HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Fear of missing cancer diagnosis

Support Forums
>
Fibromyalgia
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 3/25/2012 10:31 AM (GMT 0)
Hi All,

This will sound strange but it is a fear of mine and I was wondering if anyone has a similar fear or can give me some ideas on how to manage it :-) Now, it's not a serious fear but one that on occassion pops into my head.

The fear is:  with all these fibro and cfs symptoms, how do I know that they aren't masking cancer symptoms?  I pride myself on trying to be proactive about my health but there are so many things wrong with me that I sometimes wonder that when I go to the Dr with whatever is wrong with me, that it will be passed off as Fibro etc and cancer won't even rate a thought.

As I said, quite silly of me to think like this but it's a thought that occurs enough to have me ponder on it rolleyes

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers  Lou

Posted 3/25/2012 11:17 AM (GMT 0)
Lou, I'm sure your doctor takes a lot of blood work throughout the year.  Mine does.  That blood work tells if there is something like that going on in  your body.  Certain levels would be higher and that would be a signal to do further checking.  So, if you are seeing your doctor regularly, I wouldn't worry about it. 

 

The thought of cancer frightens everyone.  My father had bowel cancer, my aunt had breast cancer, and my grandmother had lymphatic cancer and you know what?  All had surgery, treatment, and lived out their full lives!  I just won't allow myself to worry about something that probably will not happen.  If it does, then I'll deal with it.  One thing for sure, the amount of time I spend in the doctor's office tells me that if they ever found cancer, it would definitely be in the early stages.

 

Have you read the scripture I have in my signature?  This has helped me with fear most of my life.  I got rid of nearly all my anxiety by this scripture.  That's why I put it in my signature.  Fibromites tend to have anxiety issues because of all the various symptoms we have.  The anxiety, aka fear, will just make things worse.  I never project myself in the future because no one knows what the future holds!  No one!  So why worry?  The worry will make you sick and you could be getting sick for no real reason!

 

So, push that "C" word out of your mind.  See your doctor regularly and also see them if you have a new symptom that is really bugging you.  I did that when the heart palpitations started.  Just being checked out can ease your mind tremendously.

 

Put a smile on your face and have a great day!

 

Sherrine

Posted 3/25/2012 4:50 PM (GMT 0)
Sherrine,

 

Great post on anxiety...you're so right!  When my fibro symptoms started, my normally high anxiety went right off the charts, and I began having panic attacks.  Somewhere I read the scripture passage that you have as part of your signature, and I even highlighted it in my bible.  I was so surprised when, a few days later when I got on this site, that I saw the same scripture, and I took it as a sign that I should really take it to heart!

mealmaker,

Not trying to hijack your thread--I suffer from the same fears you describe.  It's so hard to live in fear, but so hard to stop, too--I sympathize with you.

Right before my fibro pain started, I had swollen lymph nodes all over my body, and I was nearly incapacitated with fear, as I take a drug for rheumatoid arthritis that lists lymphoma as a possible side effect.

That was nearly five months ago, and I've had dozens of blood tests, which all came back normal.  My rheumatologist is taking things slowly, because it's not that unusual for people with RA to experience lymph node swelling, but I'm freaking out.  I see her again on April 12th, and she told me if the swelling is still there, she'll send me for a CT scan.

In addition to that, I have a pelvic ultrasound tomorrow, because I had some abnormal results on a pap test, which my gynocologist thinks is endometrial hyperplasia, but she's doing the ultrasound because I've been having pain, which I guess isn't normal for that.  I had a colonoscopy a few weeks ago to rule out anything large-intestine related, but that came back ok.

Anyway, I'm not trying to make this about me, I'm just trying to let you know that I understand where you're coming from...it's so hard to know when to see a doctor about pain.  I'm going to try to take Sherrine's advice, too!  :-)

 

Posted 3/25/2012 10:13 PM (GMT 0)
I had hyperplasia in my shoulder. It was a mass. The doctor thought it was a sarcoma and it scared the living daylights out of me. He did find two inflamed lymphnodes and removed them. The surgery itself took away a lot of the pain. I think the mass was pressing on some nerves. I was happy to know that it was just hyperplasia. And it seems to have gone away because I had a huge lump there. But to this day, if it itches in the back, I have to scratch the front. Wierd huh???

Yes, worrying about things that you can do nothing about at the time is a huge waste of energy. It depletes us of energy that we could use somewhere else. And like Sherrine said, we are at the doctor's enough to know if something isn't right. Fibromyalgia is enough.

I hope you all have a good day today.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 3/25/2012 11:57 PM (GMT 0)
Mealmaker,

I understand it. I used to get those worrisome thoughts more often when I was younger. By now, I can usually figure, "whatever will be will be."

But there are still those times. Probably what helps me the most when I'm feeling like this is just to take a few deep breaths. Simple but true. It seems to cleanse my mind of it all.

Debbie
Posted 3/26/2012 5:50 AM (GMT 0)
I was doing really well with my anxiety until I had some disturbing news. If I let my guard down it doesnt seem hard to let junk get you down. I guess I needed reminded to stay in scripture. It takes work.
Posted 4/7/2012 10:12 AM (GMT 0)
Many thanks to you all for taking the time to post a reply.  I appreciate all your thoughts and comments.  I don't have regular blood tests which is possibly why I tend to worry a bit re any strange symptoms.  As I wrote, I might have the 'cancer' thought once in a blue moon but it does reoccur but you have all set me at ease :-) I'm sorry my reply to you all is late however I've been having a major flare of both CF and Fibro so I have not been on the computer much.

I wish you all a wonderful Easter.

Cheers  Lou :-)

Posted 4/7/2012 3:21 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Lou~

I have a question for you...as I said in my post above, I had (and still have) swollen lymph nodes.  I'm over five months into this weird journey of new symptoms, and my rheumy does think I have fibromyalgia, but she's never mentioned CFS.  How long did your lymph nodes stay swollen with CFS, and does it come and go?  Thanks so much for any info, and I hope you have a Happy Easter, too! :-)

Posted 4/7/2012 6:11 PM (GMT 0)
Lou, as a chemotherapy patient myself I can tell you a full body MRI will help you relax. MRIs are given to me yearly, to check how much growth I have. MRIs can show any kind of inflammation, good or bad. There are two types of cancer according to my doctor - benign cancer (inflammation growths) and cancerous cancer (the evil stuff). In all honesty, its just something you know, I mean deep down you know is wrong with you. I was getting up and vomiting first thing in morning. My gut told me something was seriously wrong. I got the growth biopsied and I was lucky enough to have a conclusive biopsy. I honestly don't think you have any form of cancer. But I have given ways for you to check and see.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply