How simple phraseology can obscure the meaning

I was sick for a long time in October and November because a certain medication reeked havoc with my liver. We did not catch it quickly because it came disguised as a normal stomach virus, and the medication effected the liver a lot more quickly than normal. Anyway... I stopped the medication and the situation improved slowly but surely.

I have since started another medication that does not effect the liver, but am still on one that can. My doctor left a message on my machine Friday afternoon with the latest blood work results. It looked good, but the "liver enzymes are high. Please give me a call when you get a chance."

"Oh, shoot! It's after hours. Do I need to call his emergency number, or is it ok to wait until Monday? Did the level go back up?Will I need to go off the anxiety medication?....What does this mean?...." Why did he have to leave the message on Friday? I spent the weekend worrying about what I didn't know. I was so anxious that I even started losing my appetite and thinking it was because of the liver enzymes.

This morning I called my doctor who calmly told me that we just need to keep watching it, but that the level was higher in the previous blood work.

"So it's lower than it was before?" I asked. "We don't have to change anything? We just have to keep checking it?"

With that knowledge I feel much better than I did even earlier this morning! It's just a shame that I had to spend all of that energy worrying about it. I'm going to be just fine.

Isn't it amazing how powerful the choice of words can be?