@lp3star Everyone has anxiety. It is just part of being human and being aware of danger as our species evolved, so don't let a label define you. Having an HMO as insurance is a disadvantage and we are soon approaching the insurance selection that is usually in November if you are in the US. You may want to compare and choose another insurance next time if this is available to you. Paying a bit more for better insurance can pay off in the long run. You can look up the insurance plans that are accepted at Mayo Clinic on the website.

When you say that you don't want to know if there is a serious problem, and you spend time on Google looking for one, you might just be adding to the anxiety that you are feeling. Your doctors are listening because they have scheduled an endoscopy. Every day is just one day at a time, and everything you can do to reduce stress and anxiety will improve your health. I had read a long time ago that 80% of diseases are caused by stress. Stress changes your body's hormones and chemistry which affects everything.

My husband had a bump on his hand that he ignored thinking it was a wart for a year, and when I saw it, it looked like an eraser on the end of a pencil. I was concerned, so I found a dermatologist and booked an appointment for him. They took a biopsy of that and a few moles, and I got a call a few weeks later that this was melanoma, the most deadly and hard to cure of the different types of skin cancer. The dermatologist didn't recognize it on sight, and thought it was something benign, but here we were with bad news, and were referred to a surgeon. Still, we walked through this one day at a time, first surgery that removed the cancer, and a skin graft to replace the tissue. He was lucky that it had not spread which they stated as an 80% chance. Still, that leaves a 20% chance that it had spread. He had to follow up with dermatology every 3 months, and has now graduated to every 6 months, and he sees the surgeon twice a year for a checkup. So far, there has been nothing more, and he gets X rays and Mris to check the rest of his body. A genetic test revealed that he is at a higher risk of developing cancer, and that can happen independent of this cancer. I feel that things are OK, but every time he faces a new scan, there is still fear of finding a new cancer, but we do this together and both feel very lucky and grateful for the doctors who changed our destiny.

Interpretation of medical imaging and data takes a trained doctor who has spent years learning to find, diagnose, and treat problems. The longer a person lives, there will be more imperfections, sometimes due to injuries or illness that leaves a lasting effect. No one is perfect, and that's OK. We learn to manage what we are given, and we do have choices that can either improve our health if we choose wisely or degrade our health if we choose poorly. I am the daughter of a man who had a heart attack when he was 50, and stress and anxiety contributed a lot to that. He worried so much that he talked himself into having a heart attack. The mind is very powerful. Did I worry that I had inherited a higher risk for heart disease? Yes. Did I take dietary choices seriously? Yes. In spite of having heart disease, my dad lived into his mid 80's.

I was in my 20's when my family stopped eating high fat diets because of my dad's heart attack. During a very stressful time in my life, I saw a cardiologist and went through all kinds of tests because I had chest pain. The answer I got was that there was no blockage of any kind to be found, and that I should live a long life. Could I have caused a heart attack by worrying about it? Probably, but having consulted a specialist and getting advice let me stop worrying about it.

My dad also had issues swallowing, and had some swallowing studies that revealed that the mechanics were not so good. That may be another step you could take if your doctors think it necessary. Connect is a patient forum, and not staffed by medical specialists, but as patients we can listen and support each other.