An obsession with Cancer?

[letina]

I didn't know whether to post this here on the Oncology forum or on the Psych forum, but here goes.

I have a close relative who for a long time now seems totally pre-occupied with cancer. When I say 'pre-occupied' it's like she's living in fear of ever contracting it, to the point where she's looking for any opportunity available for screening of any kind. To date, she's 'persuaded' her Doc to refer her for mammography, cervical smear and a blood test for the gene which carries ovarian cancer. She even had an endoscopy because she had indigestion for a while and convinced herself it was stomach cancer! She also contacted a private hospital to ask if she could pay for a full body CT scan. Of course I actively promote regular screening where it's appropriate, but my relative has no symptoms or any reason to believe she could be at risk. It's getting to a point where her life seems to revolve around this. She's 71 years old and in good shape but living in fear of ever having cancer. I love her dearly but I don't know how to handle the constant 'looking for signs and symptoms'. As I'm the only nurse in my side of the family, I'm the one who she presents her 'symptoms' to and it's no use advising her to see her Doc because she's a step ahead of me there! It's such a shame really because she should be enjoying her good health, not worrying about what might be 'lurking' somewhere.

I'd appreciate any suggestions on how best to handle this.

Thanks,

Tina

[leslie :-D]

i'd let her pursue all the diagnostics she wants until she's satisfied.

in the meantime, you might want to provide her w/data that correlates high stress levels to compromised immune systems, thus increasing the risk of any type of pathopysh, including cancer.

good luck to you and your aunt.

leslie

[suzy253, RN]

Is she receiving any psych support for obsessive/compulsive disorder? Although she receives many tests to look for something wrong, it sounds like she is not/will not believe them.

[leslie :-D]

Is she receiving any psych support for obsessive/compulsive disorder? Although she receives many tests to look for something wrong, it sounds like she is not/will not believe them.

you could be right on the mark there suzy-cue. :icon_hug:

hypochondriac, psychosomatic....if that's the case, then she'll never believe any negative results.

leslie

[letina]

Hi, thanks for your responses. I take on board what you say about psych evaluation. As I said in my OP it crossed my mind if this is a psych issue, but how do you tell someone you love you think they may have mental health issues? Unfortunately here in the UK it's a bit of a taboo subject, there's still a lot of stigma attached.

As for 'believing' the test results, once she gets an 'all clear' from one diagnostic, she moves on to something else. It's not like she's obsessed with just the one thing, say breast cancer, then you could say well the mammogram came back negative so you're fine.

I'm surprised her Doc hasn't picked up on this and identified a psych issue.