Sometimes I Don't Panic

I'm pretty panicky in that I've been known to convince myself that a particularly bad mosquito bite was that of a brown recluse spider, or a newspaper smudge on my arm was sudden, explainable bruising and I would have to have my arm amputated. Then there was the time I had pink eye and I was confident I was going to "lose the eye." In short, I have hypochondriac tendencies.

When I mentioned how severe the shoulder and back pain had become again at today's acupuncture appointment my doctor proceeded to checked it out again. "Hmm," she said. You know. In the scary "hmmm" kind of way. The good news is there are a couple of people in my life that I feel very comfortable and safe with when I'm around and fortunately my acupuncturist is one, so when she continued with, "We'll have to keep an eye on this. It could be a benign tumor," rather than visions of having a chunk of my back cut out, my immediate thought was, "It's not a toomah." Total Arnold Schwarzenegger voice in my head.

In any event, I'm all set up with some herbal patches, instructions for finding a proper pillow and some tennis ball in the back therapy. Fortunately, Brubeck was kind enough to forfeit one of his for the cause, and with any luck, I can get these muscles a little more loosened up by my next appointment so she can see what is going on.

Until then, I leave you with this.