19 Kids and Counting - All Things Duggar Family - Part 5

[EmmieJ]

The reason I prefer a female ob/gyn is that she will have a much greater possibility of knowing what I'm talking about as I describe a concern I might have - a "female" concern. Besides which, I was once seen by a male ob/gyn at Kaiser (because they just slot you where ever there is an opening much of the time), and he was rude and dismissive. I wrote a letter of complaint and insisted that I never be scheduled with him again.

[Guest LilaFowler]

I prefer a female gyno. If it matters, I'm agnostic.

[OkToBeTakei]

The reason I prefer a female ob/gyn is that she will have a much greater possibility of knowing what I'm talking about as I describe a concern I might have - a "female" concern. Besides which, I was once seen by a male ob/gyn at Kaiser (because they just slot you where ever there is an opening much of the time), and he was rude and dismissive. I wrote a letter of complaint and insisted that I never be scheduled with him again.

But see that is just a personal experience. You had one bad experience with a male and therefore think that a female will have empathy or experience with a 'female' issue because they are female. Not always the case. My one bad experience was a female for instance. But I would say generally having seen quite a few of both sexes over the years it is down to how good they are as a doctor rather than their biological make-up.

[Mama Mia]

In my case, and this is purely optional, but my OB/GYN also does other things like prescribe my thyroid medication and draw bloodwork for cholesterol and other counts. It doesn't and shouldn't replace the full physical exam that is performed by a family doctor on a yearly basis, but if you haven't gotten around to that yet, the extras an OB/GYN can do for you are convenient.

But does a healthy person actually need an annual physical exam ? That seems really excessive. I thought the recommendation was every two or three years ? Even my kids had bi-annual physicals once they were school age as far as I remember.

Until I started having serious health problems I went every few years if I had something wrong like strep throat ( not preventable , so it isn't like an annual physical would have caught them ). During my 20's I guess my OB/GYN would be considered my primary --- but just because I was pregnant all the time !

I'm trying to remember when my daughters first started having pelvics and paps -- I assumed they had to have them when they started getting birth control, but thinking about it -- I don't know if that was actually part of the exam for getting the pill.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

It's not required by law. It's just one of those things many doctors in the US insist upon.

You are so right and I am so wrong.

I had forgotten the history behind all this, but basically it boils down to: In the 30's, cervical cancer was the deadliest cancer for American women so the ACOG came up with the bright idea of mandatory yearly pap smears and tying it in with BC pills (because that would "prove" that the patient was sexually active.). Then they decided that if you were celibate or monogamous you could skip a year or two. They've changed again a couple of times in the last three years, right now it is:

No pap smears under 21

21 to 29 pap test every 3 years

30 to 65 pap test every three years and hpv test every 5

No pap test after 65

Of course this is all based on no abnormalities and your doctor will decide which tests s/he wants you to have. Most doctors will follow the guidelines because not to do so would be fodder for a law suit.

I remembered it wrongly because as a young married woman without insurance I was aggravated over having to pay for the test every year. There was no way to get BC pills without the pap smear.

[canadian]

In Ontario it used to be annually if you wanted bc. However, I was pleasantly surprised the other day - I went to the gp (female - Ive always had famale doctor and don't think I could handle a male 'examining' me) expecting a full physical. She asked what my visit was for and simply wrote out the prescription for my pills. Now it has been changed to a physical every other year (which is more than fine with me).

[JenniferJuniper]

You are so right and I am so wrong.

I had forgotten the history behind all this, but basically it boils down to: In the 30's, cervical cancer was the deadliest cancer for American women so the ACOG came up with the bright idea of mandatory yearly pap smears and tying it in with BC pills (because that would "prove" that the patient was sexually active.). Then they decided that if you were celibate or monogamous you could skip a year or two. They've changed again a couple of times in the last three years, right now it is:

No pap smears under 21

21 to 29 pap test every 3 years

30 to 65 pap test every three years and hpv test every 5

No pap test after 65

Of course this is all based on no abnormalities and your doctor will decide which tests s/he wants you to have. Most doctors will follow the guidelines because not to do so would be fodder for a law suit.

I remembered it wrongly because as a young married woman without insurance I was aggravated over having to pay for the test every year. There was no way to get BC pills without the pap smear.

And here's my problem with this: It's wrong for doctors to insist you have a test for one condition when you are looking for treatment for something that is unrelated.

Imagine if a man went to his doctor looking for a shingles shot and his doctor said, "Sorry, Mr. Jones, but I see you have a history of colon cancer in your family and you are three years overdue for a colonoscopy. I can't let you have that shingles vaccine until you get your cancer screening."

I acknowledge that both colonoscopies and PAP tests can be valuable screening tools (not mammograms, but you don't want to get me started on those) but women should not be forced to have PAP exams at short intervals just because they want to use hormonal birth control rather than some other form. There’s nothing a pelvic exam can tell a doctor that would influence his decision to write the prescription or not. And so there is no real difference between this and "You want to buy condoms? You need a pelvic exam first!"

[keen23]

I've had paps yearly since I was 17. Mostly female doctors, but the occasional male. Even now, I'm 35, and not on hormonal birth control (copper IUD for me), and I get a pap as part of my yearly physical. I've never thought about it, and just assumed it was part of being a grown-up. Like twice a year teeth cleanings, once a year pap smear.

[patsymae]

Young women I worked with (well, young at the time, 27 or so and 30). K can't believe C has never seen a doctor. K, who was approaching 30 and not at all interested in having children ( funny now I feel I have to qualify that and that she felt she had to me) found out she had cervical cancer. Doctor told her better not to treat the cancer because it would affect her fertility in the future. K was, I want to be treated and live. And C should go get examined, however young and symptom free she is. "I am off the chart, and I had cancer."

[Mama Mia]

You are so right and I am so wrong.

I had forgotten the history behind all this, but basically it boils down to: In the 30's, cervical cancer was the deadliest cancer for American women so the ACOG came up with the bright idea of mandatory yearly pap smears and tying it in with BC pills (because that would "prove" that the patient was sexually active.). Then they decided that if you were celibate or monogamous you could skip a year or two. They've changed again a couple of times in the last three years, right now it is:

No pap smears under 21

21 to 29 pap test every 3 years

30 to 65 pap test every three years and hpv test every 5

No pap test after 65

Of course this is all based on no abnormalities and your doctor will decide which tests s/he wants you to have. Most doctors will follow the guidelines because not to do so would be fodder for a law suit.

I remembered it wrongly because as a young married woman without insurance I was aggravated over having to pay for the test every year. There was no way to get BC pills without the pap smear.

To the bolded part --- I don't think you mean the 1930's, since birth control pills didn't exist yet :lol: Or maybe you meant they tied it to use of the diaphram ?

[JenniferJuniper]

I've had paps yearly since I was 17. Mostly female doctors, but the occasional male. Even now, I'm 35, and not on hormonal birth control (copper IUD for me), and I get a pap as part of my yearly physical. I've never thought about it, and just assumed it was part of being a grown-up. Like twice a year teeth cleanings, once a year pap smear.

Unless you've had an abnormal finding, you're being tested more than the guidelines suggest is necessary. Which is every two years after becoming sexually active or age 21 and then every three years after age 30 if you've had three normal tests in a row.

I'm not suggesting women shouldn't get regular PAP smears. I'm objecting to tying the prescribing of birth control pills to pelvic exams when the two are not related to each other. This Mother Jones article addresses this better than I can.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... ol-hostage

[MrMattyMatt]

:roll: ....at least we're off the correct use of the English language... :roll:

[church_of_dog]

:roll: ....at least we're we IS off the correct use of the English language... :roll:

fixed that for ya. :D

[Cheetah]

I've had a male OB and a female OB. I *greatly* prefer the female OB and won't see another male OB unless he's my only choice.

And I assure you, I'm quite grown up.

LOL, I preferred the male... for very practical reasons.... I had a female deliver my first baby, then we moved and a male delivered the other 2. Anyway, getting cervix checks during labor was way easier from someone with long fingers. LOL. But I don't think preferring a female makes you immature at all :-).

[NotALoserLikeYou]

This morning I went down the #hashtag rabbit hole on instagram. When you start with various #ATI #IBLP and then click on a person, click on their friends, and keep clicking, you find a lot. There are a shit ton of young people who are attending all of these various conferences, journeys, ALERT, etc. And most of them seem quite normal, the girls almost always wear pants and shorts (I also found today that there is a skirts only dress code just to attend these conferences, even for kids) - anyhow, my point that I am trying to make is, there are plenty of young, attractive, super christian males for the Duggars to choose from. So really, the fact that none of them have ever started a courtship is weird, IMO. JB really must be picky. And its hard because most young guys are not going to already have their own business. But for people who only prep their daughters to become wives, they certainly aren't focusing on marrying them off.

[LadyBlue]

No one is segregating anyone by feeling uncomfortable with having a man touch their genitalia. It's not a matter of needing to "grow up." Many women have a history of being sexually assaulted by men and all women are taught that they have to be afraid of men but somehow it's women's fault if they feel uncomfortable with male doctors.

You can say we're all human beings but we all live in patriarchal power structures and making personal choices about how you're willing to let a man touch you dehumanizes nobody.

After reading this post (among others), I'd never see a male OB/Gyn forwomenseyesonly.com/2012/09/09/the-other-side-of-the-speculum-a-male-doctors-point-of-view/ I was already pretty against the idea even before I read it, though.

[diddykong]

An evil male doctor saved my baby's life when his heart stopped during labor.

[oil]

An evil male doctor saved my baby's life when his heart stopped during labor.

Thats good news.

[bal maiden]

Speaking of check-ups and things, do we have any evidence that the Duggar kids get their sight tested? Surely statistically one or two if those kids would need glasses? Although I doubt that they read enough to spot a problem that way anyway...

[littlemommy]

That article was gross! I have a male OB overseeing my third pregnancy; the first male OB I've ever had. The first pelvic exam kind of bothered me, but then I decided I didn't care. When you're having a baby it seems like half the hospital has a look at you, in the end. :( Even though he's a total grump I like this doctor, and since most of my prenatal appointments are completed with all my clothes on anyway, I'll keep him. He always appears to be too busy to be enjoying any part of anything.

[FJismyheadship]

Speaking of check-ups and things, do we have any evidence that the Duggar kids get their sight tested? Surely statistically one or two if those kids would need glasses? Although I doubt that they read enough to spot a problem that way anyway...

One of the boys used to wear glasses. I remember the Duggars were like "See, we have all these kids and nothing is wrong with them! Oh except for him. He needs glasses. BUT HE IS THE ONLY ONE!!!" Actually I bet I can find out which one

[FJismyheadship]

Ok if you google "Duggar kid wears glasses" all you get is "None of the children have health problems and only one wears glasses.

Moving on, who's going?

Monday, Sept. 2nd, 2013 (Labor Day) Duggars to be guest speakers and singers at the 12th Annual Turning Hearts Celebration

Location: Farm of the Bontrager Family Singers 1881 Johnson Washington Rd Kalona, IA 52247

Contact the Bontragers with questions and for more

[freesarah88]

An evil male doctor saved my baby's life when his heart stopped during labor.

I'm glad your baby is okay!

[nellautumngirl]

That article is such bullshit. As a doctor, he should know how to do an empirical study, and that's not the way to do it.

Believe it or not, like everything else in life, it varies. There are just as much uncaring/impatient/insensitive female gyns as there are male ones. Nothing against personal preferences, but don't make generalisations. Perhaps I'm reacting more strongly to this because my father is a gyn, but it's still true.

[gustava]

Ok if you google "Duggar kid wears glasses" all you get is "None of the children have health problems and only one wears glasses.

Moving on, who's going?

Monday, Sept. 2nd, 2013 (Labor Day) Duggars to be guest speakers and singers at the 12th Annual Turning Hearts Celebration

Location: Farm of the Bontrager Family Singers 1881 Johnson Washington Rd Kalona, IA 52247

Contact the Bontragers with questions and for more

We've seen Jill with glasses, when she was studying on her bed.