I Thought Turning 21 Was Supposesd to be Fun?

So yesterday, I was shoved into the world of women's preventative medicine. 

I had an appointment with my gynecologist (who is also my favorite doctor to shadow). I need an updated prescription for my pills so I was under the impression that we would chat about how I've been doing, if the pills are still working, blah blah blah, and she would write me a new script and I would be on my way. Well, man was I wrong! 

Apparently, I was due for another physical exam and my first pap smear, because I just turned 21. It would have been nice to know this beforehand! I was told this minutes before so I was pretty nervous. Do you know what it means when you're scared or nervous? Muscles tense up. I was also freezing. Do you know what happens when your body is cold? Muscles tense up. Instead of talking about all the details, I'll just say it hurt. Alot.

Pap smears help detect cervical cancer or abnormal cells that could become cancerous. Cervical cancer can be caused by HPV, human papilloma virus. I had had the HPV vaccines. The health center at my college was giving them last year. It was a series of three shots that made my arm sore each time, much like a flu shot, but more painful. 

Here is a picture of a normal pap smear (left) and an abnormal pap smear (right).

While the pap smear hurt, the pain eventually faded. On a funny side note, my finger was sore the ENTIRE day from where they pricked it to check my hemoglobin.