Obviously, if I'm not symptomatic, good news is just that: good news. If I'm not having many intestinal symptoms and a scope comes back looking normal - that is incredible and I'm over the moon about it.
On the other hand, when I'm symptomatic, any kind of news feels like bad news. When I'm having severe symptoms, being told that everything looks normal feels like bad news, because it means that they can't find what's wrong. Being told that they found something also, obviously, feels like bad news.
It's a strange feeling.
When I'm highly symptomatic and getting all sorts of diagnostic tests, this is what I hope for:
I hope that the doctors find something that explains my symptoms but is also quickly and easily treatable.
I hope they find something that makes sense and can be dealt with in a straightforward way.
No one wants to be ill. (Okay Munchausen's aside), no one wants to have an illness or a disease out of thin air. If you feel well and have no bothersome symptoms, there is no reason to go searching for anything. The reason so many chronically ill patients seem to want a diagnosis is because we already feel ill and want to figure out the reason behind it.
Think of it like this:
If there is a water leak in your house - there's evidence of water, cracks are forming, finding puddles of water, you'll stop at nothing to find the cause. If you open up one wall and everything looks fine, you're not necessarily happy. You're frustrated and confused and so you continue searching until you find the source, hoping for a straightforward fix.
If there's no evidence of water leaking, obviously there's no need to go looking, but if you open up a wall for something else and find a water leak, it's awful.
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