Anxiety Waiting For The Doc

My anxiety as a pre-teen & teen was intense. In the days leading up to the exam, in the car on the way, in the waiting room, and then once I was seated on the exam table in my bra and panties... OMG.

Now as an adult, being in the exam room is less stressful (I just want a clean bill of health tbh), but does, always, bring about those old memories, so in a way it's a nice mental space. Because at some point the anxiety was also about excitement and, I later realized, sexual pleasure.

In the old days, I was always anxious and apprehensive, mostly about getting a needle in my arm and blood drawn. Or maybe if they might say I'm due for a shot. The highest anxiety was always about needles. Didn't really get stressed about anything else. Hernia checks were quick and therefore no big deal. I might be a little anxious about how some of my numbers would turn out over blood and urine test results from the prior week, and now I would be getting the results.

Nowadays, the only anxiety I might have for the annual wellness exam is how long will I have to wait so I can get to work after it's finished.

As for the dermatology exam and waiting for the doc, because the time the doc walks in has varied once I am left to get dressed, the anxiety is about being walked on while taking selfies. I'll be looking around the room for selfies, then try to get a quick shot or two, then put my phone away. But maybe I'll consider another angle or something, and want to take more. So I'll try to break my phone back out and get another quick pic or two. The most recent visit was in a room with a huge mirror. The imagery in the mirror inspired me to take different shots, and made me keep coming up with more ideas. And I still neglected to get one with my back to the mirror, so I could get both sides of me in one shot, instead of shooting everything at the mirror's image.