Do you go to all your annual exams?

I skip a lot of stuff because of (as a jelly once put it so well) “medical fatigue”. I have had a boatload of serious medical issues in my life, and way too many tests and scans and pokes and prods and probes and enemas and blood draws and squished bits and strangers diving into places they shouldn’t oughta go and drugs and being stabbed with pointy stuff etc etc etc.

I spent a chunk of 2022 doing it again and ugh.

So fuck no. Not unless I am being severely impaired do I go near any medical facility anymore.

And I own that, and I am fully aware of all the possible consequences of that attitude.

I skipped many due to lack of insurance (being in the inhumanely barbaric USA and all).

YES my dad had prostate cancer, I get PSA tested twice a year. It is above normal and has been for 30 years.

He had several other conditions that required medications and monitoring by medical personnel !

Nope, I hate going to doctors. I have to go every 2 years for a DOT physical, but other than that haven’t been to a doctor in probably 30 years. No thanks. They charge way too much.

I haven’t had a Gynecologist exam in 11 years. I’m sick of going in there and waiting 2–3 hours.
I do go to all other yearly exams.

I’m all up on everything with a great score I think. All my labs are in the right places.

I go to a general physical with blood work at my General Practitioner. I get that free iwth my insurance each year (meaning no copay). I also go for annual mammogram.

I get two cleanings per year at the dentist. My mom always used to say “you get one set of teeth and you have to take care of them.”

I haven’t been Hu hudod! in 3 years. Also known as a prostate exam.

I failed a dementia test by one point two years ago, and lost my learners driving permit.

I get yearly physicals and an eye exam every one or two years.

I haven’t received a dental exam since covid started.

@All Thank you! I really worry about my loved onrs and friends not getting checked. Especially with my mom not getting mammograms then dying from breast cancer. I’m trying to understand others decisions, as I lost another 8 lbs from stress over my own mammogram Monday. (Which came back clear.)

@canidmajor I do respect an individuals choice, more so when they acknowledge the inherent risks with that. :)

@Zaku Obamacare will handle your annuals with an income-based plan. A lot of us on all political spectrums supported it for that very reason.

@KNOWITALL Thank you. You would be surprised at how many robustly healthy people are derisive about choices like that and berate me for being afraid, when in fact it is mostly exhaustion talking. If someone hasn’t been there, they just can’t know.

@canidmajor I had to beg my mom to go on hospice, for that very reason, for her relief from all that. At some point we do have to accept the inevitable and make peace with it.

No, we all have the right to make our decisions. I’m sorry you had to deal with all of that, truly.
I also READILY admit I’m terrified of the medical profession. I have white coat syndrome, an irrational fear of doctors. (Sorry jelly doc haha) But I force myself to go. My blood pressure was always super high at the doctor, fine at home.

@KNOWITALL Thanks. I am glad to still be walking around, even if a bit damaged from treatment and stuff.

@canidmajor I’m glad you are still here, too. It takes a lot of ovaries to put yourself through all that, tough lady. :)

In my 40’s I skipped mammograms most years. Turned out I was fairly in line with the new recommendation, and I’m happy I skipped it. Everything I heard and read, the 40 year old mammogram yearly didn’t make sense to me. I’m in my 50’s now and willing to do it more often, but I want to research it more. I’d rather do a sonogram instead and not be radiated. I just did a mammogram a week ago, my last one was over two years ago.

I skipped dental X-rays only doing them every 2–3 years and I’m very happy I skipped those too. I do get a cleaning. I did them every 6 months for years. Then I switched to once a year. Only this past cleaning did I do ahead and book to go again in 6 months and the hygienist asked me three times if I was sure I want to bother doing it in 6 months.

I am very good about my annual GYN check. Maybe twice in my life it was 2 years in-between visits in 39 years, otherwise always within 18 months, usually at the 12–13 month mark.

I don’t go to GP’s or Internists with any regularity since my teen years.

Since my early thirties I get colonscopies, usually when the doctor says, only delaying one time, when I waited 7 instead of 5 years. So, it’s not annual, but it is something I need to do as recommended. I had one about 6 months ago, then three months later I had to do a sigmoidoscopy, and my next one is scheduled for two years from the sig, and I plan to do it on time. I think if I had not started in my thirties I would have had colon cancer by now. Starting at 50 would have been to late to prevent it. Now the recommendation is 45, but not when I was 45.

I’m also supposed to get a cardiac stress test every year. During covid I waited close to two years.

I used to see my endocrinologist every 6 months, but I haven’t found another that I like since I moved back to Florida.

@JLeslie I feel like my new primary will want to schedule a colonoscopy since I turned 50. I’m terrified by the indignity and the entire process. Maybe you can PM me sometime and help me be less scared.

When I was in the hospital once they stuck me so many times for blood they ran out of place’s to get blood. They wanted to add another IV and couldn’t get one in so they said the heck with it. Talk about feeling like a pin cushion. That hurt so bad I was in agony.

@KNOWITALL Sure. Whenever you want to talk about it send me a message and I’m happy to tell you about it.

The best part is, if you have a completely clear colonscopy you won’t have to think about it again for ten years, and it’s pretty close to a guarantee you won’t have colon cancer within those ten years. Nothing is 100% of course. If they find polyps then you really feel like you prevented a cancer.

I go, as needed and on schedule.

I examine myself daily.

Yup. My genetics are stacked against me. So best to keep up on that stuff.

@KNOWITALL TMI, but I had the best nap first time I had a colonoscopy. Totally understood how Michael Jackson got addicted. My sleep is usually shit. Did not know sleep could even be that restful. Made me a bit wary how much I liked the propofol. Especially with addiction in my gene pool.

I did during my working years, but now I am prompt.

@filmfann That statement is a bit confusing. You did go to your annual exams during your working years but now you’re on time?

@raum I’m a control freak, and a redhead so I’ve woke up during a few procedures. They dope me up again so it’s hard for me to shake off.

@KNOWITALL Ooph have heard about that with redheads. Must be so frustrating for you. Boo.

@raum It really freaks out the medical staff!

I pay damned good money for my health insurance. I also live in an area with world class healthcare providers.
I go to everything I can and have prescribed/recommended.
Why on earth would a person not take care of themselves is beyond me. Many times it is exactly because they haven’t taken care of themselves.
My body is a temple.

Bet you are all over the “Just World Theory”, too, @Forever_Free. <<eyeroll>>

@jca2 I see my response is confusing.
I used to skip or put off doctors and dental visits.

@canidmajor Care to elaborate on that? I am choosing to take the best care of myself. Is there something wrong with people who take care of themselves.

@Forever_Free My guess is you haven’t been very sick or chronically sick or hard to diagnose what’s wrong sick during your life.

Plus, keep in mind medical mistakes are up there in the top ten of killers.

I’m in the hospital enough I don’t think I need any more exams. My doctors know about my health issues already.