Let's get physical

Before I transitioned, I hadn't had a physical since I was in the military. For those not keeping track, it had been a good 8 or 9 years. I'm not sure if I started getting them regularly a few years ago because I'm getting older and not feeling so invincible anymore or if I just actually care about my body now. I'm guessing it's a little of both.

With the exception of a couple of spots/moles I need to get checked out, I seem to be in pretty good health. I was spared most of the lameness of a pelvic exam since I don't have a cervix - no pap smear/speculum fun - but did, rather unexpectedly, get a couple of lubed fingers.

I saw her put on the latex gloves and say "let's have a look down there" but didn't notice her apply the lube and she didn't give me any warning about what she was about to do. I wish I could have a picture of the look on my face when she did that - to say I was surprised is an understatement.

We did find an interesting correlation in my recent medical history. I'd mentioned that I've put on some weight since surgery and thought that it might be a hormone/metabolism thing since I hadn't really been doing anything different in terms of diet or exercise. I had been in for a couple of visits after my surgery, so we had some fairly accurate tracking on my weight out to about August of last year and then the weigh-in before this physical.

According to my records, my weight stayed pretty constant after surgery for those few months but has gone up 15 pounds since my office visit in August. One possible explanation suddenly seemed obvious - the only significant thing that had changed in that time period was that I got a new job.

After explaining a little bit about how stressful work had been over the past 9 months, my doctor actually asked me if it was possible for me to find a new (less stressful) job. I mentioned that I was on furlough and looking, so it was a distinct possibility.

I've never given much thought to any health impact a particular job might have. This isn't the first time I've had sustained high levels of stress at work but I've always thought more about how it's effecting my work/life balance than my health. Maybe it's time to go find something more mundane and stop going after the sexier positions. Ok, that last line didn't come out right...