Surprise! Let's Get Physical!

A couple of years ago when my health care provider changed, I was assigned a doctor who was close to where I live. I didn't really need a doctor over the past couple of years but at the start of this year, I knew I needed one of those "special" female physicals and I also wanted someone a bit closer to work. On top of that, being as fair as I am I wanted to have my freckles reviewed and with the diabetes and heart disease that is rampant on my paternal side, have my cholesterol checked which I had never had done before.

Over the past few months, I asked around to coworkers who they had as a primary care physician and if they liked him/her. My supervisor spoke highly of hers so I made a 'meet and greet' appointment with her. Since these appointments take a bit longer than usual and she is only in this nearby office twice a week, I had to wait for about a month and a half. As I was making the appointment, the receptionist asked if I wanted a physical. I said no, I just wanted to meet her first and then perhaps schedule things once I had.

So, October 2nd finally rolls around and I head across the street to my appointment 15 minutes early as was requested. As I just sat down to start filling out the forms and reading their privacy information, I get called back. After a weight check and a blood pressure check, I'm left in the room to finish filling it out. It wasn't too long after I had completed it when the doctor came in. She was adorable. Slightly older than me. Blonde. Very easy to talk to. As we were chatting about what I had filled in on my form, she asked if I wanted a physical since it had been 4 years (for us who are still relatively young and non-birth control users, 3 years is the usual span between physicals). I said not to bother and that I would schedule one as I checked out.

We then went on to talk about other things and a few minutes later, she came back to the physical thing again. I finally relented under the "Well, if you have the time..." guise. I haven't been sweet-talked out of my clothes that quickly since I was a freshman in college! During "the process", I tried not to think of the upkeep that a scheduled one would have entailed and just hoped all was well or at least that she had seen worse while trying to make conversation...to no avail. I then just tried to relax, keep my frog legs going and count the ceiling tiles.

Last Thursday I had to run in quickly to have blood taken for the cholesterol test and a few others that she wanted to run on it such as thyroid and if I still have my rubella antibodies. Despite seeing a lobby filled with people at 7:15 a.m. and a guy who didn't know the meaning of the word 'fasting', I was again taken right in and I was out in 5 minutes. This was my first time with giving blood for any reason so I was a bit nervous about whether I had good veins or not but the person that did it hit the mark on the first shot. I wanted to watch her withdraw it but instead, I decided to focus on their Halloween decor.

On Friday, I got the test results back already. Everything looked fine but I was leaning a bit towards hypothyroidism which the doctor wasn't too concerned about currently. Despite saying that, the person that called me then proceeded to read some of the symptoms - inability to handle the cold, dry skin, constipation, etc. None of which really applied to me other than weight gain or not being able to lose weight but the doctor and I had talked about my workout regime so it was too soon to tell if not losing weight was due to the thyroid or me being lazy, which is what I said. She then proceeded to read a more indepth listing of the symptoms - the flattening of facial features, etc. I again had to bust her bubble and say that my pointy chin was still pointy. She seemed to finally be happy when I agreed to another blood test in 6 months.

During the freckle exam (which I think was more embarrassing than the actual physical especially when I told her about a freckle I had near a questionable area and I almost had to point it out until she spotted it...then I got to wondering if she wondered how I knew it was there...), she saw one that looked a little dubious so this afternoon, I get to have it removed. I hear there is nothing to it - they numb the area and remove it and some of the surrounding area. The problem I have with this is that it's on my back which is a highly sensitive area. She lightly touched it just while doing the freckle check and I cringed. I think I will need to bite down on something during this process.