Nontrad hopefully unrealistic fear of mortality

[Waldeinsamkeit]

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[zero0]

This is probably against the TOS since this thread will probably get locked soon for soliciting medical advice, but I'll bite since I feel for you. I went to the doctor for a physical a year ago and was borderline in nearly every category: HDL, LDL, prehypertensive, etc. at age 27 no less. I had to make some changes, as will you.

First, stop eating so much ****. Don't say you're not. I know you are. Stop it. Get out and run a couple times a week. You don't have to go overboard, just get some cardio. Use aspirin sparingly (unless you have stomach ulcers), inflammation is a bitch, metabolically speaking. Lastly, fish oil.

I haven't been in for another physical yet but, since making all these changes, the constant pulsatile sensation in my neck from my left common carotid has disappeared, so that's good, and my abdominal fat is almost completely gone (mostly thanks to crunches I think).

Anyway, best of luck to you. Medicine blows. People in my class are falling apart.

 

[Brahnold Bloodaxe]

I started medical school late, I will graduate at 33, and be done with residency at 37. I had a cholesterol check up and my cholesterol pretty much sucked. 2 years ago I was borderline high, I changed my diet and began exercising again. Just had a check up and my cholesterol is worse. I am begging them to put me on a statin. I plugged in my numbers into the framingham 30 year estimate and I have a 8% chance of "Hard CVD" - death or a major event, and a 14% chance of complications.

I mean, it's making me wonder about medical school. I feel like my life hasn't started yet, and won't for another 5 years. I need to finish, bc I am close to graduating, I do like medicine, and holy crap I am in debt. I know there is nothing I can do about it.

IDK what I am looking for in this post. Maybe just venting. Would be nice to get a frameshift of some sort.

I would put this on a depression board somewhere, but I feel like people who are not doctors / medical students don't really understand. If anyone knows any resources for med students, that might be useful.

Thanks.

I hear ya man, but the truth of the matter is that we're all gonna die. You have an 8% chance of a cardiovascular event in the next 30 years which includes the time period spanning your late 50's and early 60's. Presumably the bulk of that 8% is concentrated at the tail end of the 30 year period, by which time let's face it, you'll be an old man and old men often die, hyperlipidemia or no hyperlipidemia.

Your body could easily seed a cancer that painfully kills you at any time. It just takes a single cell to run amok and disturb that delicate histological order we've spent so many hours staring at during preclinicals. You could die in a plane crash on the way to your first vacation post-residency with a cheerfully growing bank account that you will tragically never get to enjoy. And on it goes. The point is thirty years is a long time and anything can happen, I wouldn't put too much stock into a single digit probability from the Framingham estimate cause life is messy and could be severely curtailed or impacted at any time for any reason. Just do what you can to improve your cardiovascular profile and say to yourself "it is what it is, ma-yn." Conversely, remember that the life expectancy for men in the USA is late 70's, and this includes the smokers, drugs addicts, alcoholics, morbidly obese and so on. Unless your genetics are total crap, you can easily push the expected value of your lifespan into the 80's just by keeping fit and managing your cholesterol.

As for putting your life on hold, you said you're almost done with med school. Residency is already real life. You'll be getting paid, and it doesn't sound like you're doing anything surgical so by the time you're a PGY-2 you could probably start moonlighting and making not too far from 6 figures. Don't fall for the sunk cost fallacy, you're almost there.

 

[Tenk]

Having high cholesterol as a resident and soon to be attending >>>>>>>>>>> Having high cholesterol while broke, in debt, and jobless.

 

[Donald Juan]

I don't think your worries here have anything to do with med school. You're just having that "oh crap I'm getting older and I'm not super healthy like I thought" moment. I see patients have it all the time from ages from their 20s to 70s. Whatever point they start having medical problems they are almost always surprised. I love when people say, "I don't understand, I've always been healthy! I've never had to take medicines before!" Well, that was then, and this is now. Having medical issues is inevitable, as is your death. Take a statin; work on the diet/exercise. Go to your PCP for routine checkups. Try and enjoy the ride through med school/residency. The journey is way too long to look at it as if your life doesn't start until you're an attending.

 

[sleepyhead22]

I understand your fears and have similar ones due to a high risk of cancer from my family history. I'm also a nontraditional student and sometimes had the thought "what's the point of going through this very difficult process when I might die before I am able to enjoy the end result".

In the end, I realized that i didn't want to just not pursue my dream due to fear, and I've found that I'm loving the process of medical school so that even if the worst happens, I will be happy that I spent my time doing this. One important thing that reassures me is that my loans are all federal so my family won't be responsible for them if i die before I can pay them back.

I think finding happiness where you're at is an important concept to work at. Life happens every day, make sure you're going into a specialty that either fulfills you or gives you the time to find things that do.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Don't worry too much. My cholesterol was just awful and so started on a Statin as an intern at 28.

Beyond that, Tenk nailed it. Let's say you are very unlucky and are destined to die of heart disease at 45. That gives you 8 years as an attending physician which to be honest is a pretty sweet life most days versus 15 years doing whatever it is you are now. I have no idea what that is or how happy or not you are doing it, but it must not be spectacular otherwise you wouldn't be going to medical school.

 

[BeddingfieldMD]

I started medical school late, I will graduate at 33, and be done with residency at 37. I had a cholesterol check up and my cholesterol pretty much sucked. 2 years ago I was borderline high, I changed my diet and began exercising again. Just had a check up and my cholesterol is worse. I am begging them to put me on a statin. I plugged in my numbers into the framingham 30 year estimate and I have a 8% chance of "Hard CVD" - death or a major event, and a 14% chance of complications.

I mean, it's making me wonder about medical school. I feel like my life hasn't started yet, and won't for another 5 years. I need to finish, bc I am close to graduating, I do like medicine, and holy crap I am in debt. I know there is nothing I can do about it.

IDK what I am looking for in this post. Maybe just venting. Would be nice to get a frameshift of some sort.

I would put this on a depression board somewhere, but I feel like people who are not doctors / medical students don't really understand. If anyone knows any resources for med students, that might be useful.

Thanks.

I was 35 when I finished fellowship. You're correct that finally being "done" and waking up to your late 30s won't be the most pleasant experience of your life. But it will hopefully be overshadowed by the excitement of starting your practice, of the satisfaction of finishing one of the longest and most challenging professional training paths around, and the many options ahead of you. I often tell premeds in their early and mid 20s--as I was when I decided to change courses and go into medicine--that it's nearly impossible to appreciate at the age of 23, 24, etc. just how LONG medical training is and how much of your life will evaporate in the halls of hospital wards and/or operating rooms. And how hard it can be to see your nonmedical friends making apparent light-year leaps ahead of you in "life"--buying homes, getting married, having kids, getting promotions, buying nice toys, saving for retirement, etc. And you'll be 37 with nothing but debt at the start.

But chin up...as you said, you're only a year from graduating medical school. There's not much you can reasonably do at this point. Just work hard and learn as much as you can during residency. Get a job that satisfies you and that you enjoy as much as possible. Keep your finances within reason so you can pay down your student debt in a decade or less. If you keep your head above water and manage your money well, you can still end up debt-free with good savings, a nice house, and a career you really enjoy by the time you are 47. Work for another 10-15 years saving away for retirement, and you'll be fine.

And then you can look back without regrets and say that you followed your dreams to become a doctor and had a career that you enjoyed.

Now you may be thinking that sounds all sappy and ridiculous...but like you said, you don't have any (reasonable) choice about it at this point. So you might as well keep a positive attitude! 🙂

 

[Waldeinsamkeit]

This is probably against the TOS since this thread will probably get locked soon for soliciting medical advice, but I'll bite since I feel for you. I went to the doctor for a physical a year ago and was borderline in nearly every category: HDL, LDL, prehypertensive, etc. at age 27 no less. I had to make some changes, as will you.

First, stop eating so much ****. Don't say you're not. I know you are. Stop it. Get out and run a couple times a week. You don't have to go overboard, just get some cardio. Use aspirin sparingly (unless you have stomach ulcers), inflammation is a bitch, metabolically speaking. Lastly, fish oil.

I haven't been in for another physical yet but, since making all these changes, the constant pulsatile sensation in my neck from my left common carotid has disappeared, so that's good, and my abdominal fat is almost completely gone (mostly thanks to crunches I think).

Anyway, best of luck to you. Medicine blows. People in my class are falling apart.

Dude, I have changed my lifestyle, eating involved. I lost over 20 lbs in the 2 years. That’s what makes this suck so much. If I was still eating garbage I’d probably feel better. Anyway, swish swish

 

[IlDestriero]

Everyone is going to die.
You will die too, and me.
You might die in a car accident today or slip on ice tomorrow morning and have a fatal head injury.
You might stroke out at 96.
You just have to live your life.
Eventually death will come knocking, and he doesn’t care if you’re a doctor or a dishwasher.
As for the other stuff, get in a real no BS heart healthy diet and see what happens when you don’t cheat. Then decide if you need treatment. I don’t want to be on drugs for 40 or 50 years. Modify what you can first.


--
Il Destriero

 

[CherryRedDracul]

Life's a bitch and then you die, that's why we get high
'Cause you never know when you're gonna go.