So,you want to make that doctor's appointment but fear is keeping you from making it! You know that a check-up is long overdue, yet you push it to the back of your mind and say "Tomorrow!" I had that 'Scarlett O'Hara' attitude for years, four to be exact. It was time for me to bite the bullet and get the lead out!I wasn't afraid of getting this done. I wasn't afraid of the doctor. It was the waiting room I dreaded and even more than that, the fear of being alone in the tiny examining room. Yet, I knew that I had to make a move sooner or later and I did!
When I made the appointment, I informed the receptionist that I suffered from agoraphobia and panic disorder and would like for my appointment to be scheduled as the first one for the morning or the last one for the afternoon. I ran into no problems and was given an early-morning appointment.
I was in the office less than ten minutes when my name was called. Then came a short wait in the examining room. I told the receptionist to leave the door open so I wouldn't have that closed-in feeling. When the doctor entered, he checked my blood pressure and, after listening to my account of how my heart was constantly racing, he came to the conclusion that it was caused by anxiety. GEEZ! Now that was news to me! Seeing that my heart and blood pressure were fine, I became very brave and informed him that I would like a Pap Smear - something I hadn't had for twelve years and which bothered me something fierce.
"Remove all your clothes"..."All of them??"..."All of them!" He left the office and I frantically began removing my clothes. Within seconds I was stark noodles, holding a strip of paper in front of me. I was ready but, apparently, the doctor was not. He still hadn't come back. I paced back and forth, back and forth, waiting for the door to open. As the minutes passed, I mentally dressed myself several times...I mentally pictured myself running from the office, through the waiting room and out the door with the long strip of paper flapping behind me. But, of course, I didn't. We very seldom carry out thoughts such as I was having, do we?
The doctor returned, saying that he would be a few minutes longer with another patient. And in a voice that was quite steady, considering the anxiety I was feeling, I told him that if he left me alone another minute longer, I was getting dressed and leaving! "Are you that anxious?"..."Look at me!" Within seconds I was up on the table and within a matter of minutes the examination was completed, and within seconds, I was fully clothed!
I wrote this piece to tell others who suffer from agoraphobia and panic disorder that there are ways to relieve some of the pressure of going to the doctor. When you call for your appointment, inform the receptionist, as I did, of your disorder. If she doesn't know what you are talking about, and that's quite possible, explain it to her. Tell your doctor how you are feeling. None of us should have to suffer in silence while a doctor tries to fit in another patient or two at your expense! Speak up! We do have rights, you know! They may have gotten lost somewhere along the way when fear and despair filled your every waking moment. But we DO have rights!
Good luck to those of you who need to make that visit to the doctor. Take a friend along with you. I did. And speak up! Your anxiety will be relieved and you'll feel better for exercising your rights.
by Eileen Power
�copyright 1989
