kitty18
04-06-13, 13:21
My panic attacks seem to have subsided in the past couple of weeks but they've been replaced by health anxiety (I last suffered from this a few years ago) and actual health scares.
I'm REALLY concerned about skin cancer right now, especially with it being summer. I'm pale, with no moles, but lots of tiny freckles. I don't stay out in the sun much in summer because I overheat easily. The last time I actually burned was at least ten years ago (very mild, no peeling) and before that, probably a few times as a child. But I'm from the UK (now living in Germany) and I didn't grow up with a culture of sunscreen like it is now. Nowadays you hear about wearing sunscreen every day rain or shine, and it definitely wasn't like that when I was a child/teenager. I wore sunscreen on hot days in summer and if I went on holiday somewhere warm. I honestly don't know if I'm alone in this? Because when I research on the web, all I find is people saying 'I wear sunscreen all day every day' even in England during cloudy days or bad weather. I'm worried because I was never taught to do this (before the internet was widely available) by my mother, or anyone else. My mother certainly hasn't worn sunscreen every day all her life.
I'm not ignorant to sun damage, I have just been full of confusion about what is really necessary. I suppose I have years of sun damage especially on my face from not bothering to wear sunscreen unless it's a heatwave, which is very worrying. And recently, a few new growths have appeared on my skin.
One is on my face, and from the looks of it I suspected a basal cell carcinoma. I also got a new freckle on my big toe. I went to the doctor yesterday and he told me that neither of them appear cancerous. I was happy with this diagnosis all day until I started to worry again. What if he misdiagnosed either of them or didn't look closely enough, or what if they change? Worse still, today I noticed a pinprick-sized dark freckle above my eyebrow that is definitely new. Now that I remember, it must have been there for a couple of weeks but I forgot about it, and really I should have asked the doctor to look at that too. So I'm worried about that one.
I bought new sunscreens on the weekend to replace last year's and am now wearing them. The doctor just recommended to do this, as he told me the blemish on my face was due to sun damage and I must be careful. This has put the fear of god in me, since now I feel like I have to watch that blemish like a hawk.
I feel really stupid and like I've neglected my health so much and there's nothing I can do now. I feel like it's a certainty I'm going to get skin cancer, the question is will it be sooner or later. I can't live like this so I suppose I wanted some reassurance or just some comfort from people who have had similar worries. I want to go back to the doctor and have this new freckle above my eyebrow looked at, but I think he will say the same thing as the others and I don't want him to dismiss me based on my fear (the freckle looks normal right now). And my partner will probably think I am overreacting too. But I'm bombarded with messages about skin cancer dangers particularly at this time of year, and it's hard to ignore them since even the doctor thinks I would be very prone to it.
Anyway this was long so thank you if you got this far! I don't know where else to vent about this.
xx
I'm REALLY concerned about skin cancer right now, especially with it being summer. I'm pale, with no moles, but lots of tiny freckles. I don't stay out in the sun much in summer because I overheat easily. The last time I actually burned was at least ten years ago (very mild, no peeling) and before that, probably a few times as a child. But I'm from the UK (now living in Germany) and I didn't grow up with a culture of sunscreen like it is now. Nowadays you hear about wearing sunscreen every day rain or shine, and it definitely wasn't like that when I was a child/teenager. I wore sunscreen on hot days in summer and if I went on holiday somewhere warm. I honestly don't know if I'm alone in this? Because when I research on the web, all I find is people saying 'I wear sunscreen all day every day' even in England during cloudy days or bad weather. I'm worried because I was never taught to do this (before the internet was widely available) by my mother, or anyone else. My mother certainly hasn't worn sunscreen every day all her life.
I'm not ignorant to sun damage, I have just been full of confusion about what is really necessary. I suppose I have years of sun damage especially on my face from not bothering to wear sunscreen unless it's a heatwave, which is very worrying. And recently, a few new growths have appeared on my skin.
One is on my face, and from the looks of it I suspected a basal cell carcinoma. I also got a new freckle on my big toe. I went to the doctor yesterday and he told me that neither of them appear cancerous. I was happy with this diagnosis all day until I started to worry again. What if he misdiagnosed either of them or didn't look closely enough, or what if they change? Worse still, today I noticed a pinprick-sized dark freckle above my eyebrow that is definitely new. Now that I remember, it must have been there for a couple of weeks but I forgot about it, and really I should have asked the doctor to look at that too. So I'm worried about that one.
I bought new sunscreens on the weekend to replace last year's and am now wearing them. The doctor just recommended to do this, as he told me the blemish on my face was due to sun damage and I must be careful. This has put the fear of god in me, since now I feel like I have to watch that blemish like a hawk.
I feel really stupid and like I've neglected my health so much and there's nothing I can do now. I feel like it's a certainty I'm going to get skin cancer, the question is will it be sooner or later. I can't live like this so I suppose I wanted some reassurance or just some comfort from people who have had similar worries. I want to go back to the doctor and have this new freckle above my eyebrow looked at, but I think he will say the same thing as the others and I don't want him to dismiss me based on my fear (the freckle looks normal right now). And my partner will probably think I am overreacting too. But I'm bombarded with messages about skin cancer dangers particularly at this time of year, and it's hard to ignore them since even the doctor thinks I would be very prone to it.
Anyway this was long so thank you if you got this far! I don't know where else to vent about this.
xx