Allergyboy

Wikipedia. org defines hypochondria as:

A somatoform disorder in which one has the unfounded belief that he or she is suffering from a serious illness. Hypochondria is often characterized by irrational fears of being diseased/dying, obsessions over minor bodily symptoms or imperfections, doubt and disbelief in doctors’ diagnosis, constant self-examination and self-diagnosis and preoccupation with one’s body. Hypochondriacs often require constant reassurance, sometimes from multiple doctors, family and friends.

Hypochondria is often associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety, and can also be brought on by stress.

My dear, faithful readers, I am a hypochondriac - perhaps the world’s biggest even. I am the type who would start reading something about things like multiple sclerosis, hepatitis or perhaps sickle-cell anemia and immediately after, begin believing that I actually have them. And, as I suspect with many other self-confessed hypochondriacs, I came to the conclusion that I am one through self-diagnosis, and not by the aid of a trained psychiatrist. So it’s amusing, really. When I say I’m a hypochondriac, I am essentially admitting that I think there’s something wrong with the way that I keep thinking that there’s something wrong with me. Anyway…

So, I was having a bit of a health scare these past few weeks. Well, actually, to say that it was "a bit" would be a huge understatement, because I was completely agonizing over this for quite some time. But I also had no doubt in my mind that this was mostly (if not all) psychosomatic because, as I’ve said, I am perhaps the world’s biggest hypochondriac. But I decided that the best course to take was to go see my doctor so she could put my fears to rest. So I went to her, she made her diagnosis, wrote down stuff on her doctory chart thingies, gave me a few prescriptions and scheduled me for a few blood tests (and by few, I mean A LOT). So I went to the blood testing center to have copious amounts of blood drawn from my arm. I requested that they do this to me lying down because I was certain that I was going to faint if I did this in any other position. So the blood extraction went along fine (well, as fine as things like that could go), but then I heard one of the Med Tech’s say "ay, may needle akong hindi natapon". HUUUUWAAAT???? So, of course, being the super, ultra, mega worrywart that I am, I panicked (Quietly, I must add. I have this horrible habit of making myself suffer in silence). Anyway, there I was lying down on this tiny bed, thinking that somebody had just quite possibly stuck a dirty, disease infected needle in me. So I politely asked for an explanation. I was reassured that the particular needle in question was not used on me, and that it was not thrown simply because the other Med Tech was just waiting for the trash bin to be replaced. They would have completely noticed a used needle, because for one, they have to get a new one out of a drawer and not from someone else’s arm everytime they draw blood, and two, the needles have caps and you had to tear off a special sticker to be able to take the cap off. So, fine, I was calmed down by her explanation, and was told that the results would be sent to my doctor by Thursday (which was about a week away at that time). This, dear readers, was one of the longest weeks of my life. Mainly because I am slightly insane and keep making gigantic problems out of nothing.

So Thursday came, and I called my doctor’s clinic up to confirm my appointment. AND THEN… (capitalized and in bold for dramatic effect) her secretary told me that my doctor was sick and would not be able to see me until TUESDAY!

OH. MY. GOD. I. WANT. TO. DIE!

So there I was in complete and utter AGONY upon realizing that I would have to spend 5 more days in even more AGONY. For the first time in my life, I completely felt and understood what the phrase "on the verge of a nervous breakdown" meant.

Continued in Part 2…

This entry was posted on Friday, July 14th, 2006 at 1:35 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.