Annual physical yuch

[footenote]

+1 Bamaman

Plus, ladies: keep self-checking! I was religious about annual mammograms and, months after a "no problems" mammogram, found my tennis-ball size Stage II breast tumor through self-exam.

(Shout-out to fellow cancer survivors <3 )

 

[garyt]

I'd never ask for a DRE if the doctor was not in the habit of doing them routinely. Not for the reason you expressed. I feel that the test would be worthless...the practitioner that doesn't routinely do them won't be practiced / skilled / confident enough to determine if there's a problem.

She did them for years then stopped when someone decided they were worthless.

 

[mpeirce]

I cannot stress the importance of men and women getting first class yearly physicals

There's actually quite a bit of questioning about that these days.

Some Doctors are arguing that annual physical exams are wasteful and ineffective. For example in the New England Journal of Medicine:

Annual physicals do not reduce morbidity or mortality, and they waste time and money

Certainly if you are at risk for something, get checked for it regularly, but for may folks it's as waste of time and money. False positives are a real thing.

Talking it over with your Doctor (at your next annual checkup) might be a good idea...

 

[joeea]

+1 Bamaman

Plus, ladies: keep self-checking! I was religious about annual mammograms and, months after a "no problems" mammogram, found my tennis-ball size Stage II breast tumor through self-exam.

(Shout-out to fellow cancer survivors <3 )

During my routine annual physical exam my physician noticed that my spleen was enlarged. A few tests later I found out that I had splenic marginal zone lymphoma. 16 month of treatments later, I am currently cancer-free.

There's actually quite a bit of questioning about that these days.

Some Doctors are arguing that annual physical exams are wasteful and ineffective.

Maybe I would have noticed my cancer on my own in time. Maybe not.

 

[sengsational]

Whenever some policy making body decides "X" is not effective, it means that the costs don't justify whatever net benefit "X" produces. That means they put a dollar value on a human life. I'm not sure I like that idea. I can't imagine not knowing something about my personal situation would ever be better than knowing. Let ME judge whether the intervention has too much risk or would be non-actionable.

 

[Scuba]

Whenever some policy making body decides "X" is not effective, it means that the costs don't justify whatever net benefit "X" produces. That means they put a dollar value on a human life. I'm not sure I like that idea. I can't imagine not knowing something about my personal situation would ever be better than knowing. Let ME judge whether the intervention has too much risk or would be non-actionable.

I completely agree. We are very diligent about getting annual physicals. However, my GYN doc only gives Pap smears every 3 years now.

 

[joeea]

That means they put a dollar value on a human life. I'm not sure I like that idea.

Everyone does that - you too.

I can't imagine not knowing something about my personal situation would ever be better than knowing. Let ME judge whether the intervention has too much risk or would be non-actionable.

As long as you are willing to pay for it, you can always decide on whatever interventions you prefer.

 

[joeea]

I completely agree. We are very diligent about getting annual physicals. However, my GYN doc only gives Pap smears every 3 years now.

Is it against the law to have a Pap smear every year where you live?
Or are you really just saying that you would have to pay for them?

 

[athena53]

I think I have a good balance for my own situation- I'm 66 and am in VERY good health but at this age you can't assume everything is fine just because you feel good.

1. Regular mammograms plus some extra screening since I'm high-risk- mother died of BC and sister was diagnosed at age 63 and had a total mastectomy.

2. Colonoscopies every 5 years; home test midway between since I have a history of polyps. I know the test is only an indication but it's cheap and non-invasive.

3. Gyno exam every year although she now does Pap smears only every other year and my sister (also a gyno) says that at my age they aren't recommended at all. She also reviews the results of my bloodwork and urinalysis, which I now get through RequestaTest.com because it's no BS and the pricing is transparent. I also need access to someone who can renew my only prescription, which deals with a very annoying side effect of menopause.

I haven't seen my PCP in years; mostly he just tried to put me on statins for high cholesterol even though I ended up with awful tendonitis the one time I took them. Gyno isn't as excited because she says that what's driving it is my HDL (the good stuff) of 110.

I'm comfortable with this; I feel like the biggest risks are being monitored and anything unanticipated is likely to show up in blood or urine or just through a general change in how I feel.

 

[mpeirce]

I can't imagine not knowing something about my personal situation would ever be better than knowing.

Actually, a good time to not know something is when a test would have returned a false positive. FPs happen way more than you'd expect.

Often FPs lead to expensive and sometimes invasive followup tests.

 

[athena53]

Actually, a good time to not know something is when a test would have returned a false positive. FPs happen way more than you'd expect.

Often FPs lead to expensive and sometimes invasive followup tests.

My late mother said you should never let them scan your body because they'll always find something.

I have gotten an order for a bone density test because my BMI hovers just around 19, which is on the low side and could put me at risk for osteoporosis. I already know I won't take bone density supplements; my dentist tells me they'd make me a poor candidate for future dental implants and since I already have a few and there are likely more to come (I vastly prefer them to crowns and bridges) I don't want to cut off that option. If I know my bone density is low I'll try and tweak diet and supplements- I already get plenty of exercise. Better to have the facts.

 

[Bir48die]

My late mother said you should never let them scan your body because they'll always find something.



I have gotten an order for a bone density test because my BMI hovers just around 19, which is on the low side and could put me at risk for osteoporosis. I already know I won't take bone density supplements; my dentist tells me they'd make me a poor candidate for future dental implants and since I already have a few and there are likely more to come (I vastly prefer them to crowns and bridges) I don't want to cut off that option. If I know my bone density is low I'll try and tweak diet and supplements- I already get plenty of exercise. Better to have the facts.

That reasoning (your moms) is like equating to “I’d rather my cancer is stage 5 than stage 2 when I find out”. Bad news is bad news. I’d rather have it sooner than later.

 

[athena53]

That reasoning (your moms) is like equating to “I’d rather my cancer is stage 5 than stage 2 when I find out”. Bad news is bad news. I’d rather have it sooner than later.

You'll have to forgive me my cynicism but my mother first had BC at age 78, when it went undetected by a mammogram (she found a lump) and chose palliative care only when it recurred at age 85- also with a negative mammogram. My sister, an OB-Gyn, had a negative mammo last year and insisted on an MRI and they found a tiny tumor. She elected a double mastectomy.

Yes, I know, those are false NEGATIVES- but when DH was dying of AML (he died the month after my mother) he had a bad fall and a scan disclosed possible non-small cell carcinoma in a spot on his lung and a potential aortic aneurysm. They wanted to to treat them! His oncologist said a biopsy of the lung spot would likely lead to a fatal infection.

So... I approach testing with a healthy skepticism. I'm 66 and have never had a CT scan, a stress test nor an EKG. No doc has ever suggested one and I'm not going to rock the boat.

 

[pacergal]

Routine care:
Dental exam and cleaning every 6 months
Full Womens Annual and blood work yearly with CNM
Annual mammogram, regular and 3D due to past lumpectomy/biopsy (negative!)
See PCP about once a year, usually for illness, and he reviews and updates anything that hasn't been done. (dexa scan x1, colonoscopy every 5 years, endoscopy yearly as needed for esophageal strictures due to schatzki ring)
Feel pretty darn healthy!

 

[jollystomper]

Hopefully this is not too much of a tangent, but along with an annual physical, has anyone chosen to also get one of the "total body scans" or "virtual physicals" I hear advertised, and found it beneficial? I tend to be wary of these things. I have thought about doing it just for grins (another way to Blow that Dough? ), but am interested in hearing experiences.

 

[Scuba]

Is it against the law to have a Pap smear every year where you live?

Or are you really just saying that you would have to pay for them?

I suppose I could request annual Paps, but my doc doesn’t think they’re necessary for women over 55. Next visit, I’ll ask her more about that. I was happy not to do it annually, honestly.

 

[HtownRose]

chest x-ray?

I cannot stress the importance of men and women getting first class yearly physicals, especially when approaching early retirement. You should receive complete lab blood workups and also a chest xray.

I've seen this recommendation here before, possibly from the same poster, but have never had one that I know of other than mammograms. I asked my PCP about it - his specialty is pulmonary so would think he would've been receptive, but he said no need for it. I've never smoked, but lived with a smoker my first 18 years.

Is this something I should have done on my own?

 

[partition1]

I go in for my annual physical Monday , I was kind of blowing it off but . last week I went for my annual eye exam . My son works for a very good clinic South of Houston , one of his clinics do the eye exams for NASA astronauts .

I get my exam done eyes are just like last year. My doctor explains the view they do of your eyes . She shows me the blood vessels in my eyes go so far then stop ! I ask her what that means she tells me it could mean a blockage . To go to a doctor and get my Charotic Artery checked . It is incredible how an eye doctor can see this . Old eye doctors just put those big machines on your eyes till you could see and then assign lens . She said they find diabetes in people every day that people never knew. Technology marches on.

My late husband was having a noticeable loss of peripheral vision so we immediately went to the eye dr.

Four hours later we are being told it's something in the brain. It turned out to be a glioblastoma...incurable brain tumor with no happy ending. I will never discount another docs dx but you have to be your own advocate and do your homework.

 

[isisdave]

My PCP stopped DREs about three years ago. I had always been aware that the exam can only feel the 40% or so of the prostate that "faces aft." I think there's more attention to "PSA velocity," which is monitoring the changes in PSA from one exam to the next.

 

[Jotterb]

Routine DRE at 48 during annual physical. Positive Hemoccult, Doc insisted I have Colonoscopy at 48 despite my protests. Found rectal cancer, I had no symptoms. Thanks to some amazing folks at Mayo Clinic got past it, 61 in a few weeks. FIRE'd at 53. Had I waited to 50 for Colonoscopy I would not be here. I am a big proponent of Annual Physical, DRE, Hemoccult & Colonoscopy.

 

[sengsational]

Thanks for the success story. It'll make running to the bathroom the day before the colonoscopy a bit easier, hehe!

 

[PointBreeze]

I suppose I could request annual Paps, but my doc doesn’t think they’re necessary for women over 55. Next visit, I’ll ask her more about that. I was happy not to do it annually, honestly.

After menopause, Pap smears become very painful for some of us. If you are monogamous or no longer having heterosexual sex and have always had normal Pap smears, every 2-3 years is fine.

 

[SpinDoctorTX]

I completely agree. We are very diligent about getting annual physicals. However, my GYN doc only gives Pap smears every 3 years now.

I was told by my pcp a few years back that the cdc recommends those only every 3 years. Since I'd had cervical cancer many years ago, I pushed for and still get one yearly- approved by Aetna. Not the most fun, but I want to be around for a lot longer! We all need to be our own advocate when necessary.

 

[Teacher Terry]

After age 65 they are no longer recommended.