Routine Pap Smear and Pelvis Exam For Canadian Women

I can't believe that happened. No. Oh hey, I forgot to tell you. I went for my first pelvic exam last week. Are you serious? It must have been terrible. I'm so scared to go. I've been putting it off for weeks. I totally know what you mean. I had to reschedule my appointment twice. And finally the receptionist said, they won't see me if I cancel again. So I had no choice. So tell me everything. What happened? What did they do? Does it hurt? And isn't it embarrassing? Are you going to let me tell you or what?

Okay, first things first. Hello. Get there early. You have to register and all of that fun stuff. I'm not sure if all offices are the same, but where I went, the doctor or the medical assistant, in my case it was the medical assistant, brings you into the room and asks you a bunch of questions. How is your overall health? Do you get your periods regularly? Are you sexually active? If so, how many partners have you been with? Do you use protection? Are you on any birth control or any medications?

Oh, and make sure you tell them about anything that might be bothering you. Like if you have any cramps, any discharge, or if you think you might be pregnant. Okay, so far I can handle it. What else? Okay, so the doctor came into the room and introduced himself. Hi, Catherine. My name's Dr. Black. Nice to meet you. Catherine, my assistant tells me that you're here for your very first pelvic examination. I understand you're probably a little nervous about that, but we're going to make this as easy as we can for you,

and I'm going to explain everything before we do it. She also told me that you're having some fairly significant menstrual cramps with your monthly periods. Perhaps when the examination's completed, we can get back together and talk about some treatment options that we may be able to help you with. Are you naked at this point with your legs up in the air? Is it really cold? And should I get a bikini wax? No, silly. They have chairs in the exam room. Plus, they're professionals. They've done thousands of exams.

All they want is for you to be healthy and safe. So, the doctor's going to ask you to undress after he's left the room, and you cover yourself with a drape sheet. I must say, this is the part where you feel the most vulnerable. What if it hurts? I don't want anyone looking at me down there. The exam will take forever. I should just get out of here. Hi, can I come in? No. Yes, I'm ready. First of all, I'm going to examine the breasts, and then I'm going to do an abdominal examination.

Please lie down. Now I'm going to examine your breasts. I'm checking to see if you have any abnormalities on the skin, and to look and see if there are any lumps in your breasts. Now, raise your arms so I can check underneath your armpit to see if there are any masses or lumps there. This is a speculum with lubrication on it. I'm gently going to slide this now into your vagina to help me look at the walls and the cervix. Please let me know if you feel any discomfort while we do this,

and do you have any questions before I start? No. I can now see your cervix, so I'm going to take some swabs for sexually transmitted disease and infections. Now I'm going to do your pap test. You may feel a little bit of discomfort as the brush turns within your cervix. I'm going to take out the speculum now. I'm now going to do a bimanual pelvic examination. This involves placing two fingers inside the vagina. With my other hand, I'm going to feel above your pubic bone so that I can check your pelvic organs

and make sure that they're in the right place, they're the right size, and they feel normal. That's it. We're all done. Your test results should be ready in about three weeks. We'll call you if there's any issues that we need to discuss with you. I'm going to let you get dressed now while I leave the room, and then I'm going to come back in and we'll discuss your menstrual cramps that you talked about earlier and any other topics you'd like to talk about. Well, that doesn't sound so...