Medical Anxiety
I am a wimp when it comes to medical issues. I have always been this way. My mother reports that the pediatrician who evaluated me after birth stated that he had never seen a child lift her head off the table and watch him walk around before. He was a bit freaked out, and apparently I was as well!
My regular pediatrician got very used to my screams and unhappiness whenever I saw him. I would start to scream when I saw his office nurse in the grocery store (poor woman!). There was one time, though, when I reacted to him in a completely different manner.
I was about three years old and had some fever-induced seizures. My parents took me to the emergency room where my pediatrician was doing rounds. He came along with an entire gaggle of student nurses, and, when I saw him, I smiled, opened my arms, and gave him a huge hug. He took the hug and stood there patting my back and rocking me back and forth. He looked at the nurses, and said, "This child is REALLY sick. If she was in her right mind, she would NEVER let me get this close to her much less hug her." I think he was thrilled by the hug, but very concerned as well.
Medical anxiety is not something that I have outgrown (unfortunately), but I no longer scream when the doctor or the nurse enters the room. I have managed to control my impulses a bit better than that in recent years. It continues to be a struggle, though.
Recently, I have been to lots of new doctors, met lots of new nurses, and have had medical experiences that I have hoped to never have! Those new experiences will continue as I go into surgery and stay in the hospital for the first time since birth! As she was the first time, my Mom will be here this time as well.
I've been getting things ready at home and at work. Yesterday, I was talking to a friend who works in National Office, and she reminded me to take my mp3 player with me to the hospital. I hadn't even thought about that! How strange and funny that a music therapist wouldn't even place her mp3 player on the list! Shows you how anxious I am.
I will just keep breathing, listening to music, and singing throughout all of this adventure.
My regular pediatrician got very used to my screams and unhappiness whenever I saw him. I would start to scream when I saw his office nurse in the grocery store (poor woman!). There was one time, though, when I reacted to him in a completely different manner.
I was about three years old and had some fever-induced seizures. My parents took me to the emergency room where my pediatrician was doing rounds. He came along with an entire gaggle of student nurses, and, when I saw him, I smiled, opened my arms, and gave him a huge hug. He took the hug and stood there patting my back and rocking me back and forth. He looked at the nurses, and said, "This child is REALLY sick. If she was in her right mind, she would NEVER let me get this close to her much less hug her." I think he was thrilled by the hug, but very concerned as well.
Medical anxiety is not something that I have outgrown (unfortunately), but I no longer scream when the doctor or the nurse enters the room. I have managed to control my impulses a bit better than that in recent years. It continues to be a struggle, though.
Recently, I have been to lots of new doctors, met lots of new nurses, and have had medical experiences that I have hoped to never have! Those new experiences will continue as I go into surgery and stay in the hospital for the first time since birth! As she was the first time, my Mom will be here this time as well.
I've been getting things ready at home and at work. Yesterday, I was talking to a friend who works in National Office, and she reminded me to take my mp3 player with me to the hospital. I hadn't even thought about that! How strange and funny that a music therapist wouldn't even place her mp3 player on the list! Shows you how anxious I am.
I will just keep breathing, listening to music, and singing throughout all of this adventure.
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