Wendy,
I am not the patient, my mom is, but I struggle with excessive worrying over medical issues. And b/c of that my mom got diagnosed, I am the one who insisted she needed an xray over a mild dry cough
I dont know how to control it.I also freak out with every ache and pain, I am diong it right now actually b/c my flank hurts (probably b/c I am exercising and not used to it, duh).........it is hard to deal with.
I asked my doctor a couple of weeks ago when I got zoloft about it and he said I may never change b/c of the situation with my mom and the work I do (my firm does some medical malpractice work).
Debi's post in Early Stage the other day helped me b/c I really took to heart what she said, that beer truck can hit anyone. I went to Disneyland after that and I started looking at all the people and wondered if they had aches, pains, ailments, were they freaking out, etc. They all looked to happy
Anyway, you are not alone in your worrying. I know others here do the same thing, family members and caregivers .