3rd Doctors opinion !!!

[Worrywart528]

My latest HA started in July of this year when I went to a private practice dermatologist. According to her my risk of skin cancer was obscene and I needed check ups every 6 months. I believed her and sunk into a depression. I checked my moles endlessly and noticed every spot that appeared.

In August a small bump on my nose appeared. I quickly went into her and she diagnosed it as a pre cancer actinic keratosis. She said my sun damage caught up with me and wanted to freeze it off. Some reason I declined and made a second appointment for a second opinion.

1 month ago the second dermatologist looked at the spot and diagnosed it as a fibrous papule. When asked about pre cancer he looked three more times and said nope... fibrous papule. I still worried... I did not know who was right and with my OCD my mind raced. I will have thousands of these actinic keratosis's... I will need surgery after surgery and spots frozen off non stop.

Today was my third opinion. I actually was so nervous I almost backed out. This doctor asked me why i was there. I said one doc told me I have pre cancer the other said fibrous papule. He brought out the spray bottle and grabbed his magnifying lense. He looked at the spot and said " well I have to agree with the fibrous papule" You do not have a pre cancer. He then asked about any other spots. I showed him two more and he said you know what. You need to stop looking so close. It is good that you are observant but trust me you will know when something is wrong. He then asked if I wanted a full body scan. I told him I had one in July and he said well you wont need one for another 2 years. I pointed out that the first dermatologist told me my moles were atypical and I was at a very high risk for melanoma. He asked the degree of atypia and I said the lowest. He said no.... you are good.. trust me.

I am dissapointed in myself that I wasted 6 months of my life in an extreme panic. I am also dissapointed that I had faith in the first doctor and it appears I fell victim to scare tactics. I now need to trust the other two doctor's diagnosis ( which can be hard with us) and move past this ! Today is the first day in months I feel good !!!

[Traceypo]

That's brilliant, pleases you're feeling good, put the last 6 months behind you, it's done, you know where you stand now.
Xxx

[daisyflower]

Brilliant news, I would certainly stick to the last doctor if you ever go again and really take his advice. Go and be happy!

[MyNameIsTerry]

I'm pleased things have worked out for you.

I remember your other recent thread and it was obvious that the first doctor didn't do much in the way of examination whereas the second did loads.

Whilst seeking medical opinion can be a reassurance strategy, things getted muddied when you have conflicting diagnosis and it's a positive strategy to do what you did and get an additional opinion to prove which doctor is correct.

That first doctor needs reporting for putting you through this. How many more people will they scare for a basic flaw in their diagnostic procedure? I suppose at least this way around it's only impact on mental health because the other way around would be truly terrible.

All the best for the future. Challenge those thoughts and keep yourself moving forward.

[Worrywart528]

Terry, That is correct the first doctor did a quick look from about 2 feet away and immediately told me what it was. Unfortunately it was luck of the draw that I went to that Doctor first. Had I gone to the second doctor I would have been relieved with the diagnosis of a papule and moved on. I probably would not have had another thought about it.

The second doctor was like a robot, no bedside manner but did examine the spot 3 times with the magnifying lense. I was immediately relieved when he told me it was not pre cancer but in a short time I was still worrying what if.

The third doctor was also very good and explained things a lot better.

I still have "what if" running through my mind. I need to relax and realize I have had two doctors give me a positive diagnosis. I would say 80 percent of the time I feel good and 20 percent I get nervous. It is a lot better than the sheer panic I had for the last few months.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, it will take time to change your thinking. You have the springboard to do right now.

"What ifs" can be tackled by using positive "what ifs" to counter them. It does take more positives to counter a negative though from what I have read and I've seen 3-5 typically used in examples. This might be useful:

http://psychology.tools/what-if.html

I would highly recommend the Thought Records in the Download section of that website. There is a HA one.

It probably won't be doing much for one of the other battles people like yourself have, the "trust your doctor" issue that is always part of the doubting process. Your experience has been all too real but you have seen 2 doctors who have been on the ball and thats the most relevant and most important thing to concentrate on when those doubts are nagging away.

[uru]

When you say you 'wasted 6 months in panic' how panicky were you? -if you don't mind my asking.

[Worrywart528]

URU, I was very anxious. From the point the first dermatologist told me I was at very high risk for Melanoma I developed a new bout of Health Anxiety. That was in July of this year. Skin cancer was always on my mind. I wasted two vacations obsessing over moles and any skin blemish that developed. I would spend all my free time on my phone reading story after story about people that were diagnosed with melanoma and passed away.


When this spot showed up on my nose I became even more obsessed with skin cancer. Everyday I was checking the spot over and over and over. I then started worrying about the other skin cancers. Basal cell and squamas cell. I again read story after story of people who had suffered hundreds of these cancers and were getting them removed every 2-3 months. I honestly felt like it was me that was going through this.

Then when the first doctor diagnosed it as a pre cancer a month or so ago it went into full blow panic mode. I ended up wasting two more vacations and pissing off my fiancé beyond belief. I read stories on the internet again of people that needed to do endless cycles of topical chemo to slow these growths down. I again put myself into their shoes and convinced myself that my life as I know it was over.

[uru]

That sounds terrible!

It's interesting that although yours is a different issue we both exhibit the same behaviour. That is, searching out information to confirm our worst fears. Why do we do this?

[Worrywart528]

It is a cycle that we need to break. I enjoyed a good deal of freedom from about 2011-2015 and had no health anxiety. I think we need to realize we have a severe form of anxiety mixed with OCD. So once we get stressed about a symptom the OCD starts and we consume ourselves with every single detail of whatever illness we think we have.

It is exhausting and I remember the same cycle for other ailments. This one was the first time I was ever actually told I might have something somewhat serious and I did not respond well. I think people with our disorder should have a special label on our medical files saying " handle with care".

For most people a dermatologist telling them he you have small pre cancer on their nose is a relief. For someone with health anxiety it signals the end of the world. Like I said I wish I would have went to one of the other two doctor's first.