That time of year again...

The dreaded yearly physical.

So yesterday I had my yearly physical.

The boys were away hunting so I had to take public transit. My Dr's office is about 2 kms away but it was very cold so I decided to take the bus. Because I live in a small town, the busses do loops and do not travel both ways - so to get to where I needed to be, I had to ride the bus approx. 6km, switch busses in downtown, ride the 2nd bus another 6 km to reach my destination that was ony 2 km away from where I originally caught the bus - you get that?

After the 30 minute bus rides, I arrive at my Dr office 30 minutes early.

The nurse calls me in to weight me - I weight too much, to take my blood pressure - it is too high and to measure my waist - it is too big.

Then I get taken into the exam room where I am given a serviette and a paper towel to cover up with. Why do they bother? I put on the paper gown which actually covers the front of me but leaves my back end hanging in the breeze.

The Dr comes in and she does the regular physical exam and chitchat. Then comes time for the Pap test. Let's get this over with. I lay back and look at the poster of a freaky monkey on the ceiling with the caption "I need to relax" Cute.

The little swing lamp the Dr uses to see what she is doing is being finicky and keeps shutting off by itself. She tries to fix it. She is still prefoming the Pap test. She suddenly says "hang on, I'm going to get the nurse to hold a light for me". She leaves the room with me in this lovely position. It is actually the receptionist she brings back ACK!!! to hold the light. I do not make eye contact with anyone. I stare at the goofy monkey on the ceiling, pretending my bits are not on display to this woman who is not my Dr. The Pap is finished, the receptionist leaves.

The Dr leaves so I can dress, ya like I have any dignity left.

When she returns she asks if I want a flu shot - sure, I usually get one.

She asks when my last tetanus shot was. I can't recall, so she decides I should have one. So bad memory equals lots of shots.

I also have to schedule a mammogram as it has been 2 yrs since my last one and I have a family history of breast cancer. Great I get to have the girls squished again.

I go see the nurse again to get my 2 shots.

I have fasted since the previous night so I go down to the lab for my blood work. It isn't too bad this time - only get poked once. I have very deep slippery veins and I usually get poked several times before they decide to take the blood from my hand which hurts like a ....

I also have to get an EKG since I am over 40. Off with the top half of clothes again - paper sheet over me. The technician sticks 9 sticky things all over me, attaches the electrodes or whatever and a couple minutes later rips off the sticky things and tells me I am done. I redress and thankfully head home.

I left the house at 8:10am and return at 11am. Not too bad and I am done for another whole year...well except for the mammogram.

Later in the afternoon my boys return home. I tell my needle-fearing son I got the flu shot - he is 13 now and swears he can decide for himself and he is NOT getting the flu shot this year. I say fine, and that he should be really thankful that he is not female as the flu shot would be the least of his worries!

That dreaded time of year again....

No I'm not talking about taxes but those are bad enough ......no I am talking about it being time for my ACK yearly physical!

I travel into Toronto, approximately 100 Km and an hour train ride away to see this Dr because I cannot find a female doctor out here in the boonies. I only go to her for the yearly physical, I have a male doctor (that used to be closer but then he moved and its a pain to go see him too), for all other stuff.

So I dread going in for this appt each year - it isn't pleasant yanno. But it is made worse by the fact that this doctor is ALWAYS triple booked and I usually have at least an hour wait until I am called in. Today of course, I was 25 minutes late and they raised stink about it. Seems the Dr showed up on time for a change. So I was rushed in, given a total of 3 minutes to put on the paper napkin gown before the nurse hustled back in to give me an ECG, since I am over 40 now - like anyone will let me forget. (It was fine by the way)

I remembered to bring a wrap with me this year to stay warm, thanks, to a bloggy friend who complained about the paper napkin gowns the other day. And then I sit and wait another 35 minutes until the doctor comes in.

The first thing the doctor does is rip the paper napkin down the front and then the back checking my skin for moles or whatnot - so why do I bother even putting it on - it is not like it is keeping me warm.

I grit my teeth as the doctor tries to make pleasant conversation through the rest of the exam and wonder if I should mention that I really dislike the picture she has put on the ceiling for the patients to stare at - I mean its a nice gesture and all - but I really dislike this picture and I have to stare at it every year. And why oh why are the damn exam tables so narrow and butted right up against the wall? I kept feeling like I was going to fall off.

I have slightly elevated blood pressure that I have been on meds for the past few years for. When she took my reading with the regular cuff (we usually use the large cuff as I have fat arms :)) it was 144/98 - higher than it has been. So she then put me on he electronic blood pressure meter with a large cuff. It takes 6 readings and averages them.

My average came out as 119/71. What?! One of the readings was 104/70! When she came back in to read them - (they had left me alone for the 6 readings), she mentioned that sometimes they get false readings because people get nervous when doctors are there. So perhaps I was more relaxed without her there. So maybe I have normal blood pressure and have been on medication just because doctors scare me?

Who knows. I'm just glad it is over for yet another year.