Health Anxiety - Part 4

[polkadotpixie]

I hope no-one minds me starting a follow up thread. I know some people were waiting for me to update so I thought I would but happy to ask MNHQ to delete if one of the long term posters wanted to start it 😊

Hi ladies, finally got time to sit down and write an essay!

I rang my GP first thing and managed to get a phone appointment (took 171 calls but hey ho!)

Whilst waiting for this I called Radiology to ask when I was likely to receive a date for the MRI, only to be told there was no request for one...the doctor hadn’t done it! 😡 I was pretty upset and rang the ward and spoke to the lovely HCA who did my bloods on Friday and she promised to speak to the doctor

My boss came down to see me during this and was really nice about it and suggested we ask one of our consultants to review my scans and put in an urgent MRI request which he very kindly did (I work in a role similar to a medical secretary in the main hospital in our city...ironic given my health anxiety, I know!). He wasn’t concern about the scan report and said if he’d received it back for one of his patients he’d have requested a routine gynae follow up but as he could see how upset and anxious I was he was happy to put it through as urgent

I then spoke to my GP who was extremely unimpressed with both the discharge summary she'd received due to inaccuracies on it plus the way things were handled, the vague and anxiety provoking info I was given before being discharged and that the MRI request wasn't done

She was lovely and spent ages explaining the blood test and scan results and really reassured me. Due to my job, although I'm not medically trained I do have a reasonable knowledge of medical terminology and she went into great detail about what everything meant and why they were positive signs

Basically my CA125 is 13 which is well within normal range and the ultrasound scan suggests a benign endometrioma based on the fact it is a singular cyst with a uniform appearance throughout and has no blood supply to it. I still need an MRI to confirm but so far the signs are good. I do have some fluid in my pelvis but only a small amount and this could also be endometriosis related

My GP actually called me back later too and said she'd since spoken to the nurse on the ward and aired her concerns about how I'd been treated and to ensure I'm definitely scanned in the next 2 weeks she's done a 2WW referral to cover all bases in case my consultant colleagues is rejected as he's not a Gynae

So, tentatively good news. I'm still very anxious but I feel a lot better now I have some results and know a plan is in place

Thank you all for thinking of me today 💗

@polkadotpixie good to hear the news! I think you can rest easy and know that everything now is just to be 100% sure. It's my understanding that ALL Tumours have a blood supply so without one it can't be a tumour.

Thanks for setting up the new thread!

@Squibble84 it was put off a full year x

Oh that's brilliant news @polkadotpixie !
Do you feel a bit more relaxed after that? So annoying how you were treated and the lack of MRI appointment though.

@polkadotpixie thank you for starting new thread.

Brilliant news, I bet you feel so relieved now just hearing that and having it explained makes a whole difference

I've been reading the small ebook recommended by tmh88 and this paragraph stood out:

"Today, I don't suffer from hypochondria at all. Not one bit of me worries about my health irrationally. I don't feel any more random sensations or have pins and needles. I no longer have headaches and I don't feel like I'm choking all the time on nothing. I can actually get out of bed before the sun goes down in the afternoon and I have stopped cooking poultry to within an inch of its life. Since my illness I have done some great things like travelling and meeting new people, I've worked in various places and experienced lots of new things."

It was so nice to read that someone was completely cured!

Literally just spent an age trying to post in the other thread 😂 now I shall catch up... hang on

@polkadotpixie ahhhh I'm so, so pleased to read that you're feeling a lot more positive and that everyone around you has been so supportive and informative with explaining everything to you! I know you'll still be on the edge until your appointment but I hope you can get a decent nights sleep tonight

So, I have a headache and my husband just said he has a headache so OBVIOUSLY this means we have a carbon monoxide leak, even though we had a gas safety check about 3 months ago and we have a carbon monoxide detector.....
Jesus Christ brain, give me a break!!

Good morning everyone.

@ofwarren I totally get that. Sometimes I will suddenly wake up in the middle of the night thinking is Carbon monoxide or fire alarm working. Hope you managed to get some sleep. I had a night time Kalms last night and I think it worked I actually slept okish

Morning everyone.

@polkadotpixie that all sounds positive. Great that you have a supportive boss and GP too.

How is everyone feeling this morning?

@MrsWhites good thanks - I've been really busy lately which seems to really help. How are you?

Just going to tag a few members of the group to make sure they find this one - sorry if I’ve missed people!

@skyliner001
@tmh88
@goolies
@chorusline79
@TheSilentStars
@stoorimidori
@marthasginyard
@getmeacupoftea

I'm here! Trying to resist the urge to poke, but nothing new there!

Thanks @MrsWhites! How are you?

How's everyone else today?

@Lib3rtine @Lolly12 @KasparKat @dillydallydollydaydream7
Just tagging a few more I could remember in case you haven't seen the new thread yet.

Morning everyone, I hope you are all ok
I had a decent night sleep really
I've got my maxillofacial consultant appointment today to discuss this bony lump near my tonsil. I'm hoping it's not the same one I've seen before because he's so dismissive.
My appointment is 3:45pm
Also waiting to hear from my mum who has got suspected blood cancer. She's having a full body X ray today to check her bones. She hasn't got health anxiety but her blood results were really bad last time.

Just wanted to share my achievement, and I know that you guys will appreciate it. I've just done my monthly breast exam, which is a joke really considering I do lots more, but this is my proper one if that makes sense. My period has just ended, so I've also had a quick examine of my cervix to, and I didn't spiral at all, despite going over all of my usual areas of concern. Lumps, bumps, marks,I managed to do the whole thing, and look for dimples in around about 15 minutes, and I'm treating myself to a cup of tea. Feeling massively proud. 😳😎

@Skyliner001 yay, that’s amazing! Well done you! So pleased for you!

@dillydallydollydaydream7 and @chorusline79 I’m doing ok, thanks for asking. Think home schooling is keeping me busy but I’m a bit worried about how next week will go with having a lot more time on my hands!

So sorry to those I missed out when tagging. There are so many of us now which is great support wise but sad to see how many of us are health anxiety sufferers!

Does anyone else mispronounce words sometimes or when reading quickly skip words? I think I’m being paranoid because I have an eye test coming up which cause me anxiety so I think I am just noticing things more to help feed my anxiety 😡 But of course I’m starting to diagnose myself with all kinds of horrible things!

@ofwarren good luck in your appointment today and for your mums results! I’ll be thinking of you x

@MrsWhites I do that with words when I'm anxious. I only have to start thinking about my vision and I can't see properly and get brain fog over reading words. It's annoying.

@Skyliner001 well done! This is a fab achievement!

@MrsWhites I can imagine it'll be a shift once the kids are back at school, have you anything that can keep you busy?

Morning all!!

@polkadotpixie brilliant news, very happy all positive for you

@Skyliner001 I’ve come on my period and now miraculously all anxiety is gone! I had a poke this morning too! Very calmly tracked my collarbone “lumps” about an inch and a half across my collar bone it’s definitely a muscle or tendon etc! Well done! All in this together!

@ofwarren glad you like the book! Parts really made me laugh! Thinking of you today!! Hope everything goes well! X

@MrsWhites thanks for the tag!!

Sorry if I’ve missed anyone, hope you all have a good, happy day!

@MrsWhites I do exactly as you say! I’m worse when on my period as I sometimes really jumble/misread! No clue why but it does happen often enough! Especially when I’m tired too or overly anxious x

I think I'm going to have to give up my morning coffee, even though I love it. I felt ok this morning but now I feel on edge.
I also have this constant background anxiety that I can't shake. My shoulders are always tight and up by my ears, I hold my jaw really tightly and clench my teeth.
I just consciously relaxed my body and I'm as stiff as a board.

@dillydallydollydaydream7 I have a mountain of jobs around the house to get on with and it’s only 3 weeks until the Easter holidays isn’t it so the kids will be back keeping me busy again in no time.

@ofwarren Thank you. I think some of it is my anxiety about my eye test, it’s not for 2 weeks but it’s started already. It does tend to happen more when I’m anxious and my husband pointed out that I do speak very quickly so I think sometimes my mind just goes slower than my mouth. I’m from Liverpool so I do talk fast 😂

Yes sometimes I hold myself so tight I actually get weird shudders when I relax my shoulders etc! @ofwarren I have everything crossed for your mum too I’m so sorry to hear that