Living Through a Medical Scare: Interactive Worksheet

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Online Therapy Clinic

Ari Sotiriou, UK accredited psychotherapist · enquiries@online-therapy-clinic.com Ari Sotiriou provides Psychodynamic Individual and Couples therapy via secure Live Video. Dr Ruxandra Ion provides psychiatric expertise and BABCP-accredited CBT. UK practice · 50-minute sessions, on the hour.

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This worksheet is for anyone who has received a medical finding that requires further investigation — a scan, a blood test, a referral — and who now finds themselves waiting for answers that have not yet arrived.

The waiting period is its own emotional experience, separate from whatever the eventual outcome turns out to be. This worksheet is designed to help you think about what you are actually feeling during this time — not to resolve uncertainty, but to make it a little more bearable to carry.

You do not need to complete every section. Begin where feels most relevant and move at your own pace. There are no correct answers here.

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Before you begin This worksheet has a companion article: When the Future Suddenly Changes: Living Through a Medical Scare. A short read on why the emotional impact of a medical scare often arrives before any diagnosis, and how to navigate the particular difficulty of not yet knowing.

Part One What Am I Actually Being Told?

When we receive uncertain medical news, facts and fears tend to blur together very quickly. This section invites you to separate what the doctors have actually told you from what your mind has added to that information.

In plain language, what have I actually been told so far? (What the doctors said, not what I fear it might mean.)

What I know for certain

What I am assuming or imagining

Looking at those two columns, what is the gap between them? How wide is the distance between the medical facts and what I have been telling myself?

Part Two What Am I Imagining?

The mind under uncertainty does not stay still. It runs ahead — usually toward the most frightening possibility. This is not a failure of rational thinking. It is the mind’s way of trying to prepare. But it helps to look at these imaginings directly, rather than let them run unchecked in the background.

“The mind is attempting to answer questions that medicine has not yet answered.”

What is the worst outcome I keep imagining? (It is safe to write it down. Naming a fear reduces its power over us.)

How likely does that outcome actually feel to me right now, on reflection — and how much of that feeling is based on what I know versus what I fear?

I am mostly staying with the facts My mind is in full catastrophe mode

Where is this anxiety showing up in my body? (Sleep, appetite, concentration, physical tension, restlessness?)

Part Three What Feels Urgent Right Now?

A medical scare has a way of collapsing the assumption that there will always be more time. Conversations that were easy to postpone begin to feel pressing. Relationships that were manageable at a distance suddenly seem important. This section is about noticing what has moved to the foreground.

Are there relationships in my life — with a partner, a child, a parent, a friend — that feel more important or more unresolved now than they did before this news?

Is there something I have been meaning to say to someone that I have not yet said?

Are there regrets that this period has brought into sharper focus — things I wish I had done, chosen, or prioritised differently?

If I could act on one of these urgencies this week — however small the step — what would it be?

Part Four Who Helps Me Feel Supported?

A medical scare often reveals with surprising clarity who is genuinely present for us and who is not. This is not always comfortable information. This section invites you to map your emotional resources honestly — not to judge the people around you, but to understand what support is actually available to you.

Who in my life have I been able to talk to about this, even partially? How did that feel?

Is there someone I have not told — and if so, why? What am I protecting, in myself or in them?

When I imagine feeling genuinely supported right now, what does that look like? What would the person do or say?

In the list below, tick any sources of support that feel genuinely available to you at the moment.

A partner or spouse who can listen without immediately trying to fix things
A close friend who can hold difficult feelings alongside me
A family member I feel genuinely safe with
A therapist or counsellor
A GP or medical professional I trust and can talk to frankly
A faith community, support group, or spiritual practice
Time alone — solitude as a genuine resource, not just avoidance

Looking at what you ticked, is there a gap between the support you have and the support you need? What would help to close that gap?

Part Five What Can I Control This Week?

One of the hardest aspects of waiting is the loss of agency — the sense that the important things are being decided elsewhere, by people and processes outside our control. Returning attention to what can be chosen, however small, is not denial of the larger uncertainty. It is a way of staying grounded within it.

What ordinary routines or activities have been keeping me anchored during this period? (Sleep, meals, exercise, contact with others, creative activity, work?)

What routines or habits have I let slip, and what might help me restore them — even partially — this week?

How much time have I been spending searching for information online about my condition or possible diagnosis — and has that helped or made things worse?

What is one small, concrete thing I can do today or tomorrow that is within my control and that would feel like looking after myself?

Part Six If I Knew Nothing More for Another Month…

This final section works with the hardest part of a medical scare: learning to live, for a period, without knowing. Uncertainty is not the same as catastrophe. But building the capacity to hold it — rather than be held hostage by it — is genuine psychological work.

“Sometimes the most honest and courageous thing a person can do is to learn how to live, for a while, without knowing.”

When I imagine the possibility that I might not have further information for several more weeks, what comes up? (Fear? Resignation? Anger? Something else?)

Have I lived through periods of uncertainty before — not necessarily medical — and eventually come through them? What helped me then?

A letter to myself, for the waiting period

Write a short note to yourself — not about the medical situation, but about how you would like to spend this period of not knowing. What do you want to do with this time? Who do you want to be during it?

What is the one thing you most want to bring into a conversation with a therapist, a trusted person, or your next session from this worksheet?

Individual Therapy & Couples Therapy via Secure Video

If this worksheet has surfaced something you would like to explore in a confidential setting, an introductory conversation is available at no charge. Psychodynamic individual therapy and couples therapy are offered via secure live video in English, French, and Greek.

Arrange a confidential introductory conversation → Individual & Couples Therapy via Live Video • Psychodynamic Specialism • UK Practice • English · French · Greek

A Note for Your Next Session

If you are working with Ari or Dr Ion, bring this completed worksheet to your next session. The sections where you wrote most freely and those where you stalled or found it hard to write are equally useful. Neither needs to be prepared or explained in advance — simply bring the document and we will explore it together.

To book a session or make an enquiry, contact: enquiries@online-therapy-clinic.com

“Uncertainty is not the same as catastrophe. Not knowing is not the same as the worst having happened.”

Online Therapy Clinic Clinical Team enquiries@online-therapy-clinic.com · online-therapy-clinic.com · UK practice · 50-minute sessions, on the hour

Ari Sotiriou provides Psychodynamic Individual and Couples therapy via secure Live Video. Dr Ruxandra Ion provides psychiatric expertise and BABCP-accredited CBT.

© Ari Sotiriou MA PGDip | UKCP Accredited | enquiries@online-therapy-clinic.com
This worksheet is for personal reflection only and does not constitute clinical advice.