This has nothing to do with what I've been watching.

OK, so for the last little while (since May 19th) to be exact I have been more narcissistic than normal. On that day, I discovered I have a benign football sized tumor in my abdomen. It's coming out on August 2nd (YEA!!!) Recently I had my pre-op visit with my OB/GYN surgeon. My friend Shauna went with me and this is what she posted on her blog. I wanted to post it here, so anyone who reads this can see it and so I have a record on my own blog of the much needed hysterical and slightly sad event.

From lifeonclestialcircle.blogspot.com

Thursday, July 28, 2011
Sick Minds Think Alike
I joined Dear Friend Chris yesterday for her pre-op visit to her gynecological surgeon. She is having a benign fibroid tumor, the size of a football, that is attached to the outside of her uterus removed next week, along with the uterus. The tumor was discovered earlier in the spring, and the surgery is her best option. I've been with her at the other appointment with this surgeon to verify that this is really the problem, so I had met the doctor with her back in May. I go to give her moral support and to have an extra set of ears listening to the doctor's instructions.

Dr. Rees is simply terrific. He is kind and funny, and seems to really know his stuff. And, really, any man who chooses to become an OB has some kind of special talent for dealing with women, their hormones, and the crazy stuff that happens in their bodies. He works with a series of other OB/GYNs in a very popular Provo practice.

It's the Provo angle that makes this story worth sharing.

You know Provo--the home of BYU, affectionately known as "Breed 'em Young" University. Where a high percentage of undergraduate students are married, and many of those are starting their families while they are still students themselves. This is a leading factor in the popularity of this doctor's office--as well as any and all OB/GYNs in Provo.

There are a LOT of babies born in Provo. And many of their mothers were coming in for their regular pregnancy check ups yesterday, apparently. But as this town is family-central, most of those women coming in for their check ups were with their husbands too.

Chris' doctor had been called in to help with an emergency C-section, so we had to wait a little longer than normal to get in to see him. We watched a dozen or more BYU-like couples head back for the weights and measures kind of appointment. As fast as the waiting room emptied, it refilled with new little BYU-esque parents-to-be.

When the nurse finally called Chris back, we both stood up to head back to the exam room to talk with the surgeon. There we were, two women. Together. Walking back to an exam room at an OB/GYN's office. Together.

EVERY set of eyes in the building were looking right at the two of us. I could feel their laser-like gaze recognizing the discrepancy between us and the other couples who had been walked back behind the desk. There was NO doubt in my mind that everyone there was thinking the same thing: "LESBIANS, right here in Provo. Can't be?! Which do you think is the pregnant one?!"

The glares felt heavy as we passed the registration desk and walked down a little hallway. Once through the door, Chris and I looked at each other and, sure enough, we were both feeling those same stares. We were thinking they were thinking the SAME thing! "They think we are lesbians having a baby."

Once we got into the little room where the doctor would speak with us, we were cracking up thinking of all the self-righteous and judgemental thoughts everyone in the waiting room must be having about us at that moment. Just goes to show you can't judge people by what you see. And really, isn't that was we've been taught all our lives? Quick judgements are often wrong.

We facitiously joked about the little Molly-Mormons fearful that some"gay" might rub off on the unborn, or that their safe harbor from the world (Provo) was no longer the pure home they wanted to live in to raise this baby. All the homophobic things I had heard from uptight and judgemental folks around here sounded in my mind.

Then as Chris was having her blood pressure taken in the hallway outside the exam room, I heard the song that was playing on the radio at that moment. Irony, pure and simple: it was AC/DC's "Shook Me All Night Long".

Provo may not be my favorite town, but tell me, what is NOT to like about this office?
Posted by Shauna at 10:31 AM