Member-only story
Medical decisions
What Happened When I Anxiously Made Plans for Which Treatments To Get After Breast Cancer Surgery
Worrying ahead of time is never useful, even when I think I know it all
I’m a researcher. According to my sister and friends, I’m more of a hypochondriac. They suggest I limit my research to my writing.
Whatever, I know a lot of medical stuff. It’s a curse.
Once, when I was advising a new acquaintance in detail on how to treat a UTI, she asked,
“Are you a doctor or a nurse?”
I replied, “No, I’m just a hypochondriac.
So, when I’m actually diagnosed with something serious, I become a fountain of information. So much so, that my surgeon looked at me with surprise when I asked her if I would need Aramatose medication after the removal of my breast cancer.
Most people have heard of Tamoxofen. Few know about Aramatose types of estrogen blockers.
Oncologists and breast surgeons do know all the treatments for breast cancer. So do we hypochondriacs. We have years, even decades of experience researching every possible disease, treatment, and treatment side effects.