rather be sure. But I dunno, Steph... having lived through a house fire once, and been so thankful for having my irreplaceable documents survive in a firesafe ... I've put mine in a firesafe. I left my slides in storage too.

Thanks for the update!

A.A.

[StephN]

A.A. -

Thanks for reminding me.
I forgot to say that the styrofoam box with the tumor blocks is put inside a metal box - the kind that you keep keys in. Maybe I will get something else, but for now that is where they stay. There is not room in my other safe.

That part of the house is in a corner underground under our master bedroom walk-in closet on a back wall.

[AlaskaAngel]

Just pondering... given the vagaries of weather changes, including sudden lengthy loss of power all over the place these days, I wonder if there is any problem with unexpected freezing of tumor blocks...? And depending on where people live... maybe flooding should be considered, too...

*grin*

- A True Worry Wart