What I’m really thinking: the hypochondriac

A headache? I must be about to have a seizure. Stomach ache? Call the ambulance

‘You never think it’s going to happen to you.” Oh, that trope you find so often in the testimonies of the seriously and terminally ill. It’s an idea I’ve internalised and reversed. I’m convinced that “it” happening is inevitable. It started with an MRI scan for a legitimate health scare. When, after weeks of gruelling waiting, the results came back clear, it didn’t matter. I’d already moved on to the next terrifying obsession.

I’ve lost all ability to rationalise. A headache? I must be about to have a seizure. Achy leg? Deep vein thrombosis, probably. Stomach ache? Call the ambulance, it must be appendicitis. Statistics mean little. One person in a million is still one very real person with a life and family, hopes and dreams. It could be me.

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from Health & wellbeing | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1W7QREo
via health