I can definitely relate to this. I have had situations where one doctor recommended major surgery, but I went for a second opinion and found out I didn't need any surgery.

There are almost always alternatives. They will probably give you choices of treatments.

Remember that you are in control. You will decide what you want to do. You will probably get a choice of treatments. You can always go for a second opinion. You are in control.

Until your next appointment, the best thing to do is take good care of yourself. Make sure to eat! Not eating much, as you said, is not doing your body any favors right now. You don't want your health to get worse or create any new problems.

Keep busy with your regular life until the next appointment. Can't do much to change things until then anyway, right? And like you said, hopefully it will be just fine.

I understand what you are going through. Try your best to take great care of yourself, both physically and mentally, because this will only help your overall health.

You're going to be okay!

Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate you taking time to respond. I feel like I’m on some kind of crazy roller coaster ride. One minute I’m feeling like I can manage my anxiety and the next I feel like I’m on the verge of a panic attack. I’m trying to control my thoughts but it’s not easy to drag them away from my anxiety and the fear underneath it.

Hello Liz. Welcome to DS. I'm glad you found us, too.

I'm not speaking metaphorically when I call my own mental health, "A rollercoaster ride." I have never been on a carnival rollercoaster which can whip my innards as fast or as deep as a panic attack. Thinking of my condition as a literal rollercoaster ride helps me keep a gentler sense of humor about the challenges of managing ^it^.

But that is me and every case is unique. . .

Gentle support while you find what works for you. Welcome aboard.

Welcome to the anxiety board at DS.

You've taken the important first step in writing it out.

Writing in a private journal will help you sort through the feelings, emotions, and thoughts and work out what gives you calm and balance.

Thank you arfie and Mid. I’m trying my best to use all my anxiety strategies but I keep getting pulled to worse case scenarios about my health. It’s funny how anxiety does that. It “should” be just as easy to focus that everything will be fine instead of all the bad things that can happen but anxiety has a way to take you to the scariest places in your mind.

Try to keep busy, keep up your usual daily routine... until you can get more information about the status of your health.

Like you said, it *might* end up being nothing, and then you would have worried all this time for nothing. It's normal to be concerned about our health when we get a possible bad diagnosis. But I have also found that worrying excessively about all the "What If's" doesn't help my health condition any.

When do you see the specialist? I hope it is soon so that you can put your mind more at ease. Write down any questions or concerns that you want to ask the specialist. Keeping a list of questions might help you feel a little more in control. (Anxiety is often about feeling that we are out of control of our situation).

But you DO have control. Everything *could* be okay, too. It's a good sign that your husband doesn't seem too worried about your prognosis. I think you're going to be fine, too :) Go live your life, keep busy, do things you like doing, enjoy your life.

Thank you GirlinCalif. Today was a better day. I kept busy with exercise, journaling and talking with family and friends. You’re so right about anxiety feeling like things are out of control. I’m not sure yet when I’ll get my appointment for the specialist. I’ll keep sharing here though because it’s such a supportive community!

Hi Liz2791,

I can relate exactly to your specific anxiety. Just last week, I had to see a specialist because of a woman's issue I was having. I was terrified. I had to get the courage to make the appointment. Then, I was in panic mode waiting. During the exam, I was shaking. I had to wait for the results. I couldn't sleep and I barely could eat. Then, I received a text that the results were abnormal and I had to call for another appointment. I could barely make the phone call. I was almost in tears talking to the nurse. Again, I couldn't sleep or eat. When I arrived at the doctor's and got to the exam room, it was all I could do not to cry or pass out. The nurse came in and said the doctor had to exam me with a machine to look for suspicious areas. Again, I was terrified, thinking the worst possible. When the exam was over, the doctor calmly said nothing looked suspicious and all the tests he had done previously were normal. I couldn't believe it. I was so happy. He said my abnormal cells were only a very few and it could just be an inflammation without any infections or other problems.
So, you could find out the same good news.
But, I understand how hard it is to believe there is any possibility of positive outcomes when a person has an anxiety disorder.
Even now, I am still worrying because I still am having some physical discomfort. Also, the doctor said I had to come back for another exam in six months. I'm already worrying about that.

Thank you Marci for sharing your story. I’m sorry you had to go through that experience. Anticipatory anxiety is awful and creates all sorts of fears that may never come true but feel very real at the time. Our minds choose worse case scenarios to frighten us instead of best case scenarios to calm us while we wait for answers. My mind has definitely focused on the worse case scenarios. After learning more though and based on my initial test results and my symptoms, I think I know what my diagnosis will likely be. While it’s not an ideal diagnosis it’s much better than some of the alternative ones and has helped ease some of my anxiety.