Overthinking

After my episode of not being able to contain myself long enough for the treatment on Thursday night, I reported to my radiation oncologist the problem I was having. His response was very simple—take 2 Aleve tablets morning and night. My first thought was “That’s it?” The second was “That is a big dose of Naproxen (Aleve is the brand name of Naproxen Sodium).” The third thought was “Side effects can be ulcers, kidney problems, and on and on.”

I won’t labor the point, but I had many other thoughts before I actually started taking the Naproxen. Overthinking is a regular challenge for me. I mean I even looked it up in the Oxford Dictionary: think about something too much and for too long.

Here I was trying to analyze why my radiation oncologist was over-prescribing Naproxen for me, and this is the guy who is prescribing daily doses of radiation for my body!

That dosage has taken care of my problem, and I am back to cruising through the treatments, and I am also more comfortable throughout the day and night. In my overthinking I did not think about why he prescribed that dosage. He is a smart guy—even though he is from New York—and he knew that dosage would reduce the inflammation in my prostate and give me relief.

Thinking is a good thing, but overthinking can be a challenge for many of us.