This is a bit long, and I've talked about this a lot lately, but it's something I'm thinking about a lot in the wake of so much hatred of female Healthcare. When my female troubles got bad enough that I finally talked to my doctor about it, he referred me to a gynecologist. I had already had several ultrasounds and an MRI at this point, and she had put me on some oral contraceptives for several months, (which made sick to my stomach no matter what I did) and had just done another ultrasound. She greeted me with "Well, you're really messed up inside, Honey.", which already had me pretty stressed out. Then told me I would probably need surgery to figure out exactly what was going on. She then asked me if I wanted children, and I said No. I had taken my husband with me to the appointment for moral support, and she glanced over at him, and then talked to me for 5 minutes about how many women my age could still have children, and I could definitely consider it, and that they would do everything they could to make sure I could stay viable. They could freeze my eggs if I had to do a hysterectomy, just on and on. She probably asked me directly 4-5 if I was sure I didn't want kids. Finally, I said, "Ma'am, my husband got a vasectomy over a decade ago, we are absolutely sure we don't want kids." After hubs had found me crying on the toliet, because my period was late again, he went to his doctor and said, "Hey doctor, I'm thinking about a vasectomy." The doctor gave him a pamphlet to read, and made him an appointment. The whole thing was done in a few weeks.
Anyhow, she finally referred me to a gynecological surgeon, and I was not looking forward to dealing with this again, and was just generally terrified of having surgery for the first time. I met with this woman and she was so efficient and practical. It is the longest doctor appointment I've ever had, since this surgery would be exploratory, she went over every possibility of what could happen when she was inside. She did a thorough exam, she went over all the scans that I had, and explained why she thought this needed done. Then she said she would like to put in a Mirena IUD during surgery. She said, "You're in pain half the month, and there's no reason for you to have a period if you don't want to have kids. You'll have some erratic bleeding for six months, but by a year most women have a very light or no period at all, there's no reason for you to needlessly suffer if you don't end up needing a hysterectomy."
It's interesting to me still, that one doctor was so focused on what my body could do, and another so focused on how I felt. I came out of the first appointment feeling scared and confused, and the second feeling heard and cared for. Feeling valued as a person and not a baby maker made the surgery much easier to go through, and the Mirena has been great btw. Women don't have to needlessly suffer.
@RickiTarr I will always love the gynaecologist who said "It all looks fine, but if it hurts that much we must fix it." Previous ones had said only the first part. This one reconstructed my perineum.
Did you have "sex ed" (sometimes called "health class") in school? Did it help you in any way? Hurt?
Which of the following apply (check more than one if needed, so if you had a multiple classes at different ages check both)
If I could change one thing about the education we had it would be to have more focus on the reality of rape and the nature of consent. These topics weren't addressed much beyond a cartoon version of bogey men jumping out of bushes and I think it left many unprepared.
Trad Wife memes are always like a traditionally attractive skinny blonde woman in a white dress, in a field of flowers, holding hands with their immaculate children. The text always says something like, Why are you working a job, instead of doing your true calling? This is Godly Motherhood!
This how I know these are made by people who have never been around children, or possibly even women, and also never had to worry about money.
None of you thought it might be important to tell me that ferns have sperm that swim??? I just had to find all this out on my own?
And, (apparently, & no one thought to bring this up either🙄) fern plants are only one form... they have this 'other form' (tiny, ephemeral, difficult to find in the wild) alternates generations-- Fern spores don't grow into ferns! (WHAT) they grow into 'gemetophytes' (WHAT) THEN you get a fern.
@abetterjulie@futurebird@Twarda 1950s Ireland, my mother was passionately interested in sewing. But she was "bright", so she went to university to do organic chemistry. Which she wasn't passionately interested in so she dropped out. Status! It's a nightmare!
Of course Nimarata Haley (AKA, Nikki Haley) knows the real reason for the civil war. Her father taught at an HBCU in South Carolina. That's not the interesting question. The interesting question is why she lied about it.
@stavvers@mekkaokereke every so often in the UK parents try to force the NHS to tell them if their children access medical care, especially contraception or abortion but also mental health stuff etc
Most of you have probably never heard this before, but...
✨it's perfectly normal for some of your period blood to flow in the wrong direction and into your pelvis✨
It's called retrograde menstruation and most of the time it's perfectly harmless!
@cliffwade we try to give away as many little parcels of sweets as possible. Usually we have some sort of identifying decoration so that kids can say "Go to the house with the three pumpkins and a crow, they have good stuff." My favourite is when we run out and someone has to rush to the shop to get more.
