A Letter from a Doctor
By Anonymous
Copyright 2016 by Anonymous, all rights reserved
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This work is intended for ADULTS ONLY. It may contain depictions of
sexual activity
involving minors. If you are not of a legal age in your locality to
view such material or
if such material does not appeal to you, do not read further, and do
not save this
story.
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Hi! My name is Dr. Cora Winters. You probably
don’t remember me, but I gave you a check-up when you first
started
kindergarten. I’m a pediatrician, which means that
it’s my job to give all the
boys and girls at your school physical exams when they start
kindergarten, 7th
grade, and 9th grade. Your mother told me how nervous you are to come
see me
next week for your 7th grade check-up because you noticed that the form
your
teacher gave you has a space for me to write about your penis and
testicles.
She asked me to write you this letter to tell you what I’m
going to have to do
to examine those parts of your body. That way, you’ll know
exactly what to expect
and won’t feel the need to be embarrassed.
How I’ll look at your penis and
testicles is no
different than how I’ll look at your ears or your chest or
eyes. First, I’ll
look. Remember, this is my job so I can do it pretty fast. I probably
will have
done all the looking I need to do by the time I finish taking your
underpants
off. The first thing I need to make sure of is that you have one penis
and two
testicles. It might sound silly but I need to make sure. The main thing
I can
check from just looking down there is how far into puberty you are.
There are
two things that determine how far into puberty you are: how much hair
you have
down there, and how big your penis and testicles are. These things can
be
turned into a number called your Tanner Stage. A Tanner Stage of 1
means your
privates haven’t changed at all from when you were little and
a Tanner Stage of
5 means you’re finished with puberty. Most boys your age have
a Tanner Stage of
2 or 3 but it is COMPLETLEY NORMAL to still be a Tanner Stage 1.
There’s
nothing wrong with being a late bloomer. It’s important that
the school knows
your Tanner Stage so if you ever decide to play a sport like football,
you
don’t get put in a game with boys that are a lot bigger than
you.
Another
thing I’m doing is making sure you don't
have any bruises or strange red spots. Just like what I do when I look
at the
rest of your body. When doing this, I might have to move your penis and
testicles gently to the side so I can see the rest of your skin under
it. It
won't hurt, but it will feel weird because I’m touching parts
that you
usually
think are private. It’s totally ok if it feels weird,
it’s not only
normal to be a little uncomfortable, but it’s actually GOOD
that you
are a little uncomfortable because really, your penis and testicles
SHOULD only
be touched by you or your doctor.
After, I’ve done all my looking,
I’m going to
have to feel for lumps or bumps in your testicles. That is very
important
because a lump could be concerning or they could be perfectly fine and
normal.
I know how sensitive boys’ testicles are so I’m
going be as gentle as possible,
but it still might be a little uncomfortable. Still, it is important
that I
checks because I need to know if lumps are there to make sure there
isn’t a problem.
While I’m feeling your testicles, I’m going to be
holding something in my other
hand called an orchidometer. An orchidometer is a string of different
sized
wooden balls that represents the different sizes a boy’s
testicles can be. As
I’m feeling your testicles, I’m comparing them to
each ball to find out which
size is the closest. The reason I do this is because it’s an
easy way for me to
double check your Tanner Stage. Next, I’m going to slide my
hand along in the
inside of your leg beside your groin and ask you to cough. It won't
hurt at
all, but it will feel kind of weird. This is how I look for something
called a
hernia coming from your stomach, which can happen during sports or
times when
you're straining.
For most boys, the hernia check is the last
part
of the exam, but with you, I’m going to have to check one
more thing: your
foreskin. If you don’t know what your foreskin is,
it’s the long piece of skin
that covers the end of your penis. Most boys have their foreskin
removed
because of the problems it can cause but since you still have yours I
have to
check it. The foreskin check can be pretty embarrassing but I have to
do it. I
put my thumb on the one side of the tip of your penis and my pointer
finger one
the other side then slowly pull the skin as far back is it can go. At
your last
check-up, I couldn’t pull your foreskin back at all because
it was too tight!
But by, your foreskin should be able to be pulled back far enough that
your
glans (the red mushroom head) sticks all the way out. If it
isn’t able to be
pulled back that far, then you won’t be able to clean your
penis and stop it
from getting stinky and cheesy.
The whole thing only takes about a minute. Some
things that you should remember: I know that you might feel
uncomfortable.
That's ok. Also, I’m not thinking about if your penis or
testicles are funny
looking or weird. I will just be looking quickly to be sure that there
aren't
any lumps or bumps or strange red spots. Because this exam involves me
touching
parts of your body that are very sensitive, it’s quite
possible you may obtain
an erection. This is quite common and is absolutely nothing to be
embarrassed
about. I know that you want to pull your pants up as soon as possible,
but it’s
really important you get this done. Even though it might feel very
weird to
you, looking at your penis and testicles and checking for a hernia
feels the
same to me as looking spine to make sure it's not curved. We really
only notice
if something is WRONG, and I'll bet that everything is just fine! If
you feel
embarrassed about having to undress, just remember I’ve seen
it all before, on
you at your last check-up, and countless other boys.
So really, you have nothing to worry about!
I’m
looking forward to seeing you next week!
P.S. You’re probably wondering why
the form
didn’t have any space to write about a girl’s
genitals. The answer is simple:
girls your age don’t need to get those parts examined. As
I’m sure you already
know, girls and boys have very different bodies. Girls’
genitals is almost
entirely on the inside of their bodies, which means that things are
much less
likely to go wrong. Boys on the other hand, have a penis and testicles
on the
outside of the body, where things are much more likely to go wrong.
Plus,
you’ve probably noticed that the girls in your class are more
mature than you
are. That’s because girls start puberty a few years earlier
than boys do, so we
don’t have to keep an eye on 7th grade
girls like we do for 7th
grade boys.
(End of File)