11 years ago, for reasons I can’t even remember, I feared I had breast cancer. I was in boarding school, a shy type, with no one to confide in or talk to about my fears. This thought would later drive me into a form of depression that would leave me with a constant fear of an early death before the secondary school was over.
Fast forward to long vacation. With no phone and internet access, I decided to ransack the house for medical books that could help me understand the way I felt better. My dad had a handful of them stacked on a low hanging shelf, in a section of the living room. Amongst this collection was an encyclopedia with a category for medical entries or articles. I spent my holidays reading its articles on cancer especially breast cancer. For someone so young and naive, I couldn’t quite understand most of the information I got. Some times, I am like; “Phew! I don’t have it.” Other times, I read something new that confirms just the way I felt.
At some point, I got frustrated and resigned to fate. If I had it, it would manifest fully but if I didn’t, then, what a relief! In all these, I never spoke to anyone about my fears. I guessed my family assumed my binge-reading an encyclopedia was just early manifestations of an excellent career as a medical doctor in future. Funny… I’m a proud medical laboratory scientist today.
Now, I know better about breast cancer and self-breast examination because I have listened to and attended sessions that taught about breast cancer and early detection.
I could go on to the time I had palpitations and thought it was a heart disease, only to find out later that it is a premenstrual symptom for some other ladies as well.
The point is this, stop fantasizing and traumatizing yourself with concerns about your health you know nothing about. Don’t keep quiet till it escalates to a major health issue. Speak to someone, most preferably a health professional.
You could help curb a disease at its early stage, or fear all you want in silence and still face the reality of worse complications. It could as well be nothing– just a normal physiologic response to a situation or event.
You would never know till you speak up.
Stay informed
Maureen
Medtrix 