My first pap smear
May. 20th, 2006 11:29 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
misplaced-nyer.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
vaginapaginaSo I went to the doctor’s for a physical today. It was a bit different than my other physicals because I am now [enter triumphant trumpet noises] an adult.
My doctor gave me a breast exam. Not with the machine, she just felt around. I was in the exam "robe" thing and she had me lay down on my back, put my arm over my head, and she had my arm out of my sleeve so that the robe could be pulled back so she could see and feel my breast. She allowed me the modesty of only exposing one breast at a time, and for that I am grateful.
The biggest difference… I got my first pap smear. Now, it was nowhere near as horrible as I’ve heard some people say. My doctor is wonderful and she explained everything to me before she did anything so I wouldn’t be surprised.
Instead of those giant metal salad bowl things I’ve come to acquaint with vagina areas, my doctor used this plastic thing. It’s shaped kind of like a gun and it’s narrower at the tip and then gets a little wider. There’s a gadget near the handle that clicks a bit and opens up the tip of the gun. So it looks kind of like a duck. It looks a little intimidating but it’s not bad at all, and it’s all lubed up so you can hardly feel it. After everything was spread open she did two swabs. One I didn’t even feel and the other had this really soft brush thing on the end that made me cramp a little bit but it wasn’t painful. Then she took the gun-thing out and did a manual exam. She just took two fingers and felt around in there. The hardest part for me was letting myself splay my legs wide open. It wasn’t bad though and my doctor was wonderful about everything. Oh, that was one of the things I was surprised yet pleased about. I always assumed that pap smears were done my gynecologists. But my regular doctor did it, and I was happier that someone I’m rather familiar with did the exam instead of a complete stranger. And I’ve determined that I could never have a guy do this exam. I would just not be comfortable with a guy poking around down there…
My doctor gave me a breast exam. Not with the machine, she just felt around. I was in the exam "robe" thing and she had me lay down on my back, put my arm over my head, and she had my arm out of my sleeve so that the robe could be pulled back so she could see and feel my breast. She allowed me the modesty of only exposing one breast at a time, and for that I am grateful.
The biggest difference… I got my first pap smear. Now, it was nowhere near as horrible as I’ve heard some people say. My doctor is wonderful and she explained everything to me before she did anything so I wouldn’t be surprised.
Instead of those giant metal salad bowl things I’ve come to acquaint with vagina areas, my doctor used this plastic thing. It’s shaped kind of like a gun and it’s narrower at the tip and then gets a little wider. There’s a gadget near the handle that clicks a bit and opens up the tip of the gun. So it looks kind of like a duck. It looks a little intimidating but it’s not bad at all, and it’s all lubed up so you can hardly feel it. After everything was spread open she did two swabs. One I didn’t even feel and the other had this really soft brush thing on the end that made me cramp a little bit but it wasn’t painful. Then she took the gun-thing out and did a manual exam. She just took two fingers and felt around in there. The hardest part for me was letting myself splay my legs wide open. It wasn’t bad though and my doctor was wonderful about everything. Oh, that was one of the things I was surprised yet pleased about. I always assumed that pap smears were done my gynecologists. But my regular doctor did it, and I was happier that someone I’m rather familiar with did the exam instead of a complete stranger. And I’ve determined that I could never have a guy do this exam. I would just not be comfortable with a guy poking around down there…
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