What Is . . . a Health Scare or Two?
About ten years ago, my eye doctor started taking photos of my optic nerve to assess the health of my eyes. The first time she did this, she not so subtly recommended that I see a specialist ASAP, like, within a week, if possible. She wouldn’t say why, except that my optic nerve connects to my eye in a strange way. I booked the appointment with the specialist and then did the one thing you’re not supposed to do (but everybody does)—I googled it. The results? A brain tumor or MS. Needless to say, it was one of the most serious health scares I’ve had in my life and one of the longest weeks of my life.
The diagnosis? The way my optic nerve connects to my eye happens to be strange, probably from genetics. Thankfully, I didn’t have a brain tumor or MS. But now, every time I go to an eye doctor, if that eye doctor doesn’t know me, they freak out about the shape of my optic nerves. One asked me if had severe headaches, and when I told her that I didn’t, she insisted on asking again and again and again. So now, whenever I meet a new eye doctor, I tell them ahead of time that they’re going to think I have a brain tumor, but I do not have one. Yes, I’m sure.
The strange thing is that something similar just happened about a month ago. Not just another health scare, but the exact same health scare. Which, of course, made me think I really did have a brain tumor or MS. Long story short . . . I had a dizziness test done by my ENT because my ears and sinuses are a mess, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with my ears or sinuses. Instead, it came up as neurological. Google told me again that it was most likely a brain tumor or MS. Lucky me! So off I went to a neurologist three very long months later.
The result? The in-office exam showed my brain is so healthy that the test had to be a false positive. For the second time, I got to be incredibly relieved that I don’t have a brain tumor.
But wait! What’s the fun of only one health scare at time? Instead, I also found out I had a spot of skin cancer on my forehead. Thankfully, it was the only spot and it was easily removed.
By now you’re probably wondering why I’m babbling on about health scares. Well, I’ve got a big birthday coming up later this month, and one thing that comes with age is the fear that you’re closer to the end than the beginning, and you’re hoping you’re not closer than you think (if that made any sense). And one thing a good old fashioned health scare can do is make you grateful for, well, your health. I am lucky at my age to be relatively healthy. My issues so far are more in the annoying range: a soy allergy (trust me, it’s way more annoying than you imagine because soy is in everything!), the previously mentioned bad sinuses, and occasional bouts of vertigo (hence, the dizziness test). Like I said, annoying but nothing I can’t live with, the operative word being “live.”
And after a health scare or two, that’s all you really want to do. Live your life the way you want to. ‘Cause the beautiful thing about aging is that you actually get to age and spend another year on this spinning rock.
Moving forward, my life is going to be filled with a lot more hats to protect my forehead from the sun, even though I really, really hate wearing hats (big head, lots of hair). And if another doctor ever hints, implies, or says that I have a brain tumor again, I’m not sure if I’ll laugh or cry but I’ll make sure they have actual proof.
‘Cause on this Wednesday, I don’t need another health scare and neither do you, but, as always . . .
Stay Curious.