Distress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Distress - Essay Example She first felt the lump in her breast a month prior to admission. She was advised by her GP to have a mammography and the tests revealed that she had a mass in her breast. Further laboratory testing revealed that the mass was malignant and that cancer cells have already metastasized to her liver. She was immediately scheduled for double mastectomy and subsequent chemotherapy. After the surgery, it was discovered that cancer cells also metastasized to her colon. Another surgery is being scheduled to resect the mass in her colon. She is now feeling a lot of distress, mainly because of her children and her family. She is also feeling distress because of her impending surgery and her chances of beating the disease. She fears also the chemotherapy which may or may not work. She mostly fears for the people she will leave behind, who will take care of them, and guide them as children and as young adults. She is also distressing about the pain she knows she might experience as her disease wo uld progress. And finally, she is also distressing about whether or not the medical remedies they are using would work in managing her symptoms and in possibly prolonging her life. She is in a constant state of anxiety, at times she is tearful, and at other times she is panicking. She often wrings her fingers in an obvious state of agitation and concern for her family. She also sometimes displays anger at no one in particular. At which time, she would snap at her health care givers and even at her family members. She often immediately regrets these incidents and would cry about them. At times, she would be sad and melancholy and mostly just insist on sleeping. She would also manifest a brooding and contemplative attitude; these times often lead to moments of worry and of anxiety about herself and her family’s future. She also tries to comfort her family members and just try to be strong for them; but undeniably, there are times when she is very much agitated and anxious about her condition. During these times, she registers with elevated heart rates, breathing rates, and blood pressure rates. She has had no major medical problems. Prior to giving birth to her first child, she has had no history of hospitalization. She is slightly overweight, but not overly so. She has no history of drug and alcohol abuse. She is not a smoker, and only indulges on a glass of red wine during weekends. She tries her best to maintain a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables, but she has not been able to maintain such a diet because her children are picky eaters and they dislike vegetables. Her diet mostly consists of rice, red meat, chicken; breads; potatoes, peas, carrots, fish, legumes, and fastfoods. She was diagnosed with hyperglycemia a year prior to her current admission, but such issue was resolved within one month of taking medications. She has had normal pregnancies for her three children and has carried them all to term. Her menstrual periods have been regular sinc e she first had them; but about a year ago, she started to miss periods. She did not have herself checked because she thought she was already going into menopause. She also experienced some tenderness in her breasts 2 months ago, but she did not feel much pain from the tenderness so she again did not go to her GP for consult. She felt dizzy and nauseated two weeks prior to admission and sought her GP for a consult. She was given medications for a stomach virus. After a day of taking the medications,