Am I a hypochondriac?

Parent Cafe
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<p>So- I freaked because I had to go back for more testing re breast exam.
They have done that- and probably one reason why I had to return is that they are now using digital screening which shows greater detail so they didn’t know if what they were seeing was there before.</p>

<p>( They didn’t have to do a biopsy, I just have to return in the fall)</p>

<p>But anyway- like some of you I am noticing that my body is not just putting up with what I do to it anymore.</p>

<p>( this is a :eek: for our generation. First we thought we invented sex- then we thought we invented parenting- now we invented aging :stuck_out_tongue: )</p>

<p>I stand up for hours on the cement floor of a club and the next day my knees are shot.
I dig all day trying to get all the plants that have been filling up my driveway in, and I can’t open my hands.
( and ^ re: the club- * two* beers plus just being out late and the next day I am wiped out! :frowning: )</p>

<p>So you would think that was bad enough- but now I am worried that I have skin cancer.
I have what I initially thought was a blood blister, on my breast ( the same one they were concerned about) when it didn’t go away, I tried to pick the top off ( because the few times I have had one they then were healed underneath), but that didn’t work- and it re-formed.</p>

<p>I guess I have had it about a month or so, it wasn’t there I don’t think when I went in for the xrays- and I only notice it now because I look down and see it- if it was anywhere else I’m sure I wouldn’t have noticed.</p>

<p>Dyspraxia isn’t doing me any favors- it already effects/affects ( I never know which one to use), my memory and sense of time , so a month could go by and it would seem like a few days.
( which is how it is now less than a month before D graduates from high school :confused: )</p>

<p>I will call the Dr up tomorrow- luckily I already have gone in recently to a Dr that specializes in skin cancer and he has done a visual mapping of my more prominent potential bumps and lumps- since recently I have had some that pop up overnight.</p>

<p>But I of course have researched online ( doncha think docs must looove google :wink: ) and if it isn’t a blood blister- it is not good.
So I am kinda freaked- </p>

<p>I also found that redheads have a different sort of melanin that is more prone to damage by the sun.
Great
But a reminder to everyone to wear your sunscreen all the time- even if much damage occurs decades before and even though I do not remember every having a decent tan in my life :p</p>

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<p>ek4 - this might not make you feel <em>much</em> better, but D had something similar to what you describe in the same area, it turned out to be staph. Apparently it’s a very common area for that sort of thing. Treated with antibiotics for a few weeks and she’s fine now. Keep us posted.</p>

<p>I have the exact same problem with my hands and I don’t dig in the ground all day like you do! We’ll probably all fall apart at the same time. </p>

<p>I guess we’ll have to get voice recognition software to communicate on CC!</p>

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<p>What you may have is a cherry angioma. I have quite a few of them, including a couple on my chest. They are very common as we age, and usually completely harmless: [Cherry</a> angioma](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_angioma]Cherry”>Cherry angioma - Wikipedia).</p>

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<p>After age 40, it just “patch, patch, patch”! (And, I, for one, am getting bloody tired of it!)</p>

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<p>I have some cherry angiomas, too, more and more as time goes by. They do look like a raised bump filled with blood. This is probably what you have, but of course get it checked. </p>

<p>The problem with your hands might be arthritis. I have been using CosaminDS for years, and it keeps my osteoarthritis at bay. Fish oil capsules are also supposed to help; I use omegabrite.com.</p>

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<p>Gotta love being a redhead with our Pheo- “false”- melanin… You’re not being a hypochondriac. Getting things checked out early would save the country lots on health care. Easier, cheaper, and safer to treat high blood pressure than a heart attack.</p>

<p>I learned a lot of stuff this year that freaks me out and is probably going to change my habits. I’m only 23, but I want to get a skin cancer screening- I’m a redhead with pretty much every risk factor you can have, short of chronic x-ray exposure…</p>

<p>… but then again, my view on aging is that “we’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time.” No fun living to 100 if you don’t get to have an ice cream or a beer once in a while.</p>

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<p>cherry angiomas,
I have one of those on my leg but it looks different- I did find other pictures though and some do look like what I have
thanks- that would be great :D</p>

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<p>I have a tiny angioma on my nose; I went to the dermatologist to be sure it wasn’t skin cancer. He didn’t think I was crazy at all.</p>

<p>D had a staff infection on her leg - it looked like a pimple, but then spread and became sort of crusty. She went to the dr who called it impetigo, cultured it, and prescribed an antibiotic pill and cream for it. It went away fairly quickly. </p>

<p>So no, you’re not being a hyochondriac.</p>

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<p>I think my angioma will soon outnumber my freckles (no, I’m not a redhead but I sure inherited some good Irish blood).</p>

<p>I had surgery for melanoma on my neck 8 yrs ago and as part of the surgery they first did 4 sentinel node biopsies in different spots on my back and shoulders. My oncologist was pretty frustrated because the results from each of them were inconclusive - they could not determine one way or the other whether it had spread… </p>

<p>That same year (this was right when I had turned 40) I had my first mammagram and they found some gray tissue mass on one breast, which led to quarterly exams for the next year along with other x-rays/ultrasounds, before they finally determined that they could not determine anything of enough concern to even do a biopsy (and have only needed annual exams since then). </p>

<p>I did not start out as a hyponchondriac… ;)</p>

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<p>Oh scansmom, I am sorry you had to go through all that. I know it’s better to be safe than sorry, but you must have been scared for all that time.</p>