Dude, having an IUD inserted was so (briefly yet holycrapsharply) painful that I will NEVER complain about a PAP test again.

Truer statement, mang....

I am like Vortex. My OBs have figured out pretty quickly to use a much smaller speculum on me. Before childbirth, one of my GYNs actually used a child-sized one. Which was good for me, but also made me sad because there are very few good reasons to need such a thing as a child-sized speculum.

Edited because a "much speculum" is not the same thing as a "much smaller" speculum. Must learn to proof before posting.

Jones New York jacket priced at $239.00 for TWELVE DOLLARS. It's a little big, but what's a waist nip when the jacket was TWELVE DOLLARS.

Ooooh. Nice.

Amazon is recommending Sidney Poitier's autobiography, based on the fact that I ordered "YOU: On A Diet." Interesting.

Also, I've been looking though the recipes in "Vegan With a Vengeance," which I also just bought. It's pretty interesting as vegan cookbooks go. The desserts take up about a quarter of the book, and there's no a single salad. Looks like fun. I have a feeling I might be bringing a lot of vegan baked goods into the office in the next few weeks.

Amazon is recommending Sidney Poitier's autobiography, based on the fact that I ordered "YOU: On A Diet." Interesting.

Probably because both books have been featured on Oprah, although Amazon recommendations are often on the bad crack.

Hysterectomy = no more pap smears. This is a definite benefit.

Hysterectomy = no more pap smears. This is a definite benefit.

The weirdest thing is that my new GYN up here actually told me at my last checkup that I probably didn't need them anymore, because I had been sexually monogamous for more than twenty years, and then cited all the evidence about cervical cancer and the human papilloma (I have no idea if I spelled that right) virus and it being sexually transmitted, blah blah.

And then he did a pap smear anyway.

Dude, having an IUD inserted was so (briefly yet holycrapsharply) painful that I will NEVER complain about a PAP test again.

Steph, did sounds get metallic on you?

You know, I don't know. Because my problem is that I so totally go into my pain that everything else recedes. I remember gasping at the pain (though that might have been at the measuring of my uterus, not the IUD insertion), and then being surprised (and ANNOYED) that my OB/GYN seemed surprised that I was experiencing pain. But mostly I just remember sharp, whitehot pain.

You guys aren't selling the IUD very well. ijs.

It sounds weird, but I can deal much better with big, whole muscle pain (at least that's the way I think of it) like childbirth, but sharp, whitehot pain, like a toothache, or what you're describing? That makes me want to run screaming. Far, far away.

The weirdest thing is that my new GYN up here actually told me at my last checkup that I probably didn't need them anymore, because I had been sexually monogamous for more than twenty years, and then cited all the evidence about cervical cancer and the human papilloma (I have no idea if I spelled that right) virus and it being sexually transmitted, blah blah.

This is exactly what my mom's doctor told her so my mom skipped a year on her yearly. Now she's in the middle of all the testing for various and sundry badness.

You guys aren't selling the IUD very well. ijs.

Well, once it's in, there's some cramping for a little bit -- just like normal menstrual cramps -- and then it's all good.

It sounds weird, but I can deal much better with big, whole muscle pain (at least that's the way I think of it) like childbirth, but sharp, whitehot pain, like a toothache, or what you're describing? That makes me want to run screaming. Far, far away.

Yeah, but -- it happens, and then it's over. BAM! AIEEEEEEEEE! Done.

I had done my obsessive reading before getting it inserted, so I knew to expect pain when having it done. However, if I hadn't been prepared for that, I might have passed out.