For doctors to have hidden this from me?

The OP has had extensive investigations but is unable to be reassured by the trivial findings, which suggests health anxiety.

Is retarded exactly the same as learning disabled? Do you use both terms interchangeably? Do you call mixed-race people coloured or half-caste because they "mean the same thing"?

Advocating for oneself is best done in a medical setting, not on Mumsnet. People normally bring their anxieties here precisely because they're unable to accept the reassurance offered by their doctors.

Why is the term ‘hypochondria’ derogatory whereas ’health anxiety’ isn’t? They both mean the same thing.

Doctors will see all sorts of things on scans and tests - if they’re not clinically significant then they won’t mention them to the patient - otherwise they’d be there for hours!

Human bodies are “strange” - no two will be exactly alike and every single one of us will have random things show up on scans, but that doesn’t mean that we need to know about them or that they’re relevant to our symptoms or health.

There’s a reason why you need medical training to understand test results.

A lot of things are not necessarily indications of anything to worry about. In my experience, good doctors tend to be open with patients and very willing to discuss test results but the system doesn’t always allow for this to happen.

Right?! What an arrogant and dismissive statement to OP’s valid and understandable concerns. I say this as a healthcare professional myself!

In an ideal scenario, yes. But things get missed in medical system, and patients have the right to advocate for themselves.

Aside from the fact you’re ignoring the potentially neurological symptoms that drove her to seek answers to begin with, what’s your intention with this question?

Supposedly neutral, medical words become slurs over time - eg retarded, spastic, idiot. We shouldn't use them, which was the whole point of my reply. It seems we agree 🙌

How on earth am I feeding into her anxiety by saying I understand her frustration?

Whatever axe you have to grind, I think picking on my measured response where I simply acknowledge her current frustration is a bit bizarre.

Wanting a full picture of what is going on with your brain is hardly a big ask, and could have been handled better.

Cysts are very common and you can have them virtually anywhere. As others have said, this is not an issue and OP should focus on asking for help with her symptoms, not looking to punish someone.

It’s incidental. If you go through every incidental finding with patients, you’d be all day with one. Incidental = not worth mentioning. It’s not ‘keeping information from me’, that’s bizarre, why would a health professional want to do this, they don’t. Human bodies get all sorts of lumps and bumps and stuff, doesn’t necessarily mean any of it’s a problem though, so you just get told if it IS a problem.

She has neurological symptoms. Do you get condescending a lot?

Hypochondria was a medical word that became derogatory - I don’t use it because it’s outdated.

You don't know what communication she's had with her doctors. Feeding into her anxiety like that is cruel, not empathetic.

No, it's not the same. Hypochondria is derogatory, health anxiety is a descriptor. People don't choose to have health anxiety. Do you use other slurs too because "they're exactly the same?".

Point is she needed those reassuring replies from the doctors. I can't comment on the specifics of her medical situation as I'm not a doctor and not qualified to do so. However, I am qualified to empathise with frustration at poor or non-existent communication from doctors that help create and exacerbate anxiety in the first place.

Yes it is. It used to be called hypochondria now it’s called health anxiety - the same thing.

Did you read any of the reassuring replies OP has had? Or are you just looking to feed her anxiety?

OP you have my sympathy.

While "Not All Doctors" unfortunately there are a good cohort that seem to come under the banner of a joke that has stuck with me after decades of medical obfuscation and arrogance, applied not just to myself but numerous family and friends:

"What's the difference between Gid and a doctor?"

"God doesn't think he's a doctor".

The prevailing attitude of some that patients should not question or be pro-active in health care processes leads to loss of trust and poor outcomes that could have been avoided by clearer communication leading to mutual respect.

I hope you can get to the bottom of this.

This immediate leap to "it's psychological" in so many scenarios is condescending and breeds animosity, and is often a useful tool in the "avoiding accountability" handbook of too many professionals / authority figures.

I have a pineal gland cyst that was found during a head CT for something else. I was referred to neurosurgery. I was told that they are super common and usually are discovered when under investigation for something else.

I was under them for 3 years and got yearly MRI’s to check if it got bigger, it didn’t. It did it smaller to the point they wouldn’t even see me now if it had been discovered today.

If an incidental finding is significant, it will be acted upon; in your case it's clearly not significant.

Patients aren’t trained to interpret clinical findings and can place significance on things which are trivial. It’s easy to see something on a scan and assume it’s significant when in reality, it’s an incidental finding and unrelated to the reason you had the scan.

No good will come of you trying to interpret complex medical data you haven’t been trained to read.

^^ this.

Patients are not meant to understand all their medical notes.

Health anxiety is not hypochondria; you shouldn't be using such an outdated and derogatory term.