External hemorrhoids, panic attacks and honesty

External hemorrhoids, panic attacks and honesty

A recent blog visitor I edited sent an email titled “My Painful External Hemorrhoid Nightmare Story” that was really open and honest. After reading it, I replied and asked if it was okay to write an article based on what they shared. They said it was fine as long as I didn't use her last name.

“Debbie from Cedar Rapids, Iowa” is a single mother of a young child who has to work two low-paying part-time jobs to pay the bills. She always put on her best happy face for her daughter, friends and family. Her approach to dealing with stress was to bottle it up and keep all her worries to herself. When her daughter slept, Debbie ate a lot of junk food to relieve her stress.

Surprisingly, she was able to maintain an attractive figure without moving outside of her work. Her nightly binges on junk food caused her to develop chronic constipation. She ignored the first sign that an external hemorrhoid was forming. After passing a bowel movement, she said she felt like a bee sting and felt a small growth as she cleaned herself.

Like many people, she ignored it and thought it would go away on its own. Over the course of a month, she had a large bleeding hemorrhoid that couldn't be ignored. It got so bad that she had to wear spandex shorts under her work clothes to avoid embarrassing blood stains. The itching and pain were constant. Always there to remind her that her condition wasn't going away anytime soon.

The only temporary relief she found was using over-the-counter hemorrhoid creams. The external hemorrhoid didn't shrink because she left it untreated for too long. Her co-workers, friends and family noticed that she was walking differently now. This is a very embarrassing life situation to experience in addition to hemorrhoid pain. Nobody likes to tell other people that they have hemorrhoids.

The logical approach for people is to make an appointment to see a hemorrhoid doctor. Debbie had two things against her. She was too ashamed to go to the doctor and had a phobia of doctors. She had no problem taking her daughter to the doctor, but she had developed a real phobia after suffering a severe panic attack during a doctor's visit as a patient.

It had been a year since the big panic attack, but this fear of having another one triggered a phobia from doctors. I understand her feelings because I have a friend who has excellent health insurance coverage but never sees a doctor unless it's serious.

They also have a phobia of hospitals and doctors. They once told me that they don't want to have blood tests or health exams because they don't want to know if they have a disease like cancer. They think that if they don't know they have an illness then it doesn't exist. Avoidance always leads to more health problems. Debbie avoided having her external hemorrhoid removed.

It got to the point where the external hemorrhoid grew larger and became infected. The pain became too much. Infected hemorrhoids cause serious health problems. Her parents had started watching their daughter more and more because of their Debbie's health problem. They didn't like what was happening to Debbie and had her see a hemorrhoid doctor.

The spirit is powerful. In the waiting room, Debbie had a severe panic attack and felt like an elephant was on her chest and joker faces were looking at her. The thing about panic attacks is that the person having one always thinks that all eyes are on them. This increases anxiety levels and a fight or flight response to the situation. Debbie wanted to leave immediately. Her parents and a nurse reassured her.

The doctor explained that she had a severely infected external hemorrhoid that required laser hemorrhoid surgery to remove it as soon as possible. The word surgery makes every patient's heart beat faster. Debbie had no choice. Her health was seriously threatened by a hemorrhoid infection. She has fully recovered from the hemorrhoid laser surgery and is living a hemorrhoid-free life again.

What really struck me about Debbie's email was that she was open about how her painful hemorrhoid nightmare has finally stopped, but her anxiety and panic attacks are now more frequent. She shared that she would not ignore the condition like she did with her external hemorrhoid.

Inspired by Winston Cook