It's tricky.

One of the most challenging aspects of being a med student is not becoming a complete and utter hypochondriac. In fact, I'm sure 85% of primary care physicians automatically ignore about 50% of what comes out of your mouth as soon as they know your profession. I didn't fall into the trap until late last year when all of the keloids on my body basically exploded to over double their original size. I noticed it, but ignored it...until I went to my dermatologist who scared the crap out of me (in the calmest way possible). She biopsied one of the keloids on my back because sarcoidosis can cause scar reactivation and coincidentally, they had a patient earlier that month with the same magic keloid phenomenon and surprise! -- he had sarcoidosis. Luckily my biopsy came back negative but since then I have been trying to figure out what on Earth could have caused it. Could it just be stress? Of course. But it could also be one of a whole plethora of systemic diseases, of which new possibilities are popping into my head on a daily basis. Even the dermatologist I have started seeing at UTMB made some joke about me having cancer...I giggled, but really wanted to cry and say "NOT FUNNY!" So for right now, I'll pretend that it is just stress or hormones or some other completely benign explanation. But if I find out I'm dying, all I have to say is I told you so. And my friends better be ready to donate some organs.

USMLE Step 1 "Fun Fact" of the day: Androgen insensitivity syndrome results in a genetic male (46, XY) that has female external genitalia. In fact, "Chris" will look like a normal appearing "Christina," both on ultrasound and after he/she is delivered, except that he will have testes in the labia majora and no uterus. So get ready to paint over the baby pink nursery walls...yellow is more ambiguous.