How did you handle going for important medical tests?

My mother died of ovarian cancer when I was 12, ovarian cancer has been linked to genetics. Having a first degree relative can seriously increase one’s risk for the disease. Ever since my late 20’s I have been tested annually for the markers that indicate ovarian cancer including a CA-125 blood test, a vaginal ultra-sound and a pelvic exam. I used to be stressed to the gills in the weeks and days leading up to the appointment. A couple of years running I met with my therapist the night before the appointment. We would talk about the possible outcomes and how to handle each one. My mantra became “I am powerless over the results and my life has become unmanageable.’ My first mammogram came back with the possibility of ductal carcinoma in-situ. When I waited out the time between the appointment and the biopsy and between the biopsy and the results I just kept repeating that mantra.

My husband is a firm believer in seeing the end in the beginning. Over the years I have made that my goal. I always try to visualize myself healthy and happy and hearing fabulous news about the results. (Fortunately I have never received bad news.) I have found that the less I focus on worrying the less troublesome the wait and the more confident I am the results will be good.

@SuperMouse Thank you so much for such a lovely answer. I am going to use that Mantra too. You are an inspiration!

To be honest those days are a daze in my memory.
I think the best way to handle them is to stay busy, focused on the positive, and calm centered.
Take care of you mentally and physically.
I don’t believe I altered the tests by my attitude, I think what I did have control over was how I handled the news and what I did after.

Too be perfectly honest, not always well. I now approach tests just a tad nervous, hopeful and try to put my best foot forward. It is not what life hands you, but what you make of it.

I just wanted to say that I fully agree with @SuperMouse. Though I’ve never had to undergo an important medical test, whenever I’m anticipating something that may have a possible negative outcome (i.e. a job interview, a final exam, etc.), I do two things: 1) I keep reminding myself that just as there is a 50% chance of things not turning out well, there is another 50% chance of it working out perfectly, and 2) I tell myself that worrying will not change the outcome, regardless of what it is. So, whenever I start getting caught up in my emotions, I stop, take a deep breath, and go through steps 1 and 2 as many times as necessary until I calm down. It works every time :)

I spent six weeks this past summer needing one test after the other, with each test showing something that needed further examination. It started with shortness of breath that I’ve never experienced before. I was sent for an x-ray and was told there was a spot on my right lung. The next week I went in for a CT scan. A small mass was found on the scan, so the next step was a PET scan the following week. My doctor called with the result from the PET scan. When she called late in the afternoon she told me she called when she thought someone would be home with me so I had someone there for support. She said it didn’t look good. The report showed the mass had a high probability of malignancy, with a possible metastasis on the lymph node. A fine needle lung biopsy was needed. At this point I became very scared. I didn’t know a lot about lung cancer and my search for information gave me some scary results. The 5 year survival rate is not very high. I had terrible thoughts of not being around to see my young daughter grow up.

I had the lung biopsy the following week at the small local hospital closest to us and I was sent to an oncologist to find out the result. My husband took the day off from work (unpaid) and went with me to get the result. We waited a long 40 minutes until we finally met with the oncologist. It was the longest wait of my life. He told us the radiologist did not get the proper sample and I would need another biopsy done at a larger hospital an hour away from where we lived. I had to wait another week for that biopsy and then another 5 days for the result. This last wait was over the 4th of July weekend and I enjoyed every minute of it with my family. The result of the second biopsy was benign! I have histoplasmosis. I was scheduled for a follow up x-ray in 3 months (a month ago). The x-ray showed the mass as stable but there was a little concern about the lymph node. I’m waiting for another follow up in February, but this time it will be another CT scan. I’m still dealing with tests, but I don’t have that fear of cancer that I was dealing with when this all began.

My friends, a handful of jelly friends and my family were amazing. I’m not a religious person, but the prayers from many of my friends meant more to me than I ever thought they could. I really felt like I could feel the energy and positive thoughts that were being sent my way. I was amazingly calm through the whole ordeal and stayed positive as best as I could. Worrying would have made it worse for me and my family and worrying wouldn’t change the outcome. Also, being patient in life is an important lesson that one should learn at an early age. It will help you when you are faced with life’s curveballs. It is good for you, your health and everyone around you.

@jonsblond I’m sad to hear you went through such an ordeal. Because I can imagine the worry and waiting. But as you say, friends and family even Fluther friends kept that energy positive. I do believe in prayer yes. Even if a person is not religious, prayer can be like a placebo of sorts. But it does work.

With poise, maturity & a stiff upper lip…until I see a needle, then I shit my pants & whimper like a small child whose lost his mother.

@jonsblond I admit to reading your response with a smile on my face because I knew the outcome before I started. I still remember the incredibly relief I felt when you posted that the mass was benign, it made my week and the outcome still makes me happy!

Sometimes I handled it better than others. I had a lymph node biopsy in my neck (for suspected cancer) when I was 15, and the lead-up to it was hard. Knowing they were going to cut open my neck while I was awake was scary! We had to wait a week (or two?) for the results but I was doing okay until I made the mistake of watching the movie “Terms of Endearment”, and after that I was lost…sure I was going to die of cancer. The relief I felt when the results said “benign” was enormous.

Since then, I’ve had a number of major and minor tests for serious illnesses, and I handle the waiting (before the procedure and after) better. When the results are bad news, I cry and plan appropriately, and then keep on living.

@SuperMouse Thanks. You played a part in keeping me positive and sane. :)

We were all so happy and relieved for you, @jonsblond. Lurve you!

I pass out from the experience (or even detailed description of!) medical procedures.Seriously, I get tunnel vision and then BAM! I am unconscious.

I think it’s caused by an incident where I lopped off part of a finger as a 1-year old.

Although I do better if other people are doing the bleeding. I’ve successfully shepherded injured friends through the emergency room.

I try to give blood platelets. I have a 50% success rate. On the bad days they send me home and say, “Thanks for trying!”

I don’t buy any trouble. I say I don’t know, so don’t go worst case. I get scared, it isn’t a fun thought. But until you know for sure it’s just that: Don’t know.

I had a colonoscopy for the first time on the 15th. I’d chickened out and postponed the procedure twice before. I agonized over it for weeks, but curiously once I started the fasting (I started 3 days early) and got into the rather unpleasant process of drinking nearly a gallon of Polyethylene glycol-electrolyte solution (PEG-ES) over the day before and the day of the test, I settled down and just did what I had to do. And Golytely PEG-ES will definitely make you have to do something—often and thoroughly. They found one incredibly small polyp and clipped it out. It will be several weeks yet before I get the biopsy results, but I’m betting it’s benign. If so, I definitely will say worrying about it was the worst part of the whole procedure.

I have been very worried twice in my life, but have been through tons of medical crap aside from those two times. The two times the waiting was quite bad, I prefer not to go into the details of what I was concerned about. I ran through what I would have to go through physically if results were positive over and over again in my head for a couple weeks concerning the first instance, and a couple months regarding the second scare. I also remember the great relief when finding out everything was ok and the scare was over each time.

Easier to be the one getting the test. I distract myself right before with a book or a game and when it’s time for the actual test it’s lights out. My family are the ones that get to wait through the whole thing. I don’t envy them.