FOLLOWING THE BLOOD TRAIL AT CANBERRA HOSPITAL

If you are a cancer patient your body (more particularly your arms) are sure to become frequent visitors to the various pathology collection areas around Canberra.

Those who are on medications are likely to have their blood levels checked regularly and those who are undergoing chemotherapy are also likely to have their levels checked before being given the green light to proceed to the next round

It is perfectly normal for some patients to become very knowledgeable about these counts and what they might mean. Do not hesitate to ask your treating doctor if something is worrying you about your counts. Here is a link to a useful on-line explanation of some of the key tests which can be found on the main links page for another website I maintain. Here is another link to a page on the OncoLink website at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) where there is an explanation of how chemotherapy can affect your red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, and the meaning of such terms as neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and anemia.

On these pages an attempt has been made to reveal what happens with your blood samples when your blood is taken within The Canberra Hospital or through the ACT Pathology collection centre located at the Hospital. My thanks to Kristen, Peter, Noreen, Carolyn and Rachel, for explaining the process and allowing Gregory Strangman to take images for uploading to this website. (In the interests of facilitating a quick download for those who do not have a high-speed modem the images have been re-saved at a low resolution which occasionally results in a pixilated appearance.)

As far as oncology patients are concerned, relevant services available through ACT Pathology include: venepuncture service for inpatients (via ward rounds), and outpatients; a home collection (domicillary) service (phone 62442816); paediatric collections; and prioritised pathology testing to ensure a minimum turnaround time of reports.

ACT Pathology, or course, is not the only pathology service in the ACT. Capital Pathology also has a number of collection centres in the district and on the webpage for the Breast Centre at Calvary Clinic there is a photo of the entrance to its collection centre at the Clinic. It offers similar services to ACT Pathology, including a home visit service.

Click on the small photos to go to separate webpages containing relevant images.

Getting there

Collecting

Analysis