Caseyg89
20-03-18, 14:23
Hi everyone!
It has been quite some time since I have been on NMP. I find that the posts asking for reassurance about symptoms is not really helpful for me, but I do enjoy reading the posts about how people are combating their health anxiety.
For a quick recap on my case, I was diagnosed with OCD January 2017 and for the first time in my life it was all health focused. My first obsession started with ovarian cancer, then to colon cancer, then to pancreatic cancer, then to bladder/kidney and landed on stomach cancer approximately one year ago (acid reflux, indigestion). I had severe food poisoning around the time the health anxiety started and since then my stomach has been really off. In this time, I have worried about many other types of cancers, but my mind continues to go back to stomach cancer.
I have had every test under the sun including; ultrasounds, blood work, multiple endoscopes with biopsies, colonoscopies, an MRI and a CT scan. My biggest issue is that I constantly doubt the results of these tests. In one of the tests, my liver function was slightly high so they did an ultrasound that saw a slightly enlarged lymph node near my liver that the radiologist listed as "normal appearing" with no follow up required. My mind starts thinking the radiologist is wrong and it might actually be a malignant lymph node etc. After any test I have, I google inaccuracies and often learn about the type of cancers I am worrying about and the difficult to detect ones and decide I must have this.
I would like any input anyone has about their own experiences with:
1. Self diagnosis. Does anyone else do a ton of research and diagnose themselves not only with a illness but a very specific type? I have done this with stomach cancer and not because I exhibit the symptoms that align more with it, but instead it's harder to detect and my brain thinks that if nothing was found in my endoscopes but I still have stomach issues, it must be this type (like so specific that includes the types of cells that would be found etc).
2. Doubting doctors and results. All of my test results have come back clear. There was the one with the lymph node, but even in that one the radiologist said it was normal appearing. How do people learn to trust in the results? I am so tempted to ask my doctor for a second opinion on this as it is causing me so much distress. I had a CT scan of my bowel after this ultrasound and they didn't make any mention of it, but I always worry that the radiologist was not looking for a lymph node near my liver and may have missed it. Does anyone else find they do this and have any suggestions?
Not looking for reassurance of my symptoms but instead personal experiences on how people have managed their health anxiety.
Reality checks are always welcome LOL
Thanks!
It has been quite some time since I have been on NMP. I find that the posts asking for reassurance about symptoms is not really helpful for me, but I do enjoy reading the posts about how people are combating their health anxiety.
For a quick recap on my case, I was diagnosed with OCD January 2017 and for the first time in my life it was all health focused. My first obsession started with ovarian cancer, then to colon cancer, then to pancreatic cancer, then to bladder/kidney and landed on stomach cancer approximately one year ago (acid reflux, indigestion). I had severe food poisoning around the time the health anxiety started and since then my stomach has been really off. In this time, I have worried about many other types of cancers, but my mind continues to go back to stomach cancer.
I have had every test under the sun including; ultrasounds, blood work, multiple endoscopes with biopsies, colonoscopies, an MRI and a CT scan. My biggest issue is that I constantly doubt the results of these tests. In one of the tests, my liver function was slightly high so they did an ultrasound that saw a slightly enlarged lymph node near my liver that the radiologist listed as "normal appearing" with no follow up required. My mind starts thinking the radiologist is wrong and it might actually be a malignant lymph node etc. After any test I have, I google inaccuracies and often learn about the type of cancers I am worrying about and the difficult to detect ones and decide I must have this.
I would like any input anyone has about their own experiences with:
1. Self diagnosis. Does anyone else do a ton of research and diagnose themselves not only with a illness but a very specific type? I have done this with stomach cancer and not because I exhibit the symptoms that align more with it, but instead it's harder to detect and my brain thinks that if nothing was found in my endoscopes but I still have stomach issues, it must be this type (like so specific that includes the types of cells that would be found etc).
2. Doubting doctors and results. All of my test results have come back clear. There was the one with the lymph node, but even in that one the radiologist said it was normal appearing. How do people learn to trust in the results? I am so tempted to ask my doctor for a second opinion on this as it is causing me so much distress. I had a CT scan of my bowel after this ultrasound and they didn't make any mention of it, but I always worry that the radiologist was not looking for a lymph node near my liver and may have missed it. Does anyone else find they do this and have any suggestions?
Not looking for reassurance of my symptoms but instead personal experiences on how people have managed their health anxiety.
Reality checks are always welcome LOL
Thanks!