My father just told me he was a hypochondriac too.

I don't know if I've written about this before, but I have a full-blown Health Anxiety. Been suffering from this for over a year now. It started with me getting weird rashes and intense hair fall for months. I've visited a lot of doctors (twice to internist, twice to dermatologist, once to gynecologist) and guess what, the experts said I am just STRESSED! And so at about the same time I developed those weird symptoms, I also had hyperacidity or mild gastritis of some sort. I went to the doctor, he did bloodwork and ultrasound, and when everything came back fine, he said " Dear, are you sure you're not stressed lately?"

That's when I started to doubt doctors. I used to think of them as gods who can solve all my problems but I've visited too many and they all said "it will go away", "ganyan lang talaga", "stress lang yan." And the webMD-ing happens first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and plenty of times throughout the day. It's debilitating, I'm not exxagarating. There were days where I just could not work because I'd rather curl in bed and, with my iPad in hand, try to figure out my disease.I bothered plenty of people especially my partner. Once I went to the lab for an ANA test (just to rule out lupus). It was expensive and I was a total wreck. When it came back negative, he literally shoved the lab result to my face.

Everytime I call my mom, I never fail to mention my health woes. The one I have right now is Digestive issues. Belching, floating stools (TMI), gassy, bloated, undigested food.

MOMMY:
Wow, Inday. Malipay gyud ko mag tan-aw sa imo pictures sa Korea.
Wow. I'm so happy looking at your pictures in Korea.

ME:
Lagi Mi. Mi, ang akong tiyan ba...
Yeah, Mom. Mother, about my tummy...

MOMMY:
Labaw na tong nipaso ka sa red carpet.
Especially the one where you walked on the red carpet.

ME:
....Mi, ngano mani ako tiyan oi.
Mom, what do you think is wrong with my tummy?

MOMMY: (sighs)
 Unsa man problema,Inday?
What's the problem this time?

ME:
Mao lagi gihapon. Mulutaw ako tae.
It's the same. My poops still float.

MOMMY:
Normal ra man siguro na kay acidic man ka...
I think it's normal because you're acidic.

(muffled voice. It's Dad's)

DADDY:
Wen, ayaw na sige'g huna-huna ana. Sauna nagka ing-ana pud ko. Sige tingog akong tiyan. Magdaguok. Dayon walay klaro akong tae. Pila ko ka tuig sige ug pa check-up, wala man gyud sila'y makita. Niundang ko oi.
Wen, don't think too much. I had that, too. My stomach used to make a lot of noises then my bowel movement was not regular. I've been to a lot of doctors for a long time, they found nothing. So I stopped.

ME:
So na-praning sad diay ka sauna, Dy?
So you were paranoid about your health, too?

DADDY:
Oo lagi. Ingun ang doctor wala ra daw gyud problema.Ako ra daw makatabang sa akong kaugalingon. Sa stress ra daw to. Wa na nako huna-hunaa, nawala ra man.
Yes. Doctors said I'm the only one that can help myself because what I have is stress.

ME:
Swerte man ka wala pa man to'y WebMD sauna.
Well, you're lucky there's no WebMD during your time.

I'm a bit relieved. My dad's alive so I might be alive longer, too. I'll try to not check my poops for a month, let's see if that will help.