My Scary Halloween "Costume"

Infertility treatments are not for the shy.  I said that in my previous post and while reflecting on this week, I realized how true it was.  Each body system has been poked, peered at, or prodded this week in some way or another.  If it wasn't, then it got lucky.  Infertility treatments can cause a healthy woman to become a little left of plumb (as my college pathophysiology professor, Dr. Elledge, would say). That's a nice way of saying - go crazy.  But in all fairness, taking a medication normally used to treat prostate cancer to suppress my ovulation and then taking a dose of estrogen which could treat an elephant's hot flashes on top of weaning myself off caffeine - how can I not tilt a little left of plumb? 


It's appropriate that Halloween is around the corner.  I need help deciding on what I should be for Halloween because I have two "great" [wish I had a sarcasm font here] choices:


After the week I've had, I could go as TAM -the Transparent Anatomical Mannikin from years gone by...you know, that see-through mannikin we've all stared at in some museum at some time during our childhood; pressing various buttons to see body parts light up and hear a factual message about that organ.  In this last week, I'm fairly certain that practically every button on my body has been pushed. [Males reading this - get your mind out of the gutter!]


Here' why I say that - last Saturday the heart button was pushed and it dispersed a nice EKG reading for the ER doc to read. Four times this week the vein in my right arm button was pushed and blood was dispersed to check my various hormone and blood component levels.  I've seen my uterus three times this week (as has four nurses and the doctor) and am happy to report my lining is "perfect."  The lungs button was pushed today and is dispersed stuff we won't even talk about.  The nose and ears and throat were all peered in as well.  And with each button that was pushed by the various button pushers, was followed by some note taking and head bobbing.  And only a few times the head bobber was actively listening to me.


I hardly feel like a real person this week.  Instead, I'm whatever patient ID # is on my medical records at the 3 medical facilities I've been to - or the patient ID at any of the three pharmacies with which I've filled various prescriptions.  So perhaps I should be an ID # - it would be a very easy costume to make.  Have we become a society of people only able to treat people as numbers because we've become so damn afraid to disclosure something as personal as our name??? 


So - back to my original dilemma - should I go as TAM, the Transparent Anatomical Mannikin? Or an ID #?