Down the Street from the Student Health Center

As I mentioned in my blog post “My Visit to the Student Health Center”, I was not all that confident in the outcome of my physical examination there, and some stress-related issues were persisting for me. So, about a year later, I made an appointment for a general medical exam with a doctor in private practice in the same university town, just a little off campus. I was 23 years old at the time (1980).

The office was in an old house and was small and plain but definitely clean and comfortable. The home-like feel was a good thing. There was just one doctor in the practice.

I entered the waiting room, checked in with the receptionist and sat down. The other people in the waiting room were a young couple (man and woman) who were probably just a few years older than I. They were both filling out the pre-exam forms from the doctor’s office. They were laughing about the questions! I had an impression that both of them had appointments there that day. The office had mailed me the questionnaire beforehand, and I had filled it out at home, giving it to the receptionist when I arrived for my appointment. So, I knew that the form was lengthy, with many questions about health and lifestyle. It even included detailed questions about diet and bowel habits, as well as questions about the patient’s stools. I think those detailed questions about stools were what the couple was laughing about.

To my surprise, I was called back to the examining room before the couple were, even though they arrived at the office before me. The medical assistant who doubled as receptionist appeared to be the only person working there other than the doctor himself. The medical assistant brought me into the examining room, measured my height and weight, and told me to take off my clothes and sit on the examining table, covering myself with a paper drape. She then left the room, closing the door behind her. The drape was all of about 2 feet by 2 feet. I thought she meant for me to take off everything including my underpants. But I was so nervous and body-shamed that I kept my underpants on anyway.

A few minutes later, the doc entered the room. He had somewhat long hair, not quite shoulder length, and a well-trimmed beard. He appeared to be in his mid-40s. He asked me what my reasons were for wanting a physical exam that day and about my medical history. He nodded, giving me the impression that he understood everything I said perfectly well. He seemed to have a knack for setting me at ease, which I was grateful for considering that I was quite nervous.

He started the examination with a blood pressure check and then a neurological assessment. This included having me stand up and walk across the room and back so that he could assess my gait. It occurred to me that I’d be doing this nude if I had taken off my underpants as the medical assistant seemed to have instructed. The doctor seemed completely unconcerned that I had underpants on, making no mention of it.

The doctor then had me get back up on the table for examination of my head, neck, heart and lungs. He then had me lie down so that he could complete a range of motion evaluation, palpate my abdomen, and check all my pulses, including femoral (the pulse in the groin).

He then had me stand up and drop my underpants. With his gloves on, he examined my genitals and my inguinal region for hernias. He also opened the meatus of my penis to look at the mucous membranes of my urethra. While examining my penis, he asked me if I masturbated. I answered “a bit”. He did not ask follow-up questions about that, but I think it was his gentle way of getting at whether there might be sexual health issues. I did not have an erection despite all this, which I think was a testament to his demeanor.

Next was the real surprise. While my underpants were still down on the floor, the doctor told me to turn around and bend over at the waist with my chest, head, and arms on the examining table. He spread my cheeks to inspect my anus, and then he inserted his well-lubricated index finger deep into my rectum. He told me he was going to “loosen things up a bit”, which he did by wiggling his finger around and moving his finger back and forth to all the walls of my rectum, all 360 degrees. It felt like his finger was in there for about 10 minutes, even though it was probably really about a minute. Between the deepness of the penetration and all the wiggling, it was uncomfortable at first, but then I could feel the pelvic relaxation set in. He withdrew his finger and gave me some tissues to wipe.

After wiping, I pulled back up my underpants and sat on the table with no further draping. We then proceeded to discuss his findings. He told me my breathing was shallow and that this was probably because I wasn’t relaxed. Not being relaxed was exactly what the doctor at the student health center told me a year previous. He then proceeded to teach me breathing exercises, which I only realized much later was yoga breathing. I didn’t practice the yoga breathing after the appointment (a mistake), although I did again years later after taking a yoga class. The doc said there was a mole on my back that was not an immediate concern but might be worth having removed (which I subsequently did). I was maybe a little surprised that he didn’t directly address my GI issues.

The doctor told me not to hesitate to come back, if I ever needed to. Unfortunately I didn’t go back to this doctor even though he was a good one. I think he was actually a bit of a throwback who relied heavily on histories and physicals and didn’t care too much for all the testing.

After getting my clothes back on, I stopped at the reception desk to pay my bill, which was about $70. I only had barebones student health insurance at the time, which really only protected me from catastrophic illness, not to pay for a simple wellness check. I noticed that the young couple was no longer in the waiting room, and I could only assume that they were in another examining room.

The medfet in me wishes I had had that exam without my underpants on. I didn’t have another physical for several more years. I wish more doctors would do the “loosening things up a bit” part of the rectal. I think it was this appointment that caused me to realize that I had a metfet.