Gynecologist appt = success!
Hello, everyone! I'm sure y'all have been on the edge of your seats this week, thinking about my gynecologist appointment yesterday evening. I am here to report that...it happens. Yes, that's right. Kinda a letdown. No fascinating stories.
I did strike up an interesting conversation with my gynecologist, though.
(To clarify, that is not my doctor. Or my baby.)
I asked many detailed questions about Pap smears, cervical cancer, etc. and she was incredibly excited and thorough in her explanations. When I told her she should be a teacher, she responded, "Maybe after I retire - this is the best job in the world, except when it isn't." I assumed she was referring to the best as delivering babies (less so, I suspect, Pap smears), and the most difficult part being the tougher cases, like stillborns, babies with birth defects, etc., but then it occurred to me that she might mean performing abortions. So I asked her (in retrospect, I hope it wasn't a rude question) if she performs abortions. She responded, "No, I don't. I believe in a woman's right to choose, but I personally just can't do it."
It's a difficult question, I suppose - if you believe in something, but you recognize how difficult it is - are you entitled to recuse yourself? [Of course, this was most famously 'debated' in The Cider House Rules, one of the first real adult books I ever read and still one of the best.] Of course, everyone would rather deliver a child than an abortion; if everyone made the decision to only do the fun part, we wouldn't have doctors performing the service. Of course, she could argue that we aren't in such a state, so she doesn't have to worry about. But then one could argue that if she, philosophically, believes that abortions are the right of a woman, then doesn't she make a moral differentiation by her actions? That is to say, she is making a statement simply by not performing them. I don't really have an answer for this, I'm really just musing. But if I am true to myself, I think that if I were in her shoes, I too would stay away from abortions. But do I think it's right? I'm not sure.
Anyway, that was a digression, sorry about that.
I was incredibly anxious, but the doctor made me feel incredibly comfortable; she kept apologizing for making me uncomfortable, and her entire demeanor was so welcoming and friendly; it made a huge difference. The breast exam was difficult because her hands were freeeeezing, but that should be the biggest problem in life. The Pap smear was also fine, I just kept telling my body to relax, and eventually, it did, and I was much less uncomfortable. It still hurt a little bit, but I just kept breathing and it was okay.
Anyway, tomorrow is a big day! Ophthalmologist in the morning, should be boring. And then dentist appointment in the early afternoon (I booked a double appointment, because the right side of my mouth has been weirdly sensitive to cold in the past month, and because a tiny piece of filling (gross) came out of one of my teeth last week; funny enough, it was the day after I had booked this appointment. Last, I have a general checkup, and hopefully I can get blood taken too; if I'm feeling particularly inspired, I will ask for a referral to a dermatologist and head over there in the next week or two. It's my last few weeks, I should go crazy!
