After leaving Dr. Anderson’s clinic, John made the 10 minute drive back to his office. He was flustered from the events of the morning and a little embarrassed by the contents of the brown lunch sack he received from Dr. Anderson. After parking, he decided to leave the brown bag in the trunk of his car. God, could you imagine if I dropped my bag and that stuff fell out in the office, John thought. After safely stashing the special “gift bag” from Dr. Anderson, John made his way to his office and tried to focus.

Fortunately, as the days went on, John was able to put his upcoming appointment out of his mind. His nerves only flared up a little when he saw the appointment reminder card in his wallet or the brown bag he put on the bottom shelf of the bookcase in his bedroom.

On Wednesday the 10th, mid-morning, John got the reminder text from Dr. Anderson’s office.

“Good morning John, this is Suzy with Dr. Anderson’s office reminding you about your appointment 11/11 at 8 a.m. Remember to follow the pre-exam instructions 2 hours before your appointment. Reply to confirm, thank you!”

The nerves really kicked in as John read the text. He replied he would be there.

Damn. Tomorrow is the day. No backing out now, John thought as he got ready for his next Zoom call.

The rest of the day, John tried to focus on work with little success. He kept thinking about the detailed questions on the history form last week with Dr. Anderson. Also, the way he talked about performing a ‘complete’ physical. Hey, he thought, his friend said he was a nice guy. It will be fine.

John went to the gym and worked out after leaving the office and tried to clear his head. As he showered and dressed in the locker room, he attempted to think through why he was so freaked out about his upcoming exam. His upcoming ‘complete’ physical with James Anderson, MD. I’m cool with showering and changing in the locker room, this is just a little different. It’s going to be OK, he reassured himself.

John’s anxiety really kicked in as he was in his condo that evening. He wasn’t really hungry. Kind of agitated. He had some soup then took another shower, hoping the steam and heat would calm his nerves a little. Changing into some cozy sweatpants and a fleece with his college logo on it, John went and got the brown pre-exam prep bag and pulled out the instructions.

James Anderson, M.D.

Family Practice

Pre-Examination Preparation Instructions

Please contact the office if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

James Anderson, M.D.

Yikes, John thought. I’m going to have to be up at 5:45 to get this done.

John made some herbal tea, trying again to calm down then set the alarm on his phone for 5:45 AM.

John slept fitfully that night. Anxious about the next day, he woke up every few hours and stared at the clock. Checked his phone. Looked at YouTube. Tossed and turned. He woke up again right before his alarm completely wired about what was going to come.

John made himself a big mug of herbal tea. Definitely didn’t need any caffeine this morning to further put him on edge.

Fortunately, the tea helped wake up John’s intestines enough he was able to collect the stool sample. He read the instructions on the enema kit. Definitely a first time for John in that department. John went and cranked up the heat in the apartment then went and stripped down in the bathroom to awkwardly give himself the two enema bottles.

That task completed, John took a nice long shower, shaved, then flossed and brushed his teeth. He also checked his finger and toenails and gave them a quick trim.

John went and got dressed, pulling out a practically new pair of tighty whities from his underwear drawer and a crew neck undershirt. It was a pretty cool autumn morning so he put on a long sleeve t-shirt on top, a pair of jeans and the college fleece he wore the night before. Socks and shoes on and John was all set.

John went into the bathroom, put on deodorant and then collected the required urine sample. 6:55 AM, right on time, he thought. He placed everything in the bag and set it by the front door.

Unable to eat much, John had an apple and some more tea as he tried to distract himself, checking his email and listening to NPRs “Morning Edition”.