Mar 20 2009
It’s either hypochondria, or I’m dying.
My husband is the biggest hypochondriac I know. I swear I faked an illness once, and he caught it!
But lately I think I’ve caught his hypochondria.
First of all I have the “this is the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) kicking in” syndrome. Every time I have an ache or pain, or on a day I’m feeling exceptionally tired, or every time I catch a little too easily another illness that my children bring home from school, I think it’s the RA that my mother, her brother, and my grandmother passed down to me. No really. I’ve been tested 3 times in the past two years. I really think it’s coming to get me.
Then I have the breast cancer fear. My Mother’s sister was diagnosed with it at 39, the age I am now. I feel like I’ve been doing pretty good about doing the self-exams and getting mammograms. But on my birthday my Aunt sent me a card that said, “Happy Birthday! Get a mammogram. This is the year I was diagnosed, ” and the paranoia kicked in full force. I mean this is the year! You know?
Then I have the “every time your Father goes in to have his moles checked he has cancer taken off” fear. It didn’t help when one of my husband’s good friends died from Melanoma in his late 30’s. It was horrible. And you know they never found the source? But I’ve always done the good job with the sunscreen, and I’ve never was one of those girls in the 80’s with the fake bake tan. So I should be OK. Right?
Then Grey’s Anatomy last night talked about one of it’s main characters having stage four skin cancer that had spread to her brain. My husband’s friend died 2 weeks after getting this diagnosis. I ran to the mirror to check out all of my moles. I got online and looked for every picture I could find of cancerous moles. And I swear every mole online, every mole, looked exactly like all of my moles.
Holy Crap!
I made an appointment this morning.
I think I have a problem with my skin.
Or it could be I’ve caught the hypochondria from my husband.
Quick.
Somebody fake an illness so that I can catch it.
Oh yes, I would say you’ve caught it bad!
What’s up with the Aunt’s card? I bet she’s just a ray of sunshine at all your family gatherings!
How about we spread health and happiness? You catch things easily from the children because they’re little germ spreaders (all children are) and your resistance is down.
Your husband can think up his own illnesses. Think of it as empathy on his part.
Don’t give up looking for the solution that will bring you to health, or at least to knowing what you have and how to deal with it.
I understand cancer comes on you silently. Don’t worry it there. Just get things checked.
Start using your children to take your mind off of your illness. Immerse yourself in their health, their youth, their playfulness. See if that will help.
Marilynne
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Marilynne
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Marilynne