u/Kalamata_Hari

I work at a hospital, basically in a surgical setting, assisting the doctors during procedures. Last night I was asked to come in early today by a doctor that I normally get along with and would consider a work friend; we banter like everyone in our department and most hospital employees do, but today I was actually hurt by what he said.

So I come in to start his case early because we had a very packed schedule today, but he doesn’t even show up until over an hour after we planned to begin. I’m already a bit annoyed because why even ask me to come in early FOR YOU if you’re just going to show up at your normal time? Then there’s a med student shadowing him today, never met him before but he’s nice.

We start our case and I’m standing next to the doc in my usual spot, prepared to assist like normal, and he says “Get out of the way, let Med Student in closer.” Alright, but if I do that then I’m too far away and can’t really assist. But whatever, I move away, let the med student stand next to him. Now he’s doing the procedure and while he’s teaching the med student he starts making comments like “If Kalamata wasn’t standing off in Timbuktu she would do this,” etc. and I’m keeping quiet but in my head thinking “I don’t have extendable arms dude, what do you expect me to do? You told me to move!” Then he says to the student “She’s still a newbie,” which I am, I’ve been in this job for about nine months but everyone I’ve worked with so far has said I’m doing really well in this position and I’m good at it. Then he makes more comments about how he has to check on my work to make sure I did everything correctly, and oh I missed one thing and I didn’t do this or that as well as he would have liked, and it just felt so embarrassing to be spoken to like that in front of this student who I just met. Maybe he was trying to joke around with me, banter like normal, but it’s different in front of a third party I only just met and when the jokes are at my expense.

I felt belittled. I didn’t work with that doctor again for the rest of the day but he could tell I was upset about that case. He made a little comment later on that he thinks I was upset simply because he let the med student do my job. No, I’m upset because you made me look incompetent in front of the med student! I thought this guy had more respect for me but he clearly doesn’t respect my time since I showed up early just because he asked when he couldn’t be bothered, and I’m not so sure he respects my work either after this.

I have been on the pill (Vienva-28) for 10 years now. I started taking it when I was 15/16 because I had very painful periods, bad cramps, heavy flow, and I felt so tired during my periods. Since I’ve been on the pill my periods are very regular, low-average flow, and still some cramping and bloating but my periods are pretty manageable now.

Recently I had about a two-week period without taking my birth control because there was an issue with my prescription and ran out before it was due to refill. But during the time I was off the pill I actually felt…really good? I felt more energetic and upbeat, for most of those days I was just in a happier mood. Now I’m back on the pill again and feel so bloated and heavy, I’m getting some zits here and there, I just feel a bit sluggish.

Now, there could be other reasons for that, main one being my awful sleep schedule as of late. It’s been really bad the last few days so that might be why I’m feeling so blah. It also might just be some more pronounced side effects from starting the pill again after having a break. But what I’m curious about is if I do want to stop taking the pill, will my bad periods come back? I didn’t have one during the break I had from the pill so I’m not sure what my symptoms would be like. Or is it possible I’ve outgrown my painful periods? I really liked how I felt without taking the pill but if it manages my periods really well then I’ll probably keep taking it. Any advice or experience?