Being Proactive on the Woman Issues

Disclaimer:  This post is going to talk about women issues so this is your warning.  If you keep reading that's on you. 

I used to dread going for my yearly physical.  I wont even try to lie.  I still dread it.  Even if you are prepared there are a hundred and one things you would rather do (like listen to dubstep) than getting a pap smear.  But I go. 

Why? 

Because it's important.  It's preventative.

I used to not always be so preachy about getting poked.  Then my husband's aunt got diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer.  Here is the part where all the smarty parties tell me that a pap smear doesn't screen for Ovarian Cancer, and you are right.  It doesn't but it will all make sense by the time I get to the end of the post. 

She was diagnosed right around the time we found out we were pregnant with Clover.  I spent more than a few afternoons sitting and knitting in a hospital room while his aunt was working hard to recover.  Originally she went in because she was having stomach issues.  Turned out that a mass the size of an orange that was in her uterus was pushing on her intestines.  She was in her sixties and had never had a physical.  She just didn't believe in them.  Had she even gone in a few years before, they could have felt it as part of her pelvic exam before it was as large as it was.  She had many surgeries to try to remove it all and in the end it bought her a couple of years.  She was a very strong and stubborn woman.  We tried to make the most of the time we were given and I'm glad that my daughter got to meet someone I had admired.  Unfortunately, three years after she was diagnosed her body could no longer keep up and she passed away.

If I took anything away from that experience other than to cherish the time we have, it's to be proactive and make sure I get my yearly poke.

I know it sucks and it's uncomfortable to sit there and for some reason the doctor always wants to talk with your legs in stirrups.  But go do it!  If not for you than for a random internet stranger.  Buy yourself some good chocolate after as a treat or get a pedi as a bribe.  Whatever you gotta do!