What Should You Be Asking Your Doctor?

It's rather interesting to discover details about others in your life. Perhaps, something even more intriguing, is their fears. I took the time to interview two of the most dear ladies in my life and had them depict their biggest health scares.

Joanna is a 22-year old college student who has grown up in a house full of struggle. She attends college as a full-time student and maintains a steady job in order to keep a tight grip on her finances. She explained to me her greatest fear is Alzheimer's. A large majority of her family members have suffered with this disease. Joanna's dream is to raise a loving and nurturing family. Her greatest fear from this disease is not being able to remember who her children and husband are, and ultimately, hurting them.

Amy is a 45-year old single mother of 1. She works hard to put her daughter through school, and as a result, has a lot of stress from the late nights at work. Amy smokes to cope with this stress, as did her parents and grandparents before her. Amy had a scare on a business flight back from Chicago. She was caught in a coughing spell and eventually started to cough up blood. It was then that the heavy fear of Lung Cancer set in. Flashbacks of her uncle and grandparents set before her. She has been to the doctor and does not have cancer yet, but if she does not stop smoking, she could be in some serious heart and lung trouble.

As for me, I am in the same boat as Amy. I smoke in order to deal with stress. This year I found out I had contracted HPV from a current boyfriend. HPV is called the silent killer because, a lot of women do not know they have it, until it's already done serious damage. I thought I could never get it because I had taken the preventative shots years before. However, I was unlucky and managed to get one of the rare strains not protected by the shot. The combination of smoking, the HPV, and my sucky immune system has led me to the first signs of cervical cancer. I have to wait another 3 months and be tested again, to see if it has progressed or improved on its own.