Coping with the waiting

PurpleCat

There may be another thread about this already, and if so, moderators, please combine as appropriate.

I thought it might be helpful to share tricks for coping with the time of waiting for results.

I'll be learning my biopsy results later today or tomorrow, via phone. Waiting for the phone has had me so on edge that I can barely function, and then I realized I can just turn off my phone for a bit. They'll leave a message, and then I'll call back. It won't change anything, and I certainly do want to hear as soon as possible, but this way I can brace myself periodically and just try to relax in between. It gives me a slight feeling of control.

My other problem is that my patient portal sends me a notification every time a new report is posted to my account. That's how I learned on Monday, before anyone had a chance to call me, that my mammogram needed follow-up. I've realized it's not helpful for me to be able to look at my reports and try to figure things out, especially before my doctor has talked to me, so I've logged out of the patient portal and set those notifications to go straight to junkmail. I can certainly log in whenever and if I want, but the constant taps on the shoulder when check my email are just spiking my anxiety.

I asked my doctor for something to help me sleep, and that's helped too. I'm hoping not to need it tonight.

Anyone else have any tricks?

DeeDeeT

Painting my nails with my girls, so that I don't end up biting them down to nothing. Does that count as a trick?!

Seriously, though, you have some great ideas! My results should come in tomorrow. If nit, I'll have to wait over the weekend--or possibly longer with this hurricane headed out way (I'm not on the coast, but power outages are predicted).

So, this is a great idea for a post! Tomorrow, I'm working on reorganizing my girls' room. It needs it and I hope it will keep my mind (sort of!) off waiting for that phone call. The suspense is terrible.

PurpleCat-- Wishing you very good news, very soon!!!

PurpleCat

Yes, it counts! :-) I love it! I hope you are very soon untroubled by both test results and hurricanes!

PurpleCat

I realized that part of the hardship in waiting for the call was the feeling of being completely out of control. I had absolutely no control over what they were going to tell me or what path I was going to be forced onto or for how long. But maybe I could at least plan my own response a little bit. So, while waiting, I wrote out a list of questions I wanted to ask when I got the call if it turned out to be bad. I put the list and a pen at my desk so it would be easy to find back. When the phone rang I took a breath, took a minute to get to my desk, picked up the pen, and answered, just as if I was at work ready to take a stressful professional phone call. I was ready to write down whatever I heard, and had questions ready to go. It gave me just a tiny feeling of distance from the situation, as if taking this important message was just another task in my day. It helped me not to fall apart and to just focus on the facts they gave me.