Hi Alice, Well I hope you feel better soon.  Having some tests will put your mind at rest.  The trouble is you may then feel it's into the next thing so it's best to nip this in the bud.

Im sure you have many years of being healthy and happy ahead of you.  Then again, we could all get run over by a bus tomorrow!!  I think you'll know what I'm getting at!  I'm sorry to hear that you've had to deal with illness in the family, it's never easy and certainly won't have helped.

Wishing you and your family all the best.  You'll be fine.

Mary x

Hi Alice.  On reflection I was probably a bit harsh with you and I apologise.  Obsessive and dark thoughts are very often a sign of un-healed psychological issues, and this is something that I have personally experienced.  I had a nervous breakdown at 21 and I really do understand what mental health issues are like.  Counselling is the way forward with this sort of thing, and I wish you well, and once again, sorry if I came across as lacking in empathy.  Violet, x

Hey Violet!

No need to apologise at all, I didn't see it as harsh. If anything it was a little eye opening. 

Mental health, anxiety, depression etc - it's not easy for any of us. I know for sure this is the case for me. I was first put on antidepressants at 16, 12 years later I'm still on them, just of a different variety. I'm convinced for me, it's a bit of swlf-sabotage. Just hard to remind myself of this when in a state of sheer panic!

I definitely need to get back into counselling, you're right. I'll mention it at my appointment on Friday.

Thank you for replying again, hope you & your husband are doing okay. Alice. X

Hallo 

I had never worried about cancer until lock down when you could not see a doctor for love nor money since then I have also suffered health anxiety and every ache or pain I am convinced is some form of cancer I am 72 and should know better I do endeavour to keep off Dr Google as it does always seem to diagnose cancer. I had some skin problems pre cancerous actinic keratosis which have all been dealt with and I see a dermatologist once a year for a check up. I do understand how debilitating it can be to be constantly worried it caused me to have dreadful burning in my mouth when the anxiety was at it worse so please try to put this behind you and keep off Dr Google I wish I could erase it completely xx

Thank you Alice. Have you had your appointment yet? I hope it's gone okay.

I sent a message to my GP yesterday for my urine and vaginal swab test results and I got a message saying they were normal so I was pleased but at the back of my mind I was thinking 'then why am I having symptoms?'

But today I messaged asking for my stool sample test results and I didn't get a quick message back like they usually do, so I assumed it hasn't come back yet as I only did it on Monday.

I then got a call and they said 'you asked for your test results, so I wanted to call you instead of giving a message, and it's nothing to worry about but you're already on the 2ww so we'll review you after that'. And I'm thinking that must not be good because if it was normal, I'm sure I would've just got messages saying they were normal like how I did yesterday.

I kind of wish they just told me what the result was but I understand they probably think I'm going to have a colonoscopy anyway so might aswell wait for that.

Morning Betty,

I'm really sorry to hear you're experiencing this too, although it's nice to know I'm not alone. I'm also really pleased you're in good health and had the skin issues dealt with promptly! That's fantastic.

It really can be debilitating, can't it? It's quickly becomes all we think about, makes us miserable and I don't know about anyone else, but it just seems to use up all of my energy. I hate being the way I am at the moment and like you, wish I could just erase it. The last few days I have kept myself off of Google, which I think may have helped a little, but I suppose I've already googled everything now so it's already in my head!

I have an appointment today to look at a mole I haven't noticed before, so it's could have been there before, but because I didn't know about it, of course my mind starts racing!

I hope you're doing okay today and please remember you're not alone. I'm always happy to chat. Take care xx

Morning!

I haven't had my appointment yet no. I've got blood tests today at 3.20pm which I'm lucky to be having really as they're only really doing them as a peace of mind for me. Then I have a GP appointment at 4pm for her to take a look at the mole I hadn't noticed before! Again, I think this is more for my peace of mind.

It's great that your urine sample & swab came back normal, that's good news! I do get what you mean about it being in the back of your mind though. Sometimes I think to myself, what is actually going to convince me?! 

In terms of your stool sample - have you thought about calling back and just explaining, you're really anxious about it and 2 weeks is a long time to feel how you're feeling, and then see where they go from there? I'd consider doing this, just to ease your mind a little. I've done it before! Also, remember if you spoke to a receptionist, just remember they often just read things off of a screen, this could be nothing!

Do let us know how you get on, will be thinking of you. X

That's good that they're letting you have those for peace of mind. I hope they go fine. I understand why you'd want them, I've joked to my family that the best gift they could give me for my birthday is a full health check at a private hospital so I can have complete peace of mind.

Thank you for the idea. I think I will wait until Monday as I'm surprisingly okay about this now. I feel like if it's abnormal, it must be a slight abnormality or they probably would have to tell me. 

My GP have a messaging service where you can just click 'test result' and then write when and where the test was taken and what type it was. I can then choose if I want my response as a text or phone call so I always choose text message. I prefer this method so much more than calling them. 

I chose text message for my stool sample so I got scared when they called me. I think it was a doctor who called me. I noticed after that, they put my referral details on my NHS app. I wish I could see my test results on there, I actually filled a form to request full access weeks ago but they still haven't given me full access. 

Thank you, let me know how you go on aswell xx

Hiya lovely!

I had my appointment, my GP said she wasn't concerned by the look of the mole, just took keep an eye on it as its apparently a strange place to get one! I'm pretty okay with that really. I explained how anxious I was about it but she just reassured me it didn't look concerning. But of course, I'm not focussing on that bit! I'm focussing on the 'strange place to have a mole' ‍♀️ I had a full blood count done today too, so I'm hoping at least maybe that would flag something up if something was really wrong?! 

Omg I think I agree with you. Full health check might be the only thing that stops the anxiety! It's just rotton isn't it?! I totally broke down earlier, was talking to my husband about it and I even didn't go out this evening because I just couldn't find the energy to put on a front in front of other people. I felt awful!

I'm glad you're feeling okay today!! I think you're probably right too. If something was really wrong, I'm sure they'd have to let you know. My sister-in-law, bless her, had skin cancer a few years ago (found out she was pregnant and that she had cancer within the same hour!) She's the same age as me, and as soon as they knew she had cancer, they told her.

The messaging service sounds fab actually. I'd like something like that, quite often, managing to get through to talk to an actual person is difficult! 

I think I filled the same form out as you, so that I could see everything on the NHS App, but I still can't either. They did email me a copy of my health history though which was handy. I needed it for a totally different reason! My husband and I are getting closer to our IVF journey, I really would love the anxiety go away before then!! ‍♀️

Hope you can try and relax over the weekend and enjoy a little!

Speak soon xx