Hypochondriacs Unite!

Back in the day, I was an ER fan - not so much the newer ones, but the George Clooney era . . . he was so dreamy! Next, I became a Grey's Anatomy fan. Besides being set in a hospital, what do these two shows have in common? Since I am not going to wait for a response, let me tell you . . . extreme health issues. I watched Grey's Anatomy with a friend's mom who had been an ER nurse for years. With each episode she would laugh at all the trama that would enter though the ER doors in one night, commenting that she never saw that much action in one night. I suppose it makes for good television, so I didn't mind that you would probably see a gross disease, a severed limb and a shocking pregnancy. But as the series went on, the shows would have to "top" themselves until the cases the doctors were seeing were just ridiculous.

Eventually, the episodes started getting too weird for me and it seemed like all the doctors and nurses had time to hook up with each other in between saving the city from the latest epidemic, that I couldn't remember who was dating who. Needless to say, I dropped the shows from my "need to watch" list, but they had already left their impression on me. Example #1: A couple of days ago, I had a monstrous headache that even Advil couldn't relieve. Clearly, I knew had a brain tumor. I am sure it had nothing to do with the group of eight, fourth grade boys that I was a small group leader for in Vacation Bible School. No, that is too extreme, it was obviously a tumor. Example #2: My shoulder would not stop itching. Obviously, I had a rare skin disease or had been bitten by a flesh eating spider. One of the two for sure.

My point is that these shows have turned me into a hypochondriac. My thought is that if these shows are showing patients who are suffering from these strange ailments, then they must exist, although there is a small part of my brain that think these writers might be making them up. Unfortunately, the crazy part of my brain that has been tricked by these shows tells the smart part of my brain to butt out.

So, if you have been affected by these shows and call yourselves a hypochondriac then together, let's unite! We can figure out what's slowing deteriorating our bodies together. Maybe you have a more interesting disease than me.