Jade Goody

I'm ambivalent about the stirrups. It really doesn't bother me. I find the US exams more thorough in that they always checked my ovaries and did breast exams. Hence the need to undress fully. That doesn't make me feel like a piece of meat at all.

I think all the places I've had it done in the UK had curtains but I can't recall them being closed by the nurse. I guess by that point I didn't really care! I was just glad it was over.

I find having the smears highly uncomfortable no matter where I've had it done. I think to some degree it's not a US/UK thing as a difference from woman to woman. My cervix is high and posterior so harder to get to. Others aren't.

OMG... my nurse is fantastic as well!  She is so lovely and easy to talk to!

I had a fantastic nurse back in Redcar...my GPs (all of them) were crap, but my NP was FANTASTIC.    Having to switch surgeries was easily the thing I hated most about this most recent move.

I'm ambivalent about the stirrups. It really doesn't bother me. I find the US exams more thorough in that they always checked my ovaries and did breast exams. Hence the need to undress fully. That doesn't make me feel like a piece of meat at all.

Yes, this is how I feel as well.  Of course, I haven't given birth, so the only folks who have poked around down there are doctors & nurses giving annual exams, and people I've dated.   I might change my mind in years to come....

I haven't given birth, so the only folks who have poked around down there are doctors & nurses giving annual exams, and people I've dated.  

Hahahahaha!!! I nearly choked on my coffee laughing!  Love it! 

I say fair play to Jade Goody today - I hope she a great time at her wedding 

Curtains?!?! You get curtains?!? I've never had privacy curtains in the US or the UK! I feel very deprived.

I have never had to strip off.  I am not normally a skirt wearer but I do on that day...A long skirt and boots...No need to see my wobbly bits that way 

Curtains? You aren't examined in a private room?!

I've only had one smear test here, and it was in a private examination room, but the nurse never left the room. It was pretty odd. 

Curtains? You aren't examined in a private room?!

Since I've lived in the UK, I've always been examined by either (1) a female or (2) a male with a female witness present.  And in my current PCT, I always go to a private room with a lock on the door, and the nurse or doctor always locks the door before examining me.  I've never felt my privacy violated and I like how much more quickly it seems that everything is over and done with.

it was in a private examination room, but the nurse never left the room. It was pretty odd. 

This.  Plus, as discussed, no curtains.

Oh, I see. I was envisioning several people lined up in a ward to be examined at the same time with no curtains separating them. 

It is creepy that the nurse didn't leave the room.

I once agreed to allowing students in the room!  I didn't really appreciate what I was agreeing to until 5 young med students arrived (male and female).  I was completely mortified and it took me a long time to go back for another test. 

I once agreed to allowing students in the room!  I didn't really appreciate what I was agreeing to until 5 young med students arrived (male and female).  I was completely mortified and it took me a long time to go back for another test. 

 

It is creepy that the nurse didn't leave the room.

I guess that doesn't really bother me too much. I mean, after what she's just done and seen, watching me put my jeans back on isn't really a big deal. 

I guess that doesn't really bother me too much. I mean, after what she's just done and seen, watching me put my jeans back on isn't really a big deal. 

Same here.  Usually the nurse is washing her hands, updating the computer at the same time, etc., which is a more efficient use of her time.  Also, I use the DuckyFuzz method of wearing a skirt, so it takes me no more than 10 seconds to sort myself out and get ready to go.

Maybe it helps that I have pretty much forgotten how things like this used to be in the States, and that I try to take the attitude of "it's not wrong, it's different" where possible.

Also, I use the DuckyFuzz method of wearing a skirt, so it takes me no more than 10 seconds to sort myself out and get ready to go.

I wear skirts almost everyday anyway, so... what they said.  Boots & knickers removed, job done, boots & knickers back on again.  Takes seconds.