The invasive nature of fertility treatments and the loss of privacy surrounding intimate aspects of life.
There’s often a running joke that when you go to a gynecologist, you will roll up your panties in your pants and gently fold your clothes. Although this doctor is about to complete some level of invasive procedure, there’s just that fine level of reassurance that you can present as calm, cool and collected before they return to the room.
Fertility treatments is an ever evolving door of doctors, nurses, physician assistants, sonographers, radiologists, nurse practitioners and alllll of their friends coming into a room to examine you. Quite often, you may have never seen them before and may never see them again. So in short, strangers are examining your most private parts with often minimal engagement or conversation.
What’s even more frustrating is having to repeat your devastating response to the “what brings you in today” question. For some practitioners, I could tell they were genuinely making ‘light conversation,’ given the awkwardness of certain invasive procedures. By contrast, others had not read my chart which was an infuriating experience.
Losing your privacy in these most intimate moments is difficult. Here are four suggestions I have that allows me to get through most appointments.
Wear headphones (or at least one) in your ear: playing soothing music during appointments calmed my nerves enough to proceed through appointments.
Keep a running list of questions, practitioners and questions you may have in your phone. When getting a lot of information, it is easy to get overwhelmed and this allows you to stay organized and capture vital information.
If possible, wear clothing that allows you to layer and/or shift depending on the procedure. If wearing pants, long shirts will allow you to be covered for invasive procedures of your lower half. If possible, some procedures may be best with a long flowy dress or skirt so that the discomfort of a procedure can be minimized when you leave.
Wear loose tops that can easily be rolled up for your arm veins to be accessed. Being able to access a shoulder or elbow vein without having to strip in front of a phlebotomist will definitely make the process a bit more comfortable.
It’s all awkward, but do what you can and remember the end goal is to be equipped with necessary information.