What Does a Hypochondriac Look Like?

Her name is Stephanie. We don't know how it happened, but she's our hypochondriac (defined as a person who is abnormally anxious about their health). It's not like I made staying home from school fun when she was sick. She didn't see her mom and dad running to the doctor with every little thing. With all my children, if they were still running a fever after 3 days, I CALLED the doctor. I never made a big deal out of any illness or injury. Maybe she needed more attention---and still does in adulthood. Why else would she call me in the middle of the night saying she had a brain tumor because she had a headache and a little dizzyness? Or the time she called me and said she had Sars to which I replied, "so exactly when were you in China?" I think you get the picture. Well here's the latest:

I was at a scrapbook retreat over the weekend. When I talked to Butch on Thursday night, he said I might want to talk to Steph because she was convinced that she had lung and uterine cancer. I called her to find out what was going on. She said that she noticed that she had been breathing "funny" and couldn't seem to breathe right lately. She had gone to her doctor for her annual physical and called it to her attention. The doctor said maybe she heard a little something and wanted her to get a chest x-ray. Then when she was pressing on Steph's abdomen, she asked if it hurt. Steph wasn't sure if it really hurt, or was hurting because the doctor was pressing on it. So, she said "yes." The doctor had her go for an ultrasound. The tests results were due back on Friday. She said that she had told her dad not to tell me so that I wouldn't be worried and ruin my weekend. I laughed at that as I'm the last person to worry. I have a simple philosophy---I don't worry unless the doctor tells me there's something to worry about. I calmed her down by telling her that anytime you start thinking about how you are breathing, you can't breathe naturally anymore.

Turns out, both tests were normal. Her doctor told her that she might need to "see" someone about her anxiety. She asked me if I thought she should. I told her that from now on, she should just call me with her fears. After the ridicule from me, if she still feels afraid, then maybe she might need to "see" someone.

I must admit, a couple times I've scoffed at her for going to the doctor for what seemed like bug bites to me, only to find that she had ringworm and another time had staph---both of which could be serious. Just goes to show that maybe mother doesn't always know best---but most of the time she does!

Stephanie's hypochondria provides a lot of fun and laughter for the family. Luckily she's a good sport.