Someone help me

[tommum]

I am 33 and mum to 2 small children. A few close people have recently died and my mum has been diagnosed with cancer.

The last 2 weeks i have become convinced i have something wrong with me too. First it was cervical cancer so i booked a smear test (still waiting for that - 3 feb) although i have no pain or extra bleeding. Then it was breast cancer although i have no lumps. Then it was bowel cancer, i have had piles since i had my kids and they are usually fine and i do get loose stools when anxious which is almost daily...

I just keep getting aches in my arms and legs too (i researched and it said leg pain could be due to cervical cancer) which worried me even more.

I saw my doctor last week who said i should speak to someone but the appointment is the middle of march...i havent eaten any dinner for days and i am overweight so i am now losing weight and worrying.

I am so scared of having cancer and leaving my kids behind, i have a permanent knot in my stomach and just want to cry all the time....

[Jaysail]

I have felt this way at times too. I have learned to make sure all the basics are covered that I can attend to. Enough water, good balanced foods, no sugar, breath deeply and often. try to walk for exercise while breathing deeply, hot showers and stretching in shower. Then and during, istall the tape message, I will be okay. am doing all I can. I am proud of myself. I am strong. we will be okay. Make a few comparisons to others and you will see, life is not just a bowl of cherries. I felt an earthquake a few weeks ago. I thought my health was going bad. My mind was bussing away. My first thought was I was the problem. Until I saw the lights and bottles wobbling. 500 miles away, now estimated at over 150 thousand people were squished at that same moment I felt dizzy. I live on the Island of Hispanola in the Dominican Republic. I am fine. Life is not always fair. I suffer from extreem anxiety as well. Have not found a cure as well. I met a freind last week on his way to see if his kids had survived, they live in the capital if Haiti. Without phones, no way to tell. His young kids may well be on one of the heaps of rotting bodies. That is a real night mare. Be strong, be proud, and take your place along side the rest of us doing there best. Good luck and may you have peace. There is a god force you can call upon to give you strength and assistance. Use it.

[sunnie1017]

You are not alone in feeling like this, im the exact same way.  My mother died at 41 years of age of a brain anuersym, and the closer i got to 40 the more my constant worrying set in.  Im 42 now and i have believed that i've had everything from blood clots, numerous heart attacks, brain tumors.  You name it and i've talked myself into believing that i have it.   If i feel any little twinge in my chest i think im going to have aheart attack, then that leads to a full blown panic attack.  I have two kids also and i can't tell you how much time i've wasted worrying about dying from some illness and leaving them behind.  So you are not alone in feeling like this!!

[mammo]

I think as mothers we always have this worry.  The best thing you can do is what you are doing, get yourself checked out to put your mind at ease.  Seeing a professional can help you learn to not worry so much. Keep in mind that your children are sensing your constant worry, and you are damaging your body by constantly worrying.  Seek professional help and you can beat this.  In the meantime try to keep your mind occupied with other things, do the breathing exercises to relax yourself. If you continue to be preoccupied with this worry, in some ways your children have already lost you....to worry.  Don't worry yourself away from them.