Comments on: I am Not a Pre-Existing Condition http://www.punditmom.com/2009/11/i-am-not-a-pre-existing-condition Having an opinion never goes out of style. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:22:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Sabrina http://www.punditmom.com/2009/11/i-am-not-a-pre-existing-condition/comment-page-1#comment-9967 Sabrina Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:03:08 +0000 http://www.punditmom.com/?p=3283#comment-9967 While under Tricare (military health insurance) I visited my Tricare approved doctor for my yearly gynecological "tune-up." Since I was recently discharged and soon to lose my Tricare coverage I decided to go ahead and get the usual testing I got while I was a military member. When I asked to be tested for HIV (a yearly requirement while in the Navy) as well as testing for the usual STD's, the doctor and his nurse looked at me like I was a dirty whore. They asked me if I had recently been exposed, I replied, "No, but I am sexually active and I prefer to be proactive as opposed to reactive." The doctor and his nurse still looked at me like I was either a) lying about possible exposure or b) crazy. I've discovered that most women get the same treatment at a majority of healthcare facilities, at least here in the South. I think that women who wish to be proactive with their reproductive/sexual health should be made to feel like whores or like what they are doing is wrong. Never should your doctor look at you in such an aghast manner. It's humiliating, degrading and upsetting, to say the least. While under Tricare (military health insurance) I visited my Tricare approved doctor for my yearly gynecological “tune-up.” Since I was recently discharged and soon to lose my Tricare coverage I decided to go ahead and get the usual testing I got while I was a military member. When I asked to be tested for HIV (a yearly requirement while in the Navy) as well as testing for the usual STD’s, the doctor and his nurse looked at me like I was a dirty whore. They asked me if I had recently been exposed, I replied, “No, but I am sexually active and I prefer to be proactive as opposed to reactive.” The doctor and his nurse still looked at me like I was either a) lying about possible exposure or b) crazy.

I’ve discovered that most women get the same treatment at a majority of healthcare facilities, at least here in the South. I think that women who wish to be proactive with their reproductive/sexual health should be made to feel like whores or like what they are doing is wrong. Never should your doctor look at you in such an aghast manner. It’s humiliating, degrading and upsetting, to say the least.

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