Sneezy Calling Snow White.
by: Angharad & >^^<
part: 345
We entered the health centre at two minutes to four, and Sophie signed in. I went and sat in the waiting area, picking up a two year old National Geographic as I went.
“Will you come in with me?”
“I’m not sure if that’s appropriate, Sophie.”
“Oh please, Cathy, I won’t hear half of what he says.”
Why do people always know how to push my buttons so that I comply with their requests? This child needed a mother, I was at best a poor substitute. “See what the doctor says, if he objects, I stay out, okay?”
“He won’t.”
“We don’t know that yet, do we?”
“He’s nice.”
I put the magazine down on the chair next to me, it didn’t look like I would need it as Sophie was intent on chattering all the time. I suspect it was nerves–and it was certainly getting on mine.
About ten minutes later, she was called. She grabbed my hand so I had little chance of evading the issue, and we trooped off to the doctor’s room.
“Is it all right if my friend comes in with me?” she asked the doctor, a balding man in his forties, who’d eaten a few too many dinners.
“Sure, come on in.”
We followed him into his lair, and he positioned himself at his computer. “Hmm,” he said to himself as he clicked through several screens, “ah, here we are. Oh yes, abnormal pap test.”
Sophie squeezed my hand and I gently squeezed back to acknowledge her. “What does that mean?”
“The Pap test, oh it stands for some Greek, Papanicolaou, or something similar, he devised it,” said the doctor.
“No, the abnormal test result?” asked Sophie.
“Oh that, yes. It’s a CIN1.”
“A CI what?” gasped Sophie.
“A Cervical Intra-epithelial Neoplasia. In other words odd cells, however, they are relatively few, so it’s low risk at the moment. Because of your family history, I shall however, refer you to the gynae clinic for a colposcopy exam.”
“A what?”
“A colposcopy exam, they have a microscope thing which they use to have a peer up your cervix and see what’s happening. They may well be able to treat any abnormality there and then.”
“Oh, I see. So I don’t need to worry then?”
“No, not at all. You’re obviously at a slightly greater risk given your family history, but as long as we keep an eye on it every six or twelve months, we shall minimise that risk. You’re not getting any other symptoms, are you?”
“I don’t know, what should I be looking for?”
“Dyspareunia….”
“What’s that?” asked Sophie, and I must admit, I was curious too.
“Pain during sex?” He looked at her, and she shook her head. “Good, watch out for genital warts, they have been implicated in cervical dysplasia and cancers.”
He finished the interview and we left. Sophie gave a great sigh as we left. “Phew, that was better than I expected.”
“Good, lets get back, can I drop you off somewhere?” I asked and was able to drop her at her house–she shared with a couple of other students. As she left I said, “Don’t forget to watch out for genital warts.”
At this she pretended to grab something roughly and pull it up and look all around it. “Nah, it’s clear.” I laughed at her antics, if she handled her boyfriends like that, they’d all need hernia repairs on the second date!
I drove home, not sure if I was glad I didn’t have a cervix or not. Certainly, I wouldn’t like the extra risks it could entail, but then it also meant I couldn’t have kids and that was an even bigger pain. So by the time I got home, I was sad I didn’t have one. However, I suppose I could still get prostate problems although the ‘mones meant that was pretty minimal, and let’s face it the risk of testicular cancer was now zero. Ah, the joys of modern medicine!
I was home first and started the meal, which was in the final stages when Tom arrived. “Hello, daughter substitute,” he said winking at me.
“Hello, surrogate dad,” I responded.
“That smells good, what is it?”
“Liver and onions.”
“Oh boy, I haven’t had that for ages, I’ll go and wash.”
“Don’t take too long, it’s nearly ready.” I drained off the potatoes and veg while he was cleaning himself up and by the time he returned five minutes later, I was dishing up.
He poured himself a glass of Guinness, I settled for one of water and we dined. “So what was all that about one of your students needing some mothering?”
“Oh it worked out alright in the end.” I explained what had happened.
“Why do they always come to you? We have a student health system on campus which costs a fortune to maintain.”
“I don’t know.” I continued eating my dinner.
“You’re too soft, that’s why? They know what a pushover you are.”
“No, I think she needed a mother substitute. I was the best she could get at short notice.”
“And you’re how much older than her?”
“About four or five years, why?”
“Yeah, real maternal syndrome. You can’t mother them all, they’re supposed to be human, I mean adults when they come to us. It’s not our job to change their nappies and replace their dummies.”
“You did some of that with me,” I said quietly.
“I did not, I only supported you because you were an outstanding student and didn’t want to see your career go tits up.”
I looked down at my chest, he saw me and laughed. “Okay, I might have chosen a better expression,” he conceded.
“Do you think people ever talk, because I live here with you?”
“I don’t know nor care a jot, besides, they all know you’re engaged to Hooray Simon.”
“I’ll tell him you called him that,” I said jestingly.
“Go ahead, I’ve called him it to his face.”
“You haven’t?” I gasped.
“Look, Cathy, I fear for you as a scientist if you don’t listen properly and then ask questions.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly that.”
“I don’t understand.” I felt confused and I wasn’t sure if he was teasing me or being serious.
“I just told you, I called him Hooray Simon to his face. So you ask if I had, when I just told you I had.”
“I’m sorry, I was just confirming, running parallel tests.”
“Very good. I asked for that.”
“Tom, I don’t claim to be a good scientist, but I do the basics reasonably well.”
“More importantly, you’re a good person and we can train you to be a better scientist. Sadly, we don’t seem to be able to do the reverse.”
“Oh, the woes of society,” I said with mock emphasis.
“No it’s true, we can teach these so called adults, that we get , how to measure and record things in a scientific way. Sadly we can’t teach them to think for themselves, nor can we teach them how to distinguish right and wrong–all that should have been done before they came to us. We should be polishing off the rough edges, not trying to mould them, their parents should have done most of that, helped by the schools. Instead, the parents are too busy with their own issues and then prevent the teachers from controlling them enough to educate them. None of these kids have any self discipline any more, it’s all just self gratification.”
“What, like me?”
“No, you’re much better.”
“They’re contemporaries of mine, okay a few years younger, but that’s all. Remember, I took someone four years younger to the doctor today. Four years, I’m one of them, Tom. We’re not all a waste of time, so full of ourselves so as to be ignorant of anyone else.”
“I told you, you were different. You are.”
I shook my head and cleared the table, I wasn’t going to win this argument, the generation gap was just to big to leap across, for both of us.
-----------------------------
To the best of my knowledge all the medical information used is correct, however, if you have any medical problems, always seek advice from your doctor(or vet where appropriate), not rely on fictional representations. >^^<
Comments
Wot?!
You saying Bonzi's medical advice isn't any good? You wait until after the operation to tell me?
ARGH!!!
Anyway, Cathy is off the hook for now. But how can she seriously have questioned Tom's veracity? Really! Um-m-h, what's a "Hooray Simon"?
KJT
"Being a girl is wonderful and to torture someone into that would be like the exact opposite of what it's like. I don’t know how anyone could act that way." College Girl - poetheather
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
The usual expression
is a 'Hooray Henry' meaning a loud vacuuous upper class twit. As I have a character called Henry, the father of Simon, I couldn't really call Simon a hooray Henry, it would have confused you lot across the pond even more.
I wouldn't recommend Bonzi for veterinary medicine/surgery - as far as I know, all the birds and rodents he has operated upon, have died.
Angharad
Angharad
AKA Chinless Wonders
Hooray Henrys (Henries??)—upper class twits—are also frequently referred to as chinless wonders on account of their congenital receding chins. They also are frequently given names like Crispin. P G Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster is a typical example.
Gabi
Gabi.
345--And rich bastards
Though most of the peerage--landed gentry don't y'know are impoverished and are now having to work for a living.
What we have now are overpaid captains of industry who wouldn't know a Baronetcy from an Earldom
They're still bloody Hooray Henry's though.
I don't just look it, I really AM that bad...
And eaten
Don't forget that part, Bonzi won't. It is his just deserts.
You have to wonder what the taste is to a cat, they enjoy it so.
Tom's Wisdom
as he tells Cathy, "“More importantly, you’re a good person"
Yeah, she is. Nice job. Doctor visit sure seemed like a waste of time though. 30 seconds on the phone would have taken care of the same thing. I liked Cathy's musings afterward. Medical problems she can and cannot have. Yet another thought about kids in this episode. Figure there is a surrogate or an adoption somewhere in Cathy and Simon's future.
The concluding note! VERY Important
I always appreciate it when an author makes that kind of remark. Consulting a professional IS the right thing to do. Medically, and elsewhere.
Nice episode as well. Glad the girl's relatively "clean" health wise. Aren't all these "extra" tests "fun"... Every year visiting my doc, I end up having to go visit a list of specialists. *sighs* (This year: Gastrointerologist, Hemotologist, Cardiologist to add to my regular Endicrinologist, Nephrologist and Pulminologist visits. *sighs*)
Generation Gaps, in my experience, are there to challenge us to build bridges so we can understand and proactively interact with those on the other side!
Thank you for continuing this saga. I'll turn in tomorrow, for another exciting episode of As the Wheel Turns.
Annette
Lady Cathy And Her Students
I can see her being a Mum to them because she can't be a Mum herself. But perhaps Angharad and Bonzi have a few surprises for us and Cathy.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Cathy's Students
Cathy wants a baby, whether hers, or from a surrogate....however..
Consider that her mother told her she would have many children and she would be told what to do when the time came.
Cathy is already a surrogate mother to who knows how many dormice, and two students we know of. When she get's her PHD and if she continues along the path she is currently cycling, she could be a surrogate mother to many of her students and who knows how many more dormice? There is a lot of 'children' potential here.
I also hope that Cathy can have at lease one human baby to raise, nurture, and with Simon's help, prepare for a productive adulthood.
Don't let someone else talk you out of your dreams. How can we have dreams come true, if we have no dreams?
Katrina Gayle "Stormy" Storm
Maturity knows no set age
I ALWAYS took someone with me. If the news is bad, the shock shuts your mind off, if good news the elation does the same. I think they named a wing after me.
There are more invasive exams, such as bladder inspections. Ugh! Makes colonoscopies seem pleasant
Cefin