BlogHer - Scenes from the Gynecologist's Office - Comments

Dating, IUDs, & hysterectomies

Liz Rizzo — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:24:31 -0500

Thanks, Vered! I don't always *feel* so awesome, but even when I'm down, I just try to keep taking positive steps so I'm a little down the path when I feel up to really walking it again.

NurseBarb - My insertion was P A I N F U L, but there was numbing and the insertion was expertly fast. Open, in, close. And totally worth it!

Sarah - Absolutely. This time around I was just a couple months late, and now that my appointment was around Labor Day, I think it will be easier to remember. Thank you for the reminder about the importance of those annual pap smears - I'm so sorry you're facing such a difficult decision. I do hope you will get at least a second opinion before getting a hysterectomy.

Liz Rizzo

I blog at Everyday Goddess.

I was a little concerned

thompsonsaraht — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:01:40 -0500

I was a little concerned when you wrote that you have a hard time making your appointments because you have the IUD and aren't concerned about birth control. I would urge you to still make those appointments. I hadn't been to a doctor in about five or six years and now I'm dealing with the possibility of cervical cancer. My doctor wants me to have a hysterectomy. It's still stage 0, but still pretty scary. I can't help thinking that if I had gone sooner, my doctor wouldn't now be urging me to have a hysterectomy at 33.

Sarah Thompson

Gentle exams

NurseBarb — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:17:14 -0500

Hi Liz,

Loved your post. I insert lots of IUDs in my practice. I always use anesthetic to numb the cervix first, I hope your provider did too.

Fingers crossed that you'll be meeting lots of interesting and worthy men. I posted recently on Herpes and thought maybe it might be interesting for anyone who's thinking about a new relationship.

Here's the link:www.NurseBarb.com

Have fun, be safe,

Barb

You: Honest, intelligent and FUNNY. Awesome.

Vered — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:18:07 -0500

I don't have much to say or add. Just wanted to tell you, in case you didn't know, that you're awesome. I have a close friend who must be your twin. Same age, same outlook on life and on love. I am emailing her all of your posts. She adores you too. :)

"I briefly perused some dating sights this week. I'm taking new pics
with friends on Sunday. I'm not quite ready to throw myself out there,
but I'm taking steps in that direction. And I'm ready should someone
new come around." - GOOD LUCK!

---

I blog at MomGrind

I manage my kids' activities at UpToUs

Scenes from the Gynecologist's Office

Liz Rizzo — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:03:26 -0500

So this week I had the joy of my annual trip to my OB/GYN. Well, I use the term "annual" loosely, because since I got an IUD (and so I'm not running out of birth control pills), it's really difficult to remember when I'm supposed to go, much less motivate myself to get there. And my doctor changed medical groups, which meant I had to change medical groups to see him, which my insurance took a month to do. But. Annual-ish gynecological exam: Done.

So I'm driving to the doctor's thinking, as I always do, how funny it is to go once a year and wait for the doctor while sitting between the stirrups, dressed in paper, legs swinging off the table like a five year old. And then I got there, and he'd switched to cloth robes. Though it may have been because a patient went into labor at the hospital, so then he was running behind, and I got stuck in a procedure room they don't usually use for exams because the waiting room was at overflow. Regardless of reason, I appreciated the cloth. It was warmer.

There was a Paraguard IUD display in the room. Playing with it made me feel even more comfortable about my IUD. It was very small and bendy.

Exam was quick, same old, same old. I always have a moment of surprise that it's just the doctor. In Florida it's the law (or was when I was there) that a nurse has to be in the room, too.

This time when we were talking about birth control and my IUD, I answered the "do I think I will have children" question with, "Don't know, leaning towards no. But you never know." The "leaning towards no" part is new. Interesting.

That said, I was oddly pleased when he said I'd still be too young when this IUD hits year ten to just leave it in with decreased effectiveness. We'll have to put in a new one. I felt so fertile.

One of the reasons I like the IUD is you can just get it out and get pregnant right away. No need to clear your system of artificial hormones. So more with the "I don't know" still, I guess. I like to be prepared for various possibilities.

But. He talked to me about freezing my eggs.

That was a strange thought to me.

I don't know, I guess I'm just a naturalist at heart. If it happens, it will happen naturally or not at all. My life would have to change A LOT, and it's difficult to imagine wanting to freeze my eggs, though I can see it's a great option for some women. Certainly not an option that I could afford even if I wanted to.

I got my blood tested for HIV, like I always do. Thinking about my sexual history and condom use over the last two years, I was oddly amused by how very, very STD-free I am. Told myself I need to call the doctor's office in a week for the results even though I know everything's fine. Silly to get the test and not call for the results.

Me: Tested, clean, fertile, protected, and no sex in sight. Awesome.

I briefly perused some dating sights this week. I'm taking new pics with friends on Sunday. I'm not quite ready to throw myself out there, but I'm taking steps in that direction. And I'm ready should someone new come around.

The Blogosphere Speaks:

You Could Have Left That Part Out - Mommadrool from Close Encounters of the Drool Kind has a nurse with a TMI problem.

The Gynecologist - Tamara from Crazy Mama shares the joy of the annual visit. And dressing in paper. There's just something about dressing in paper.

Is My Gynecologist The Mole? - Trinab from Random Rudeness and Other Unnecessary Behavior can actually ask this question seriously. (I imagine that at this point the question's been answered?)

Contributing editor Liz Rizzo also blogs at Everyday Goddess.