Do you over or under exaggerate

[Streetwise]

I don't mean to keep adding more threads, but sometimes I just have more questions and stuff than others. And sometimes one thread will make me start thinking which leads to something else but different. So I apologize first.

But exaggerated responses. When my mom was still here, whenever she had to go for a medical test, she'd let all her kids know and most the time, at least us 3 girls were always there. My daughter in law's mom is the same way - any and every test all her kids are there, often best friends and other family members.

I'm quite opposite and I think I tend to underexaggerate. Most people I know who have had heart caths have had prayers requested, have family with them for the test and so on. Me - I was more like, "Yes, having a cath tomorrow, but no big deal." I went by myself - didn't even ask husband to go with me. Had surgery on my neck - no big deal, I'll be fine, no reason anyone should have to be there. Okay - that one I was glad my sister (even when I told her not to) came because I did need help afterward and she'd make me not get up to go to the bathroom until I could at least hold my eyes open. lol But I do tend to underplay, and in the process I don't get help when I could actually use it. I'm expected to be as able and capable as I ever was, and I'm not. Miss church and people just think I just don't always go, when there's reasons I'm not there, I'm just not requesting prayers and telling everyone. If asked, I tend to just respond, "It's just all this neck stuff". They have no idea what all this neck stuff is and I'm making it sound like no big deal.

I can't get myself to relay just how bad things can be. I guess, if it's not going to kill me anytime soon, it's not a big deal. But it is to me - my body from the shoulders up make me miserable. Between the nerves in my neck causing pain, numbness, weakness, fainting, head zaps, balance problems and dizziness and more, and there's brain lesions and a 9 mm cyst or tumor in middle of my brain and fluid in the area of my brain where all my headaches start. Most days, I'm miserable, but if I mention is I make it sound like no big deal so I'm expected to do anything and everything I've always done before.

But if I start telling people everything that's going on with me I feel like a whiner and complainer. Plus I would not want to burden anyone with having to help me. Sometimes I wish I would be told I can no longer drive anywhere more than five minutes away because driving actually does worry me a bit because I have passed out for a couple seconds in the car - just luckily was in stopped traffic at the time. But I have told people that because I am cautious driving and wish they would not trust me to drive with their kids in my car. So how can I stress that but at the same time not worry or burden anyone?

I think for everybody who is autistic it’s a mixture of being autistic and what you’ve been taught

 

[Au Naturel]

I wouldn't be driving at all if there were a real risk of passing out. You pass out 4 miles from home - run over someone - and then what?

As a general rule, I'll talk to my wife about medical issues. She is an RN. If she wants to tell the kids, she can. Everybody else in the world can find out after the fact when I blog about it. What would be the point in causing other people to worry? It won't make my problem any better and makes their lives worse.

When it is over I'll just blog about it as a great adventure.

 

[Au Naturel]

possibly. I think even my kids would sometimes refuse to go to an er when advised to with the response that 'mom' can handle it. But even before my nursing career I was hiding injuries - so it was not that I knew how to take care of them myself. Once I was pregnant and working and accidentally cut my hand real deep with a razor knife. I excused myself slipped out to the bathroom to try to stop the bleeding and my boss seen the trail of blood and was terrified racing into the bathroom to see if I was okay. Was fine, just now really embarrassed. lol

LOL! When I was a kid I only went to the doctor if it were a life-threatening emergency. That has a downside in terms of preventative care. I got a couple of fairly big scars out of that.

I once cut myself at work badly with a paper cutter. Blood everywhere. I wrapped my finger really tight with paper towels and taped them in place to stop the bleeding. Then I set about cleaning up the blood that was everywhere. Had to redo the copies that got blood on them. I ended up having to change the towels 3 times before the bleeding stopped. Nobody ever knew.

Not a matter of undercomplaining. I try to take care of myself when I can. It feels good to do so.

 

[Aspychata]

I think l err on the side of this happened and therefore we have this situation. I think l downplay or ignore my stuff unless trauma is associated with it.
Other stuff l will emphasize but not lie, but put a spin on it- sensationalize because l am hoping to bring home a point or issue. So as other posters say: it gets down to context.
When my ex was passing out in ER, l calmly said diabetes runs in his family, bam - he was immedately jacked up on insulin and even wrote me a thank note for saving his life. Apparently, coma was next for him, his sugar count was 1450- eyes rolling up. I remember his blood sugar count was like a chess rating number but his rating is more 1670 for chess.

 

[Pats]

I think l err on the side of this happened and therefore we have this situation. I think l downplay or ignore my stuff unless trauma is associated with it.
Other stuff l will emphasize but not lie, but put a spin on it- sensationalize because l am hoping to bring home a point or issue. So as other posters say: it gets down to context.
When my ex was passing out in ER, l calmly said diabetes runs in his family, bam - he was immedately jacked up on insulin and even wrote me a thank note for saving his life. Apparently, coma was next for him, his sugar count was 1450- eyes rolling up. I remember his blood sugar count was like a chess rating number but his rating is more 1670 for chess.

I don't know enough about chess for that to make sense, but the glucose level - whoah! Did he survive?

 

[Aspychata]

Yes, but he was in intensive care for some time, he had to wear glasses for a couple of months then he no longer needed them. It was frightening. I came everyday and played his favorite Mozart CD for him. ER staff was shocked at how high it was. He was on insulin shots when he left. He actually went to doctors office before this and the physician assistant missed all the tell-tale classic signs of thirst and excess bathroom calls. That day l picked him up at work, he was sitting on the ground, probably so weak. I took him home, saw he wasn't getting better, drove him to ER. His eyes rolled clear up in clinic, l could only see the whites, he was probably that close to coma by then.

 

[AuBurney Tuckerson]

I tend to over exaggerate, especially when I'm stressed out.

 

[Myway]

I over exaggerate things all the time. Mostly to get my point across to others who think that I love being social. It frustrates me to the point of me being dramatic and almost comical in some situations according to family. I rarely under exaggerate things.

 

[Au Naturel]

I find that sometimes I have to emphasize the negative in order for a concern to be taken seriously. If I exaggerate too much then I don't get taken seriously and if I don't exaggerate at all nobody thinks it is important. By "exaggerate" I mean I'm telling them the worst-case likely scenario - say a 10% probability - rather than the most likely. Not the worst imaginable scenario, spouting off doomsday pronouncements or spinning off into hyperbole. I leave that to political activists.

Most of the time I'm a simple, "just the facts" guy. No exaggeration because all I'm doing is transferring information, not trying to get people to act on something.