wherein Liz sees a doctor and indulges in TMI of a gynecological nature

[edenfalling]

I had a doctor's appointment Wednesday morning -- just a general physical checkup thingy, and also brief gynecological exam. Turns out that I don't need Pap tests because hey, I've never had sex!

I did have one Pap test in the past, but in retrospect that was a weird case because my then-gynecologist was trying to figure out what the heck was causing serious menstrual irregularities and kind of threw every available test at the wall to see what produced any useful information. The problem turned out to be a hormone imbalance, which was easily solved with birth control pills for a few years until my body figured out how to regulate itself correctly. Also, apparently I have benign ovarian cysts -- revealed courtesy of an ultrasound of some sort -- but lots of people have those and they're not doing anything so nobody (including me) really cares. And therefore there is no reason for me to ever have a Pap test again! (Which is good, because jesus fuck the new plastic speculums hurt. I suspect they would hurt less if I were regularly sticking large objects up my vagina, but I doubt that's ever something I'll be able to confirm via personal empirical evidence.)

Anyway, I am basically healthy. Consensus between me and Doctor S is that I need a new and more ergonomic computer chair, which should solve most of my lower back pain issues -- they are entirely posture/tension related, since they're the sort that easily drain away after a few minutes of lying down on a hard, flat surface. I also personally would like to lose ten-ish pounds, which I'd suspected I should work on for a while but I don't tend to weigh myself so whatever. That shouldn't be too hard. I just need to quit my occasional midnight snack habit, drink more water, and probably do some situps and/or take random walks a couple times a week. That usually works, over six to eight months. (Then I gain the weight back over two or three years, because hello, I am lazy. *sigh*)

Comments

[branchandroot]

Speculums are made by idiots, seriously. And if they were used in /prostate exams/ they'd be much more sensibly designed, I'm sure.

The chair thing is definitely why I've hung on to my long, narrow office table like grim death. Not for actual student conferences, but so I can lie down on it a few times a day and unkink my back. Works a treat. Now, if I could just /find/ a good chair for home... Share the fruits of your search?

[edenfalling]

Apparently the shift from metal to plastic was done because the plastic is clear and can carry a light up into the body, which greatly improves visibility over the old method of, essentially, strapping a flashlight to the gynecologist's head and poking around mostly in the dark. I am not at all sure why that meant the speculums had to simultaneously get bigger and more prone to pinching. Or why they can't offer a local anesthetic as a standard option. *grumble mutter snarl*

I have not yet begun to research chairs, but if I find anything particularly useful I will give you the information and/or links. :-)

[cat-i-th-adage.livejournal.com]

Turns out that I don't need Pap tests because hey, I've never had sex!

(Oh thank God, it's not just me. The gynecologist... kinda looked at me funny when we had that conversation. She was nice - just, slightly bemused. Life has really changed from a century ago, y'know?)

[edenfalling]

My doctor was surprised too! Which is pretty funny when you consider how social expectations have shifted over the past few generations.