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Please tell me not to freak out

mare_imbriummare_imbrium Registered User regular
edited January 2011 in Help / Advice Forum
The main point of this is, you don't have to tell me to see a doctor, because I am going to see one ASAP.

That said. Something has come to my attention tonight and it could be horrible (aggressive cancer horrible), or it could be something nothing, or it could be take-some-anti-biotics. When I was younger I used to be afraid to go to the doctor just in case whatever it was was something bad. Now I just want to get it over with. I needed to see my doctor anyway. My problem is Thursday I was supposed to go somewhere and Friday I'm supposed to work, and New Year's is coming up...why does shit like this always happen on weekends or holidays? I don't even know when I'm going to be able to get in to see my doc, but I'm going to call when they open tomorrow morning. Maybe they can squeeze me in right away. I hope. But this kind of thing is most likely going to necessitate other tests, and those kinds of places are the ones I'm going to have to wait to get into, probably until next week. So that's kind of why I'm freaking out. My mind is going straight to worst-case scenario stuff, mostly because of the enforced waiting. Googling made it worse. Now I just keep thinking about my kids and how upset they would be if I died (I had a parent die when I was a kid, so I am in a position to appreciate how completely terrible it is).

I should just go to sleep. If I could. :(

Anyone able to relate with being horrible at not worrying/waiting? Anyone have any tricks or advice to get my mind off of it?

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Posts

  • RobmanRobman Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Find a lump? Lumps are usually nothing. But that slight chance of them being something warrants the visit.

    If you're genuinely panicked, tell the receptionist this when you get on the line. There are almost always reserve slots for urgent cases, or they will be able to refer you.

    Robman on
  • nukanuka What are circles? Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Close your browser, drink some tea or whatever kind of ritual you find relaxing and play a game or watch late night tv or something.

    Also, consider this. When you found out this problem you were worried and started researching on what it could possibly be and being concerned you instantly looked at the most serious diseases. And why not? Better to rule out crazy horrifying things right?

    The problem is that a lot of the symptoms we have can all lead to a million different things. Hannah has a tummy ache and diarrhea. Did she eat bad food, drink bacteria ridden water or does she have a new parasite buddy living in her intestines? You're not going to know until a doctor takes a look at you and unless Hannah lives in the tropics and is drinking from stagnant pools of water from the jungle she probably doesn't have a parasite. But you don't know that cause you have no idea who Hannah is or what she does, you just know what is wrong with her.

    Likewise, for all you know you could just have a spider bite or something. (You weren't specific so I can't take guesses at what you have and I am not a doctor.)

    nuka on
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  • nukanuka What are circles? Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Robman wrote: »
    Find a lump? Lumps are usually nothing. But that slight chance of them being something warrants the visit.

    If you're genuinely panicked, tell the receptionist this when you get on the line. There are almost always reserve slots for urgent cases, or they will be able to refer you.
    You should still go to the doctor, I just wanted to add on that I found a lump recently on my arm pit that disappeared on it's own after a few days.

    nuka on
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  • RobmanRobman Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Yeah my neck is stiff as fuck right now, is it
    a) terrible posture whilst PA foruming in bed on my laptop instead of sleeping
    b) brain tumor
    c) bacterial meningitis
    the answer is a

    Robman on
  • mare_imbriummare_imbrium Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Robman wrote: »
    Find a lump? Lumps are usually nothing. But that slight chance of them being something warrants the visit.

    If you're genuinely panicked, tell the receptionist this when you get on the line. There are almost always reserve slots for urgent cases, or they will be able to refer you.

    I did have a lump checked out some years back, so I have been through something similar before. There are definitely parts of the body where if something unusual is going on, you don't fuck around and just go. I assume(?) this is some kind of an infection or something, because of how quickly it appeared (I'm guessing within the last 24-72 hours). But apparently there is also an aggressive form of cancer that can appear the same way, so... D:

    The doctor is the same doctor I've been going to since I was a baby, they know me there and I am pretty sure I can be seen tomorrow unless they are closed this week for the holidays (and if so, I don't know what I can do other than wait). But they don't have an ultrasound machine or a mammogram machine or whatever they would need to definitively say I was okay.

    Hm. Speaking of testing, I wonder where he'll send me. He's not in the uh...greatest area. I mean the immediate area is nice and the whole area used to be nicer but the last time I had to have something done he referred me to a great surgeon who happened to work out of a shitty hospital. The place where I got looked at last time something like this happened is affiliated with a much richer area (I had to have baby #2 about 15 miles away in the nice part of the county - long story) but it might take me a really long time to get in to see that ob/gyn group. Couple that with testing has the potential to easily drain our flex account and then some...but that's all nit picky stuff anyway. Though I suppose it is better thinking about that than thinking about other more terrible things.

    mare_imbrium on
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  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Medically speaking, the best thing to remember is that every symptom and just about every combination of symptoms out there has about a thousand common and generally harmless causes. Since you mention cancer I'm going to guess something along the lines of a lump somewhere? Lumps are common. Cancerous lumps are rare. Harmless fibroid tumors happen all over the body, and they're common enough that most people get them at some point or another in their life.

    When I had one removed (non medical reasons, it was completely harmless but noticeable), my doctor told me there are something like five hundred fibroid tumor cases to every cancer case. I don't know the accuracy of that statistic, but it made me feel better at the time.

    And that's not the only kind of lump. Glands develop lumps and swellings all the time for trivial reasons or from minor infections, even some insect bites can cause benign thyroid swelling. There's all kinds of cysts, nodules, lipomas that can cause lumps. Then there's a ridiculously long list of minor, moderate, and serious but not life threatening real problems that can cause lumps in various places, starting with the common cold and hitting just about every stop on the way up.

    The reason for the "See a doctor" rule with lumps is because even in the one shot in thousands that it's actually something worth worrying about, catching it early often means beating it.

    Hevach on
  • mare_imbriummare_imbrium Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    I guess when I read about this cancer (when I was looking to see if it was some kind of infection) I just got a little panicked. This still falls under a list of specifics for "when to see a doctor" so that kind of still worries me, but even that website says "most of these things are benign anyways" so...well I hope so.

    I just hate waiting!

    Thanks though, Hevach, and Nuka and Robman.

    mare_imbrium on
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  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    edited December 2010
    The best thing you can do is step away from the internet doctor sites, take a deep breath, and find some other way to occupy yourself while you wait to see the real one. Waiting sucks, and I know this is scary, but worrying like this isn't going to help.

    ceres on
    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • bwaniebwanie Posting into the void Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    yeah i had swollen lymfglands under my armpits and was ready to freak out.

    when i got to my doctor the first thing he said was: aren't you a nailbiter?

    uhm, yeeaaaaahh. why?

    biting you nails apperently can lead to your body to thinking you suffer constant open wounds.
    subsequently getting ready to fight infections that aren't even there. resulting in swollen glands.

    bwanie on
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  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    I wouldn't worry, worry makes you sick.

    I have about a dozen or so lumps under my skin that are lipomas. Maybe that's what you have. Worry less, relax, go see the doctor when possible.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • DoraBDoraB Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Worry changes nothing. All the worry in the world never helps anything get better, and obviously just because you choose not to deal with something doesn't mean that something still isn't a problem, so I'm glad you're going to the doctor.

    My best advice is to NOT look up whatever is worrying you on the internet. The internet is the absolute fucking WORST place to research your symptoms, because you WILL come away thinking you have plague of the everything. If you look up "slight temperature" there are dozens of sites and people out there who will tell you that is a sign of cancer of the face. While there is a ton of great and helpful information available on the internet and it always helps to stay informed, because you're so keyed up and stressed out about this already I would advise you not to start Googling your symptoms because all the possibilities out there, no matter how remote and unlikely, will only serve to upset you further.

    Spend some time with friends and family. If you're as upset as you sound, don't just sit around at home not doing anything because you're only going to stew in your worry and make yourself miserable. Get out of the house for a while; you don't need money. Go walk around the mall, or hang out at a coffee shop, or pal around with friends. Anything busy and noisy so you're less likely to focus on yourself. One of the worst things in the world is to isolate yourself when you're feeling miserable, so get out there and do something. Or, heck, have an impromptu movie night with friends and family or something. Just don't be alone with your worry, because you're only going to upset yourself.

    All the best, and take care of yourself. :)

    DoraB on
  • radroadkillradroadkill MDRegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    bwanie wrote: »
    yeah i had swollen lymfglands under my armpits and was ready to freak out.

    when i got to my doctor the first thing he said was: aren't you a nailbiter?

    uhm, yeeaaaaahh. why?

    biting you nails apperently can lead to your body to thinking you suffer constant open wounds.
    subsequently getting ready to fight infections that aren't even there. resulting in swollen glands.

    This happened to me, minus the nailbiting. That was about a month ago... He just poked around and informed me that it was good to come in and check but my lymph nodes were all slightly swollen: most weren't very noticeable except the one on my lower armpit which was pretty hard. I didn't even notice the rest.


    Just try to take a deep breath and tell yourself you're being ridiculous. It's what I tried to do while waiting!

    radroadkill on
  • mare_imbriummare_imbrium Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    They had a cancellation this morning so I went in. He thinks it is some kind of cyst that is inflamed so he gave me some antibiotics and told me to put hot compresses on it and come back on Monday and we'll make sure that's what it really is and not something worse. I hope that's all it is.*


    *Forgot to add part of the reason why I am personally worried that is NOT what it is, is because it doesn't hurt.

    mare_imbrium on
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  • Descendant XDescendant X Skyrim is my god now. Outpost 31Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    They had a cancellation this morning so I went in. He thinks it is some kind of cyst that is inflamed so he gave me some antibiotics and told me to put hot compresses on it and come back on Monday and we'll make sure that's what it really is and not something worse. I hope that's all it is.*


    *Forgot to add part of the reason why I am personally worried that is NOT what it is, is because it doesn't hurt.

    Do exactly what he has told you.

    Whatever you do, don't fuck around with it. And by that I mean treat it gingerly and don't squeeze it or anything.

    I squeezed an abscess that was in my leg about a year and a half ago and it exploded inside my leg, resulting in septicaemia. I almost died. It was not a good week.

    Descendant X on
    Garry: I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!
  • AvicusAvicus Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    I had a cyst thing behind my ear and I think between my jaw (jaw cracks alot, has lots of open space where it shouldn't). I was super worried then one morning woke up, started eating and bam it just exploded. I must have squeezed it with my jaw by chewing. I drained it fairly well and it never came back. Cysts can be dangerous though. If they aren't drained correctly they will return over and over, getting worse and worse and eventually have to be surgicially removed. Lucky for me my girlfriend at the time was a nurse.

    Avicus on
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