Am I a hypochondriac?

I had an appointment with my pain management specialist today. I was dreading this day because I knew how the conversation would go. Right before a holiday, I had an episode with my device. It was malfunctioning and didn’t seem to work. I had shocks every 10 minutes going up to my head. When I went to get the devices reprogrammed, the device rep told me that two leads were burnt out. He didn’t know why. That was 6 weeks ago. I’ve been dreading this day ever since. I knew that that episode would spur a number of questions that I couldn’t answer.

So, tonight I have a fistful of prescriptions, tests and appointments to schedule. Ultimately, I know that I’m okay. But, here’s another series of CT scans, blood tests and neurosurgeons. It’s the great catch 22 at the doctors. Do you keep your mouth shut or do you let them know what’s going on? And, if you do tell your doctors, what do they think? In my heart, I just want one week without a doctor’s appointment. I want to be able to spend that time with my kids. Instead of less appointments, I have more. And, I really do wonder sometimes, am I a hypochondriac? Is this some sick cry for attention that I really don’t want? After awhile, you hit a point where you start to question yourself. I have some comfort in thinking that really hypochondriacs wouldn’t question themselves…or would they?