I am a middle-aged WOMAN and my primary doctor referred me to a colo-rectal doctor for possible hemmoroids. The colorectal doctor was male, highly regarded according to the letters on his wall, and his assistant was a female. Once I got in the exam room and met with the doctor and explained my situation, he said, "well, let's go into a special butt-examining room." I thought what the??!! That was crass.
So the assistant ushers me in to the room next door, and says to take off everything from the waist down, and she gives me a sheet to I guess put around me as I wait for the doctor. The sheet did not even wrap all the way around me. Of course I see a table like an exam table, with an attachment at the end like the quadricep attachment at the gym. I didn't think too much about that.
The assistant left, and I couldn't sit on the plastic chair as the sheet wasn't big enough to wrap both under me and around me, and God knows I didn't want to sit on the plastic chair bare, with no underwear, and if I sat on the sheet, then I would have been uncovered from the waist down in front, so I went through every drawer in the room and found a gown to put down on the chair so I could sit down.
Then the doctor and the assistant come in and stood me up, so of course the sheet falls away as they lead me to the table end, which faced the DOOR, I might add, so if someone opens the door, there is my naked BUTT...and they lower me on my knees and tell me to "go over the 2-foot across round attachment with my hips over it and then lie on my chest on the table, in essence stretching my hips over the attachment while my knees are on a small step at the bottom of the table.
I am a big woman, and I had a knee injury and back injuries from car accidents, so this is not working for me at all. I couldn't believe it-I am naked from the waist down up over this big attachment, and the doctor moves the table up electronically, so here is my BUTT up high in the air-I am so shocked and scared-what the hell is going on I am thinking?! He and the assistant are both behind me-pun intented-I guess her job is to SPREAD my butt cheeks, or maybe it was him, but my cheeks are spread apart and then the doctor says, "I am going to grease it up" and inserts his finger in my bottom. Like I am a pig that needs grease?
Then he inserts something else, a hard object, I have no idea what it was which really scares me and gives me chest pains, as I am horrified at being in this lewd, crude, embarassing and violating position, naked from the waist down, with two people behind me and the door behind them! Later I found out it was a metal anuscope-and can you imagine having a metal tool shoved inside your tight bottom while you are up and over a large round attachment? Talk about uncomfortable-that would have been uncomfortable in any position, but better if you were on your stomach.
I talked about eating fiber or something inane to feel as if I had some control, and I was leaning on my forearms and gripping the edge of table with my hands for my life-then the doctor says, "You have hemmorroids inside, I can take them out with a rubber band, blah blah blah" like I am going to let them do anything!
They helped me up off my knees so thank God it was only 5 minutes or so of ajbect pain and terror-but I got out of there so fast! I am never going back.
I had a really hard time all week as I was so upset and traumatized by the whole unpleasant, undignified experience. Does this happen to other women? It might be fine for big, strong, stoic men, but this is horrible for women.
So crass and crude. I am so angry at this indignation and how pompous and rude the doctor was-and how anyone thinks this is a good idea. Can you imagine your MOTHER in this position? I wondered if anyone else has had this happen. Please let me know - I can't find anything online about this "procedure" or table being used for people. Thank you for letting me vent-this is the only place I would feel safe disclosing this nightmare. Any by the way, I have had years of surgeries and exams, so I am used to being examined, but NEVER like this.