After going throuugh cancer treatment, you’d think that the small aches and pains of life - like having “the trots” as my grandmother would say - are no big deal. Not for me. Now, when I feel even the smallest pain, I flip out.
A few weeks before one of my big scans, I had a horrible upset stomach probably from something I ate. I was on the toilet for hours in total panic mode: Sweat rained off my body onto the bathroom floor. I was shaking so badly my feet sounded like they were tap dancing. Logic left my mind and I felt like I was going through treatment all over again.
I try to go on the defensive at the first sign of an ache or pain. I fight against wondering if my upset stomach is a long-term side effects surfacing or a secondary form of cancer. I get logical telling myself that if I had a new form of cancer or a recurrence, I would probably have repeated symptoms not an isolated incident.
I pop a Tylenol, Advil, Pepto at the first sign of feeling sick. If I squash the symptoms of small aches and pains, it helps to I curb my fears. Prior to cancer I was little miss natural-homeopath. I never even took Tylenol for fevers or headaches. Now, I figure that after swallowing two enormous doses of radioactive iodine, my body probably considers over-the-counter drugs to be a walk in the park.
When I’m suddenly hit with a harsh stomach bug or I spike a fever, it’s xanax time. It chills me out and keeps me from going to that illogical place of fear. And I also try to talk to someone who gets it and isn’t going to make me feel like the hypochondriac I am. I want someone soothing who is going to say, “Of course this is scary stuff. After all, you’ve had cancer.”
Do you ever suffer from irrational fears when you feel aches and pains? Where does your mind go and how do you bring it back?
“Everything Changes is, without doubt, the most forthright, emotionally sophisticated, and plain-old valuable book of its kind I've seen.”
