adamfrai
25-03-12, 16:20
Hi there
This is my first post to the site so I apologise if I ramble, but I just feel like at the moment, there is going to be no end to my worries :mad:
I have always been a 'bit of a hypochondriac' since my teens, however any worried feelings I have had I have been able to shake off within a day or two and return to normal life. Until these past few months.
It all started a couple months ago when I had some flu like symptoms which cleared up quite quickly over a day or two. I was left with a horrendous cough which lingered.
Fast forward a month and the cough just would not go away, despite numerous remedies and visits to Dr. Google, so I made an appointment with the doctors surgery (they sent me to the nurse practicioner), who said that it was common for a cough to linger for up to 2 months after an infection, and if if it didnt go away, to return in another month.
That visit seemed to make me feel better for a week or two, during which time the cough gradually seemed to improve. However after about two more weeks, I started to get very mild, pains across my chest and upper back and decided to turn to the old favourite, Dr Google, who immediately diagnosed me with Lung Cancer. I then spent the next few days OBSESSING with that fact, visiting cancer forums looking for reassurance that people who unfortunately had lung cancer suffered from different symptoms to me. It will come as no surprise to readers of this forum that I got no reassurance.
I then spent my time on statistic websites, looking for the actual chances that I had lung cancer which turned out at my age (27) to be about 1 in 250,000. This stat brought me no comfort, and for a good few days afterwards, I could feel my panic getting more and more, until I ended up spending a good couple of hours sobbing into my girlfriends arms terrified that I am dying of cancer. She is pregnant with our first child, due in two weeks and I should be the last of her worries.
Anyway, the next day we went into the local walk in centre where, again, a nurse practicioner examined me, listened to my lungs and said they sounded completely fine, when she put the stethoscope to my stomach it nearly deafened her, and she said I had acid reflux and should visit my GP.
After this visit I felt great, however this was short lived, as the next day I felt a lymph node under my chin. As far as I can remember, Ive always been able to feel them, however this time one was larger than the other, and this REALLY freaked me out. Again, a trip to dr google was in order and now it diagnosed lymphoma, so again, that night my long suffering very pregnant girlfriend took me back to the walk in centre where this time I saw a doctor. He had a good feel, and said he was sure it was nothing, and again, I left reassured, waiting to see my GP for the acid reflux.
The next day was ok, I managed to keep off google and away from examining myself all day at work until the train journey home, in which, for reasons unknown, I googled oral cancer, but thought nothing of it, and went to bed feeling relatively ok/sane.
That night however, I woke up feeling my mouth was full of phlegm, so went to hack it up in the basin and it was all pink tinged and bloody, cue mass panic, to the extent that I found it very difficult to sleep and had to take the next day off work. I went straight to my GP with all of my fears, lung cancer, lymphoma, oral cancer and all, he checked my breathing, fine, checked the lymph node, said it felt like the viral infection hadnt cleared up fully, and inspected my mouth, and said that the state of my teeth and oral health were causing the lymph node inflammation (basically havent been to the dentist for 12 years, despite two broken back teeth). I guess I just assumed that any infection in my mouth would kinda just clear itself up. He also diagnosed the chest pains as gastritis and prescribed me proton pump inhibitors for that which seem to be working so far (have only taken 3 doses as yet).
Right now, I'm feeling realitively OK, but cannot shake this underlying fear of something being seriously wrong, and having a niggling doubt over what the professionals have said. Surely 2 doctors and two nurse practicioners can't all be wrong can they?
Also I feel like such a selfish ass for feeling like this when I should be being excited for the birth of our first child. My heads all over the place at the minute and any advice would be MASSIVELY appreciated.
Thanks for reading :)
This is my first post to the site so I apologise if I ramble, but I just feel like at the moment, there is going to be no end to my worries :mad:
I have always been a 'bit of a hypochondriac' since my teens, however any worried feelings I have had I have been able to shake off within a day or two and return to normal life. Until these past few months.
It all started a couple months ago when I had some flu like symptoms which cleared up quite quickly over a day or two. I was left with a horrendous cough which lingered.
Fast forward a month and the cough just would not go away, despite numerous remedies and visits to Dr. Google, so I made an appointment with the doctors surgery (they sent me to the nurse practicioner), who said that it was common for a cough to linger for up to 2 months after an infection, and if if it didnt go away, to return in another month.
That visit seemed to make me feel better for a week or two, during which time the cough gradually seemed to improve. However after about two more weeks, I started to get very mild, pains across my chest and upper back and decided to turn to the old favourite, Dr Google, who immediately diagnosed me with Lung Cancer. I then spent the next few days OBSESSING with that fact, visiting cancer forums looking for reassurance that people who unfortunately had lung cancer suffered from different symptoms to me. It will come as no surprise to readers of this forum that I got no reassurance.
I then spent my time on statistic websites, looking for the actual chances that I had lung cancer which turned out at my age (27) to be about 1 in 250,000. This stat brought me no comfort, and for a good few days afterwards, I could feel my panic getting more and more, until I ended up spending a good couple of hours sobbing into my girlfriends arms terrified that I am dying of cancer. She is pregnant with our first child, due in two weeks and I should be the last of her worries.
Anyway, the next day we went into the local walk in centre where, again, a nurse practicioner examined me, listened to my lungs and said they sounded completely fine, when she put the stethoscope to my stomach it nearly deafened her, and she said I had acid reflux and should visit my GP.
After this visit I felt great, however this was short lived, as the next day I felt a lymph node under my chin. As far as I can remember, Ive always been able to feel them, however this time one was larger than the other, and this REALLY freaked me out. Again, a trip to dr google was in order and now it diagnosed lymphoma, so again, that night my long suffering very pregnant girlfriend took me back to the walk in centre where this time I saw a doctor. He had a good feel, and said he was sure it was nothing, and again, I left reassured, waiting to see my GP for the acid reflux.
The next day was ok, I managed to keep off google and away from examining myself all day at work until the train journey home, in which, for reasons unknown, I googled oral cancer, but thought nothing of it, and went to bed feeling relatively ok/sane.
That night however, I woke up feeling my mouth was full of phlegm, so went to hack it up in the basin and it was all pink tinged and bloody, cue mass panic, to the extent that I found it very difficult to sleep and had to take the next day off work. I went straight to my GP with all of my fears, lung cancer, lymphoma, oral cancer and all, he checked my breathing, fine, checked the lymph node, said it felt like the viral infection hadnt cleared up fully, and inspected my mouth, and said that the state of my teeth and oral health were causing the lymph node inflammation (basically havent been to the dentist for 12 years, despite two broken back teeth). I guess I just assumed that any infection in my mouth would kinda just clear itself up. He also diagnosed the chest pains as gastritis and prescribed me proton pump inhibitors for that which seem to be working so far (have only taken 3 doses as yet).
Right now, I'm feeling realitively OK, but cannot shake this underlying fear of something being seriously wrong, and having a niggling doubt over what the professionals have said. Surely 2 doctors and two nurse practicioners can't all be wrong can they?
Also I feel like such a selfish ass for feeling like this when I should be being excited for the birth of our first child. My heads all over the place at the minute and any advice would be MASSIVELY appreciated.
Thanks for reading :)