There are few things in life more agonizing than waiting for a medical diagnosis – for you, or for a loved one. If you have been through the process, you will know the familiar feelings. Maybe you have been planning a day out or a lunch with friends and momentarily frozen as you realize that your appointment falls before that date. You might be happily watching TV and then a character falls ill, and you come crashing down with the reminder of your own situation. Waiting for a diagnosis is rough, and all you want to do is be on the other side of it.
Here is the harsh reality: You cannot shorten that wait. Things take as long as they take, and it has to be this way. For your doctors, getting medical malpractice insurance and continuing to offer services is dependent on following the correct processes and timeframes. It is often stomach-churning to face the calendar knowing that there are still days or weeks before you can know anything for sure. But while we cannot accelerare this process, we can make the wait less unpleasant.
Get practical
Trying to avoid thinking about the forthcoming appointments, tests or news is an exercise in futility. The more you try to shut it all out, the more painful it is when the thoughts find their way in anyway. So the kindest thing you can do for yourself while waiting for any diagnosis is redirect those thoughts into positive action. Review your insurance cover to make sure everything is in order should you need it. Book the time off work for the day in question, and perhaps the day after to allow yourself time to recover from the stress. Inform yourself about treatment options so you can swing into action if needed.
Pessimism is not realism
There is a school of thought that says the easiest way to cope with an impending diagnosis is to assume the worst and act as though it is already happened. This is – not to be unkind – nonsense. That is not how the human brain works. Expecting the worst will not make you more prepared for it, because there is a world of difference between thinking you have an illness and actually having it. If you receive good news when you were expecting bad, it can still be tricky to cope with the information, because the cognitive dissonance is still a jolt. Also, pessimism can deplete mental energy, which you will need if the news is not as bad as you expected but still reveals a problem that needs to be dealt with.
Do not make a bucket list
If this is the kind of situation where “bad news” means something that may significantly shorten your life, some people advise making a “bucket list” of all those things you want to do before it is over. You may do this if you so choose, but there is little evidence that it helps at all. Not to be a party-pooper, but those things are generally on a bucket list because they are hard to do, and they will not necessarily become any easier in the wake of bad news. It is much better to focus on the fact that medical science is forever becoming more powerful, and even a pessimistic prognosis can be overcome with prompt and effective treatment.
If you are waiting for a diagnosis, a million thoughts will run through your head in that time and, whatever you do, there will be moments of anguish. But if you can use the waiting time to prepare a battle plan, it can definitely make for a brighter future.
