The Monster Within. Sheldon Cohen M.D.
parents stared at their daughter.
Ezra said, “Are you okay, Betty. What happened? Tell us.”
“Oh my God, I knew it—something happened,” screamed Alvina.
“Nothing happened,” said Betty emphatically while Steve thought, My God, she doesn’t remember anything.
“Ma’am, I believe she’s not remembering, because she sure was acting funny. I have no idea what happened, but suddenly she couldn’t talk. She didn’t answer my questions, she seemed dazed, she stared into space and held her head in her hands like she was having a headache. I don’t know what went on,” emphasized Steve.
Alvina put her hand on Betty’s shoulder and said, “Are you okay, Betty? Did you sleep last night?”
Betty thought for a few seconds before she said, “I think I did. I don’t remember waking up or not being able to get to sleep.”
“How’s your headache now,” asked Ezra.
Betty shook her head no and said, “It’s gone, it was no big deal, I get one every so often that doesn’t amount to much ever since I was a little kid and they don’t last long. How about I go to sleep now everybody.”
Ezra said, “Good idea, Betty, get a good nap and sleep as long as you want. No school tomorrow.” He turned to Steve and said, “You did the right thing, Steve. As long as you were a little worried, you were smart to want to get Betty back home. Better safe than sorry. We appreciate it. I think you’re gonna make a heck of a doctor.”
“Thank you, sir.” He looked toward Betty saying, “Betty, call me when you wake up, please.”
“I will, Steve.” She rushed over to hug him as her parents smiled.
Steve didn’t hear from Betty that evening, so he called her parents and found out that she was still asleep.
“That’s fine, let her sleep. Don’t wake her,” said Steve.
“We won’t. I’ll tell her you called when she wakes up.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Steve was up early the next morning, so he busied himself doing a bit of studying for one course he felt he needed brushing up on, all the time thinking of Betty and waiting for her call, which finally came at 9:00 a.m.
Betty said, “My dad said I better call you so I could thank you for being so nice and thoughtful yesterday.”
Steve was relieved by the clarity of her speech. She’s better, he thought. “Okay,” said Steve, “Go ahead.”
“Go ahead, what?” asked Betty
“Thank me.”
Pause…”But I just did,” said Betty.
Steve, smiling, responded, “If you want to know the truth, I just think you put on an act yesterday, so I would bring you home early when your parents were there and I wouldn’t be able to kiss you.”
“You could have kissed me even in front of my parents.”
“Not the kind of kiss I had in mind.”
“Oh, I see,” said Betty with eyes closed and a smile on her lips.
“Anyhow, how are you this morning?”
“Never felt better,” she responded.
“I thought we’d go out for lunch?” Steve asked.
“Where are we going?”
“The Works on Dempster.”
“Sounds good. What time.”
“Noon?”
“Uhh…make it 12:30.”
“See you then.”
At that point, Alvina walked by, heard her daughter talking through the bedroom door, and said, “Betty, are you coming out?”
“Be right there, Mom.”
“Come to the kitchen. How about a late breakfast.”
“I’m meeting Steve for lunch at The Works…12:30, so I better not eat now. I’ll be down in a minute.” Betty knew her anxious mother would be waiting to give her a physical exam with her eyes. She vowed to be patient with her worried mother.
When Betty sat down at the kitchen table, Alvina started right in. “You look good this morning, is everything all right?”
I’m perfect, mom,” she answered.
“I know you’re perfect. I knew that in the delivery room 18 years ago. What I want to know is if you feel good now and if there’s anything you’re not telling me.”
Betty sighed. “Everything there is to know about me, you heard yesterday. I’m thinking that some of those symptoms could be due to the stress (see appendix 1) of final exams, the prom, deadlines I have from school, getting ready for college, all that stuff.”
Alvina’s eyebrows lifted and she nodded her head. “You could be right, Betty. The magazines are full of articles about stress and what it can do and how to control it. In fact one article I read called it the number one cause of medical problems. What do I know? I still have these magazines laying around, so I’ll look for them and give them to you.”
“If you find them, put them in my room and I’ll look at them after finals. Ok, mom, I’m going to meet Steve.”
Alvina said, “Thank him again from us for taking such good care of you yesterday.”
“I will, Mom.”
By the time Betty arrived at The Works, Steve had already ordered a gyros sandwich for himself and a Tuna sandwich for Betty, their usual fare. That, with a shared order of French fries and two drinks, was their favorite meal. The Greek team of food preparers was the most efficient around; providing rapid service no matter how many patrons were present, and there were usually many. They had been in the same location for at least thirty years.
“My mom wanted me to be sure to tell you thanks again for helping me last night.”
“Tell your mom she’s welcome and I’m ready to help whenever I can.”
“She’ll be glad to hear that. I decided that maybe my weird symptoms are stress. Maybe I don’t know how to handle all the stresses; prom, finals, college. I think I worry too much. I probably inherited some of that from my mom. Anyhow, I think she agreed with me because she said that she’s been reading about stress in magazines and that stress is the cause of lots of troubles,” reported Betty.
“From what little I know, she’s right about that. According to what I read, it’s the number one cause of heart trouble and high blood pressure. I guess you have to learn how to handle it. I hope you’re right, because that’s better than a lot of weird diseases I read about that can’t be controlled. Are you ready for finals?” asked Steve.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
CHAPTER 5
But was she ready for final exams? Although her symptoms persisted all through her periods of studying, she chose to keep that information to herself, knowing that her mother was such a worrier. Sudden fatigue persisted at about the same level, mild headaches occasionally returned, and twice she found herself unable to verbalize. Her thought again was—I bet this goes away after finals. In the meantime she looked up stress and became fascinated to learn that there was intense physiology involved in the stress reaction: the autonomic nervous system not under conscious control; and a part of the brain—hypothalamus; and the endocrine system especially the pituitary and the adrenal glands.
She became fascinated with the subject of stress and wanted to learn more, but now, during finals, she elected to defer it, especially since she began to have trouble concentrating, things seemed more difficult, and her