"Does it hurt?" a 41-year-old woman asked me as she entered the Overlake Breast Center waiting room where I sat next in line for my mammogram.
I was obviously looking only at her eyes when I answered, "It doesn't hurt, but it is a little uncomfortable. You don't hear any screaming in here, do you? I imagine it would hurt someone who was large-busted, though."
"I'm a double D," she replied.
So much for setting her mind at ease. Instead of my comment making her contemplative, she opened up to me in a way few other total strangers have done. In the few minutes we were together, donned in our "open-in-the-front" hospital gowns, I learned that she:
*Has a 19-year-old daughter.
*Was never married to her daughter's father.
*Is being "dumped" by said man this week.
*Gave birth underwater assisted by a midwife.
*Was treated very roughly and rudely by a male doctor during a cervical biopsy.
*Screamed and cried during and after the procedure.
*Threatened the aforementioned doctor.
*Was congratulated by the assisting nurse after threatening the doctor.
I was escorted to another room for my procedure. When I was finished, I gave a "thumbs-up" sign to my new friend as I walked by her in the waiting room.
I wonder if men have the same types of conversations or bond in the same way we women do while waiting together for medical tests. I doubt it.
2 comments:
No way would men talk about those type of things while waiting. "Please pass the sports magazine . . ."
"Please pass..."? No way. I think rather than have that conversation, said man would reach over or get up and secure the goods. I hope that aforementioned doctor ends up being indicted and convicted if other women have reported similar experiences!
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