Sunday, May 10, 2009

Colposcopy and Edward Scissorhands/ De colposcopias y Eduardo Manostijeras

(This post is for those women who are going to undergo a colposcopy and a biop[sy for the first time. Do not worry...it's awful, but not as bad as it seems.)

There is something in the tranquilizing words of a physician that is kind of uneasy. For example, when you are happyily at h ome, watching TV having a beer and the cell phone rings. You answer and it is the doctor , who says:

-How are you?
-Fine, thank you
-We got the results of you pap smear, and it is not clear. You need to have a colposcopy and a bipsy done. You have a displasia.But don't worry, it is not cancer
Worried? Who was worried? I was happily surfing the net until you called.And I never said anything about cancer.
While your brain is thinking this, the guy lkeeps talking at the other side of the phone, saying something you quite not get.
And after that, you get to the gyn clinic andyou have to sign a paper confirming that you have been explained the whole procedure and you agree with it. But you have been explained the whole proced

ure, in a shock state in perfect English, which is not your language, through the phone. So you sign you agree to something you did not really completely understand

Then you sit there, waiting for the doctor, wrapped in a huge paper sheet, looking at an enormous massive chocker-block microscope. And you think " Hey,. the doctor uses this to observe whatever he takes out. Because there is not way that can fit in there"So the gay arrives, you slide down and he puts the speculum in. In fact, I have never seen the speculum at the gyn's, because you can't see with the sheet they put around you. It looks like this, on the right. So the gay puts it in and you hear " wricki, wricki, wricki", and it is the thing opening. It does not really hurt, but it is uncomfortable. And because you stay with that in for a while during this test, at the end you get like period pains, because your body tries to get rid of it. But it is not really painful, do not panic.


Then the guy says, " Ok, I am going to put some vinegar in" And you think " Vinegar? I have had strange requests from guys on the internet like wine, or chocolate o icecream...But vinegar?" .
And just when you are there, feeling like a lettuce, the guy gets the microscope, you feel something warm, which is probably the light, and suddenly realize that, yes, the big massive chocker-block microscope fits in there. Again, it is not really painful.

Then he says," Ok, almost done" He puts something in with a cotton bud, which seems to be something like anesthesy, I think. And I think this because after this, he looks at the nurse who passes him an incredibly big pair of scissors, like the ones on the left, and he says " You are going to feel a pinch" And you think " A pinch??!!! Wait wait... what do you mean a pinch? ...what are you doing with those scissors... WAIT!!" And just when you have collected enough courage to say something, it is to late, because you hear the noise of the scissor closing " huich". I did not feel anything, not pinch, no pain, but I heard it, and this is why I think he had put some anesthesy.

Then he says "Ok, this is done" And you think " ok, ok, you keep saying ok, ok what? Take it out take it out" And he puts some more things inside with cotton buds, and finally takes the speculum out. You sit up and he sympathetically passes you a sanitary towel.

And then, you wait until he has left the room and go to the bathroom where you take the sheet off and get your clothes again. He talks to you, and the you have to wait for two eweeks to know the results.

And life goes on, with one small difference. Suddenly, Edward Scissorhands has lost all his sex-appeal.



Hay algo en las palabras tranquilizadoras de un médico, que a veces resulta inquietante. Por ejemplo cuando estás tan tranquilamente en tu casa viendo la tele tomándote una cervecita y te suena el móvil. Lo coges y es el médico que te dice
-Hola como estás?

-Erm bien gracias.
- Hemos recibido los resultados de tu citolog'ia, y no ha salido bien. Tienes que volver. Hay una displasia, pero no te preocupes, no es c'ancer.

y piensas "Preocupada? Quien estaba preocupada? Yo estaba tranquilamente mirando el internete, hace tres minutos, y no estaba pensando en c'ancer"

Asi que en este momento, tu cerebro se cierra en banda a lo que te explican que viene despues,

Y despues de eso , cuando llegas al gine,tienes que firmar un papel confrimando que te han explicado el procedimiento completo y que estas de acuerdo con ‘el. Y te lo han explicado, en un estado de shock en un Ingl’es perfecto, que no es tu lengua, y por tel’efono. As’i que firmas que est’as de acuerdo con algo que en realidad nunca llegaste a comprender.

Y te sientas ah’i, esperando al m’edico, envuelta en una hoja de papel gigante, mirando a un microscopio enorme y gigante. Y piensas “ Hey, el m’edico utiliza este microscopio para observa las muestras que toma. Porque esto no puede caber ah’i dentro”


As’i que llega el hombre, te resbalas hacia abajo en la camilla y te pone el speculum. De hecho, nunca he visto un speculum en la clinica del gine, porque no puedes ver nada con la s’abana de papel que te ponen. Se parece a esto, a la derecha. Asi que el t’io lo mete y oyes “wricki, wricki,wricki”, y es la cosa que se abre. En realidad no duele, pero es muy molesto. Y como te quedas ah’i por un rato, al final te da como dolor de la regll, porque tu cuerpo intenta expulsarlo. Pero en realidad no duele, que no cunda el p’anico.

Entonces el hombre dice” Muy bien, voy a poner un poco de vinagre” Y t’u piensas “ Vinagre?? He tenido muchas peticiones extragnas por internet como vino, o choclate o helado…Pero vinagre?”


Y justo cuando est’as ah’i, sinti’endote como una lechuga, el t’io coge el microscopio y sientes algo c’alido, que es probablemente una luz, y te das cuenta de que , s’i, el microscopio gigante s’i que cabe. Pero, de Nuevo, no es doloroso, solo asquerosito.

Entonces dice “Muy bien, casi hemos terminado” , y pone algo con un palito de algod’on, que es como anestesia. Y digo que es como anestesia porque despu’es de esto, mira a la enfermera que le pasa unas yijeras incre’iblemente grandes, como las de la izquierda, y dice “ Vas a sentir un pellizquito” Y t’u piensas “ un pellizquito??!!!Espera, espera…que quiere decir un pellizquito?...que est’as hacienda con esas tijeras…ESPERA!!!” Y justo cuando has conseguido el valor suficiente para decir algo, es muy tarde, porque oyes el ruido de las tijeras cerr’andose “ jhuich” En realidad no sent’i nada, ni un pellizco , ni dolor, pero lo escuch’e claramente.Por eso creo que puso anestesia.

Y dice “ Muy bien, ya est’a” Y tu piensas “ Muy bien, muy bien, no haces m’as que decir muy bien. Muy bien qu’e? S’acalo , s’acalo” Y te pone algo m’as dentro con los palitos de algod’on, y finalmente saca el esp’eculo. Te sientas y el t'io te pasa una compresa con aire de que pena me das.
Y entonces esperas hasta que se va de la habitaci’on, y te vas al bagno donde te quitas la hoja de papel gigante y te vistes. Habla contigo y tienes que esperar dos semanas para saber los resultados


Y la vide sigue, con una pequegna diferencia. De repente, Eduardo Manostijeras ya no tiene ning'un atractivo.

(Este post es para aquellas mujeres que tiene que hacerse una colposcopia y una biopsioa por primera vez. No te precupes…es asquerosito,pero no tan malo como suena)





















Thursday, May 7, 2009

Mice

As I sit down marking papers in my classrooms, the mice that live here start running around the class. I sigh, make a noise and they seem to go, and I do not know if feeling like Cindirella and start singing with them, or like David Copperfield and write a 400 pages book about it.

Can you imagine what happens when in a class of about 25 15 year old kids, after spending ten minutes to get them quiet, a mouse runs across the class? People on top of the tables, people running out of the class, screaming....And when it happens at 8, and at 9, and at 10...I just sigh. It was bad enough not to get any respect from thekids in my class....But not getting it from the mice, it is just too much.

I got a thing that is suppose to make some kind of noise that human don't hear and makes the mice run away. But I can actually hear it,, when there are no kids, of course, and it bothers me, but the mice are still there.

I have to turn the grades in tomorrow. I told my boss that I am not going to be on time, cause the mice ate them. But he did not buy it. So I am going back to my classroom with my mice to keep grading....sigh!
THE REALMS OF CHAOS