The dreaded annual gyno appointment.

[sbetsy]

I had my annual girly-doctor appointment today and I feel all horrible now. The nurse-practitioner lady was nice and mom-like and the office had friendly signs that said things like "Vaginas are cool" and "Hey, the gyno college called and said that the pabst beer was fine - I thought you didn't like beer?" and nothing traumatic happened unless you count having to take off your clothes in front of a total stranger and having them feel you up and then insert some scary metal thing into your you-know-what and then poke around in you. Then I came home and hugged my dog a lot and then I took a shower and cried and then sat on my bed for hours. My boyfriend came over but I didn't want to go out and we just ordered delivery and stayed at home. Grown-ups have these exams all the time and I've had them (almost) every year since I was like 16 (and I'm 29 now) - why do I always feel so wretched afterwards? I think I used to be so much better with it than I am now.

 

[Peaches]

Vaginas are cool! *schoolgirl giggle*

I've never had one, so I cant really comment. I'm partially terrified, and partially lazy.

What do you think is making you feel wretched? Do you feel you're being 'invaded'? You just need to tell yourself its a perfectly normal thing and without it, alot worse things could happen!

 

[sbetsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peaches Vaginas are cool! *schoolgirl giggle* I've never had one, so I cant really comment. I'm partially terrified, and partially lazy. What do you think is making you feel wretched? Do you feel you're being 'invaded'? You just need to tell yourself its a perfectly normal thing and without it, alot worse things could happen!

Yeah, that made me giggle.

I guess that must be it. Even though the actual exam doesn't take that long, I worry about it all day (or week) before I go. They can be super nice but I still feel, like you said, "invaded" in some way. But you are right - it is normal to go and bad things could happen if I didn't go. I try to think about women a couple of hundred years ago, dying of cancer because the medical profession didn't know how to take care of them, or even women just 50 years ago, who might not have had the option of having a female gynecologist/nurse practitioner and had to go to a man.

 

[lovemichelle]

i hate going too. i started at 15. i haven't been in a like 2 years though. the lady i have is an asshole and there isn't anyone else around here yet that i've found.

 

[caffn8me]

To be honest most gynaecologists are still men which I cannot really understand (even having been at medical school myself where we had a 50/50 male-female intake)

 

[caffn8me]

Here's one for you. My sister's mother-in-law is not too bright. She had seen on the news that there were as a scare involving false negatives in pap smear tests and there had also been quite a rise in the incidence of cervical cancer. She rang up my sister's husband and told him to go to the doctor to see if he had "caught" cervical cancer as there was a lot of it about

 

[caffn8me]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peaches Vaginas are cool! *schoolgirl giggle* I've never had one, so I cant really comment.

You might want to consider rephrasing that just a little or have you got something you want to tell us?

 

[Corvs Queen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by caffn8me You might want to consider rephrasing that just a little or have you got something you want to tell us?

HA! HA!

That's too funny.

 

[Miss Pumpkin]

My gyno is pretty cool. At first I was a bit worried and stuff but he's a really nice man and makes everything really relaxed and professional.

 

[moonrevel]

I definitely don't like going to the gynocologist. I've been to several and finally found one that I like. I know it's completely medical and professional, but it is a sort of weird experience, and it does make me feel kind of vulnerable and violated. I mean, come on, you're almost completely naked except for a little gown and a blanket, lying on your back with your feet in stirrups while some stranger pokes around inside you saying things like, "Your uterus feels just fine!"

And could they have possibly come up with an uglier name for a test than "pap smear"?

 

[litlaur]

Last year was terrible for me. I kept getting abnormal Pap results, so I had several gyno appointments while they tried to figure out what was wrong with me. I got tested for every STD they had a test for! They couldn't figure it out, but my symptoms cleared up.

I don't mind the yearly visit, though. I have a male doctor, but he's absolutely wonderful. Even for just regular visits, he makes patients feel comfortable. But he also has a very good female assistant who I see when I can't make an appointment with him.

 

[turtle_pixie_]

Meh I'm too scared to go, creeps me out and makes me feel all shivery.

 

[pumpkincat210]

Scoot to the front of the table. aah man. I have 3 kids. It doesn't bother me anymore because I feel like 985794759 have seen me and prodded around in there. Lets see you go once a month when you are pregnant and during the last month of pregnancy you go in weekly for exams.. and when you have the baby.. hey its open house.
Anyways I definately go to women doctors. They also have smaller hands than men. The guys seem like pervs to me.

 

[beckasings]

Ugh, I was having really horrible stomach pains a few years ago and I had to go to the emergeny room and I had this *very* cute doctor... and of course, the first thing he did to find out what was wrong with me was a pelvic exam and a rectal exam! *cringe* The hot doctor's fingers went where no fingers had gone before...!

 

[sbetsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovemichelle i hate going too. i started at 15. i haven't been in a like 2 years though. the lady i have is an asshole and there isn't anyone else around here yet that i've found.

That's what happened to me!!! I hadn't been in 2.5 years. I had this sorta incident (this is embarassing)... I had a -gasp- threesome! And then I had some yucky ictching. I went to the clinic and she asked how many sexual partners I had in the last month and I said "2, but they were at the same time?" and she starting lecturing me and making me feel like a horrible slut. I didn't have sex again for 6 months.

 

[docmaria]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbetsy That's what happened to me!!! I hadn't been in 2.5 years. I had this sorta incident (this is embarassing)... I had a -gasp- threesome! And then I had some yucky ictching. I went to the clinic and she asked how many sexual partners I had in the last month and I said "2, but they were at the same time?" and she starting lecturing me and making me feel like a horrible slut. I didn't have sex again for 6 months.

Oh no - that's terrible.

I know, work with and have personally seen some unbelievably judgemental doctors and I strive to avoid the same attitude. I just give advice about condoms - hope it doesn't sound like a lecture though.

I'm a gynaecologist myself and it's difficult but helpful for me to read this thread. Sorry everyone. <group hug>

As for Pap smear being an ugly term - they could have used his whole name and called it a Papanicolaou smear instead!

 

[docmaria]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pumpkincat210 Anyways I definately go to women doctors. They also have smaller hands than men. The guys seem like pervs to me.

Bahahahahahaharrrr!

Totally agree on the smaller hands thing - some of the men I work with are 7 foot tall and have hands to match.

Whenever I think that my male colleagues are pervs, I think to myself - well what the heck am I, then?

 

[lovejam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pumpkincat210 It doesn't bother me anymore because I feel like 985794759 have seen me and prodded around in there. Lets see you go once a month when you are pregnant and during the last month of pregnancy you go in weekly for exams.. and when you have the baby.. hey its open house.

I hear that! Nothing at the gyno bothers or embarasses me anymore. And ho lordy, when I had the baby, it seems like damn-near everyone saw my bajingo.

 

[sbetsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovejam I hear that! Nothing at the gyno bothers or embarasses me anymore. And ho lordy, when I had the baby, it seems like damn-near everyone saw my bajingo.

You guys are making me laugh! A friend of mine had her first baby with a million doctors and hated it. She had her next two at home.

 

[moonrevel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by docmaria As for Pap smear being an ugly term - they could have used his whole name and called it a Papanicolaou smear instead!

Hahah, but it's the "smear" part that bothers me.