Terrified of cancer!

[Snapper123]

So over the last few days after last week's major panic/anxiety attack .. i have convinced my self that a sharp pain under the base of my tounge is something serious... (The big C) I know in my heart it's most likely not that but again my anxiety is telling me what if it is I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle... back to the doctors this week to have it checked out ..because I know I will not stop thinking about it untill it's checked out .. anyone else ever have this pain in there tounge and slight lump in the throat occasionally?

[PrimoB]

I have the lump in my throat 80% of the day. I know its my anxiety and possibly some acid reflux but at times I worry about the start of a heart attack. I’m at the point now I am getting mad at the symptoms instead of scared and it’s helping. The chance it’s cancer is very rare so try to put your mind at ease a little. GOOD LUCK!

[angelam123]

I think the fear of cancer is something almost all of share. When I was six-years-old, a playmate of mine died of leukemia. As a child I did not have an understanding of what was going on. I knew my friend was ill sometimes. But other than that I could only cobble together bits and pieces if overheard conversation between my parents. I picked up on the words “nose bleed,” “leukemia,” and “cancer.” I also was aware that my friend died. As a result of my confusion, I became paralyzed by the fear that I was going to die of leukemia. When I became an adult, my anxiety only grew worse. Leukemia haunted me everywhere I went.

Not once did breast cancer ever enter my mind. I had none of risk factors, did regular self-exams, and had routine mammograms. So I was shocked when 35 years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My six-year-old self said: “This can’t be right. It was supposed to be leukemia. I’m not prepared for breast cancer.”

Long story short, after surgery and months of chemotherapy, I survived. And am fine. What I learned from that experience is that I wasted a Hell of a lot of time worrying about something that never happened. The things you worry and fret about are not the things that happen to you. And when and if something bad happens out of the blue, you can handle it. It’s your imagining the worst all the time that will get you.