It finds you when you're not even looking. Possible trigger.

[sdoxo]

So I was on Facebook minding my own just scrolling when I come across a post a friend shared about a girl my age (26) who died from Ewing Sarcoma. Like I didn't even have to click the link, it was all in the title! Down the rabbit hole I go!

And why is it in instances like that, when we know something is so astronomically rare, that we latch on like a leech? It will probably take me a while to shake it off the back burner.. ugh. HA is so frustrating.

[Leslie735]

I saw that today too. Two of my friends shared it. It triggered me as well. :/

[Malibustace]

I read a newspaper article yesterday about someone very young dying from a disease they say is for 'older people', that triggered me.
Does anyone else manage to have physical symptoms after reading about these things? If I read about someone dying and one of the symptoms is a pain in their toe, guarantee I'll wake up the next day with a pain in my toe!

[bubx]

I saw that article too! And she was giving advice? Yeah I was really scared about that, and it triggered the bone cancer anxiety I had back in November

[worried94]

I saw it too! It also upset me :( having a period of time right now where I'm very irritated about how unfair life is

[sdoxo]

Ah so a few of us have seen the article! I understand the point of it, I really do. I wish there was a way to filter that sort of thing! I usually stop following pages that post things that trigger me. But this was a friend and I'm not sure I want to do that.

[poppy77]

Someone I know had also posted an article with a similar title on Facebook today. I feel deeply sorry for the girl and her family but I avoided reading the article, even though the health anxiety side of me was pushing me to. I just know it's one of my triggers.

[sdoxo]

Same here Poppy. I read all I needed to read in the title, couldn't bring myself to actually open it. I'm sure I would be a wreck if I had.

[CG5246]

Oh my god, it’s like I wrote this post! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said those exact words over the past couple months. It’s like we can’t escape HA!

[sdoxo]

It's definitely very hard! As soon as I think I'm making progress shit like this always happens...

[Kels1377]

It's comforting to find everyone here, thinking the same thing. I honestly have been having an odd sensation (not pain) when laying on my right ribs recently. The HA in me has been silently whispering "cancer" over the past few weeks, but I've kept it battled down. I even had researched Ewing's sarcoma a few weeks back, but said, "Kels, this is a VERY rare cancer as it is, and even at that, you're 26. I think when I looked at Ewing's a few weeks back, my brain said, "only children and adolescents, very few above 20." With it already being so rare, I dismissed it. When this arose yesterday (RIP Holly Butcher), she presented as an outlier to my logic and my findings, and all of the walls I had built up fell down around me. I had to take medicine last night to calm down (the first time in months), bit down my nails (which I had finally grown out), and managed to spend the better part of a work day obsessing about Ewing's. Health anxiety is truly a monster.

[sdoxo]

That was my thought process too Kels. When I looked it up the age was as you said, then thought about her age and was like "Oh, great." I want so bad to be the person I was BEFORE HA.

[Kels1377]

Absolutely. I'm repetitive, obsessive, I'm wasting life - I spend so much time worrying I may be sick - this year alone it's been: chordoma, colon cancer, skull-base cancer, brain cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, ALS, aneurysm, bone cancer, and now Ewing's. It's exhausting. Unfortunately, I had an unsuccessful stint with a therapist/psychiatrist - medicines didn't seem to really work - I'd get more nasty symptoms that I would then spend my time worrying about.

[sdoxo]

Oh wow, what a rough year you've had! I really hope things turn around for you. I am planning on making an appointment with my GP soon to discuss getting back on meds.