** I’ll try and keep this post family-friendly but I can’t make any guarantees… Don’t say I didn’t warn you**
This past Wednesday was the day we’ve all been waiting for since March (ok, so maybe just me.) It was my yearly doctor’s visit. I really only go so they’ll renew my prescription (which they won’t do without poking and prodding me) so it annoyed me that much more when I called for an appointment back in March only to find out the NP I’d seeing for the past two years was “on leave” and I’d have to try and get in with the OB-GYN. No openings until June. Ugh. So I waited, dealt with the horror that was the end of April/beginning of May, all the time anticipating that I’d be able to get some insight and advice today.
I called about ½ hour before my appointment time to make sure she was running on schedule. The first thing I hear is “well, one of her patients just went into labor but it’s her first so it might take awhile. She should still be able to keep your appointment.” Wonderful. I head to the clinic, check in, and wait about 5 minutes (which, I’ll admit, was remarkably quick service.) The nurse calls me in and takes me to the exam room. All the normal stuff – weight (eek!), height (still 5’ 2½”), blood pressure (130/70… is that bad? – they told me last year I was a bit above normal but I tend to hyperventilate in hospitals anyway…), heart, talk about the stupid forms they make you fill out every single year even if nothing changes. Then they tell me that the doctor has a PA with her today and would it be ok if she sat in on the exam? Pfft, I don’t care. I’d never met the doctor before either so what’s one more stranger looking at my delicate parts going to matter?
Then they gave me the hugest gown ever to change into. Seriously, I could have wrapped it around myself twice. I’m not sure if I should be insulted or whether everyone gets the tent-sized one. Anyway, the PA comes in and introduces herself and informs me that the she will do most of the exam (if that’s ok with me.) She checks eyes, ears, nose, lungs, heart (again?) We talk about random crap and then she gets down to business while she lectures me about doing self breast exams. When that’s over with she goes to get the doctor for the really fun part. In the meantime we’ve talked about my issues and she also discusses this with the doctor. She comes in bearing samples of a different pill – Seasonique – which apparently has a bit more estrogen than Seasonale and is supposed to eliminate some of the side effects. We’ll see if it works. I still plan to screw with the weeks though to ensure I won’t have any wedding/honeymoon timeframe issues. Of course, my body seems to do whatever it wants so I can only really do so much.
Anyway, as I was lying down (and getting lectured about the risks of shaving…ahem…), the doctor got paged. Apparently the baby decided to make its appearance earlier than expected. So, I got an “express Pap” (not my words, the PA said that…) What I think I got was gypped. Not that it’s a particularly pleasant experience in the best circumstances, but when an inexperienced PA tries to do things in a rather sensitive area quickly… ouch. And they basically swabbed and ran. I think they skipped about half of the exam. I distinctly recall being poked and squeezed in the ovaries last time… I was left on the table in a gown with the PA calling over her shoulder to call if I had problems with the new pills. Nice…
So I got dressed, didn’t even check out (the receptionist was MIA), and went back to work a lot sorer than anticipated.
Now, I really liked my previous doctor (well, nurse practitioner, but whatever.) She knew about some of my problems and wasn’t distracted by women in labor. This has always been the downside of going to an OB-GYN so I wasn’t too happy that I got shifted over to one. Stupid babies… The NP was also much nicer and less judgmental. Granted I don’t go to these places for a boost in my self-esteem, but I also don’t go to them to be lectured on how I choose to maintain myself. Geesh! Why can’t BCP be OTC? It would be so much easier. Even though this exam is fully covered by my insurance I just wish I could skip it. I guess maybe the doctor answered my questions. Although she was so distracted by trying to move the exam along I don’t know if her replies were as helpful as they could be.
In any case, glad it’s over for another year. Don’t think the insurance should have to pay for the whole thing since they skipped a bunch but that’s not my problem. Re-considering switching to Adam’s health plan after the wedding, but will definitely look into a new NP regardless. Hope the new pills work miracles and I’m suddenly cramp-nausea-3½ weeks of bleeding-free. If not I might be awfully crabby on my wedding day…
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As I was finishing medical school, I learned on my obstetrics/gynecology rotation that the official guidelines recommend that after a patient has three consecutive years of normal pap smears, she should only require a pap smear once every three years. I'd argue this for next year when the issue arises again. If they argue that you need a full pelvic exam annually (the squeezing the ovaries part), explain that this was not done in 2007 and your prescription was renewed. I agree that you were gypped.
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