I just got back from from an annual gynecological exam. You know, routine. First of all, my copay just went up, apparently. Second of all, my office just hired a nurse practitioner around a year ago. My first visit in this office was with the doctor. Then, I got gardisil shots (which is another entry all together) with this nurse practitioner, which is fine, but she was also doubling as a birthcontrol consultant and in beginning she made me feel a little uncomfortable. For example, she touted using condoms, which is good… but she talked about them with me in a bit of … let’s say condescending manner. I like her, but I wasn’t  quite sure of that yet then. I will also say, I picked this office due to it’s facilities (it just moved right next to my office), doctor recommendations, and because he was a male doctor. Seriously. So, it caught me off guard when the nurse practioner was the one giving me my annual, today. My reasoning is this: I’m used to men being down there. Women, I am not.

On a separate note, if you’re a nurse practioner, shouldn’t you be better at drawing blood? I once had a terrible experience with another doctor drawing blood. However, for the past 2-3 years, I’ve had positive painless experiences. I guess I let my guard down. She pricked me on the right hand, and could draw nothing. It bled out, it still hurts. She found a vein, finally, on my left arm, and it was more than uncomfortable. Uhg.

She was quite nice, though, and very polite. She is very sweet and tried her best, I know.

Fail on my part: I kind of scheduled this appointment a little too close to my period. Since you can’t schedule the appointment even a day before your last appointment, I scheduled it today. (Last year, my appt was Jan 29.) I didn’t think about anything else. Woops.

Rant: Why do doctors only give Birth Control prescriptions out in 12 month increments? Other than Deprovera/Seasonale, meant to skip periods, all other birth control is given in 28 day increments. That is considered a month. Now, what about those last 2-3 days at the end of our calendar month? That, my dear, causes most women to run out before their next annual. Case in point, 28 x 12 != 365. In fact, 28×12=336, and 365-336=29… a whole extra cycle + 1day. I expect doctors to know that women have 13 cycles a year, if regulated by birthcontrol. Just sayin’.