What do you think?

A loop electrosurgical excision procedure or LEEP is given to women with persistent abnormal pap smears as a result of cervical dysplasia, which is a change in cervical cells. The LEEP is no fun, but it may also be a life saver by preventing cervical cancer.

HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that many men and women contract in their 20s, although many people don’t ever show symptoms like warts or for women, abnormal paps. If your doctor feels that your persistent abnormal pap smears or dysplasia can be remedied by the LEEP procedure don’t fret; it’s manageable.

Here are the LEEP facts:

1) This is done as an outpatient procedure by your doctor
2) You won’t be put under, but a local anesthetic will be used
3) It lasts only a few minutes
4) Using a device that is in the shape of a loop, electrical currents are sent to the device to scoop out the troubled portions of your cervix (sounds worse than it is)
5) Once the doctor is done you are free to leave
6) You may be crampy and will have bleeding, but most of the time this stops after a couple of days

Bring a friend or someone you can count on to drive you home. It also might be a good idea to take the day off and just relax. Even though it is outpatient its can be a little traumatic.

Women who have a LEEP are able to carry a pregnancy full term and in most cases the occurrence of cervical cancer after a LEEP is very rare. In fact, most times pap smears return to normal within a year.

Think of it like this…you see someone across the room of a restaurant standing by the bar. She has a beautiful smile, gorgeous legs, and a nicely put together outfit. You notice that she’s been looking at you even making eye contact a few times.

You get up the courage to talk to her and excuse yourself from your table of friends. Walking right up to her you flash your pearly whites, put out your hand, and introduce yourself when she says:

“Do you mind stepping back? You just spit on my face.”

See what I mean? Don’t blow your chance at a first impression in online dating by saying something in an e-mail or online chat that is over the top or boring. Craft a smart and clever e-mail, and if you have trouble coming up with your own ideas, try these ice breakers.

1) If I were to write a book, the main character would be…
2) The best beach I have ever been to was…
3) If reincarnation is real, I hope to come back as a…
4) I once saw a painting that reminded me of…
5) The one noise I wish I could mute from the world is…
6) If I had to eat the same thing for the rest of my life it would be…
7) I feel bad for my remote control because…

Sorry men. I don’t mean to sound condescending; I just mean to help you out. So are you in need of a few good compliments for a man? Here are a seven ideas for you.

1) This is the best gift you have ever given me.
2) You always make me laugh with your knock-knock jokes.
3) I’m happiest when you and I __________________
4) Thank you for helping me.
5) You fascinate me with your ___________________
6) I know I can always count on you.
7) That ________________ on you is so sexy on you.

Ross did this in an episode of Friends. You know the one where Rachel sees the list and then breaks up with him for one of the many times.

Anyway, a friend of mine just completed hers and darn it, I just have to share. It’s damn funny.

After a couple of brief phone conversations they decided to meet at a popular bar after work. Immediately, Abbie was attracted. Not only was she on a date with a doctor, but he was hot.

Then he opened his mouth. Apparently he was more impressed with the fact that he was a doctor than she was. It’s all he could talk about. After 45 minutes Abbie was bored and thirsty. He was too busy thinking of more things he could say about himself to notice that she didn’t have a drink.

Finally, she grabbed her purse and motioned that she was going to the bar for a beverage. He says, “Yeah, vodka tonic for me. When you get back I’ll tell you about my 4:45 consult today. And you can put it all on my tab? It’s under Dr. Die.”

“Dr. Die,” she exclaimed! “Your name is Doctor Die. That’s not real. Really?”

It was real and she could not get over his name or her boredom. Her doctor dating adventure only lasted 58 minutes, but she’s glad she lived to tell the story.

This online dating site caters to mature adults, divorced or not, that are looking for serious relationships. They strongly discourage members from enrolling if they are just looking to “have fun.”

If what you want is to have that kind of fun, then Match.com is always a good choice. But then again, so are the bars.

One last thing, in my brief research for this post I did find an excellent blog post on “Dating after the divorce” at OnlineDatingMatches.com. It’s an interesting read both from an online dating expert and from a woman who is recently divorced. According to these authors, eHarmony is very popular among divorced singles. I’m not certain why that is the case, but it could be because of the anonymity or its faith-based mission.

But no, she perseveres. Each day she crosses more and more things off her to do list and gets more and more excited for the big day. Despite the bummers of wedding planning, honeymoon planning (they are traveling the world for undecided amount of time), moving (did I mention they sold their condo so they can travel?), and managing their own businesses, the couple still seems really happy.

They laugh a lot. They love each other a lot. They are even nice to each other in front of other people sometimes…it’s weird and a little gross.

They started dating about 2 ½ years ago and are still unclear who kissed who first. They are that kind of couple. They fight about the things that are fun to fight about.

About six months into the relationship she knew that she loved him. She went online and found a gift for him to hint at it because there was no way she was going to say it first. She purchased a sterling silver fortune cookie and had the words “You will have good fortune in love” printed on the piece of paper that was tucked inside of the cookie.

She chose these words because of a text message he had sent her months before. He had lunch without her and that was the fortune he received.

Now fast forward a year and half. They are living together and both are very happy. It was a pretty typical night with nothing much going on out of the ordinary. She was watching Grey’s Anatomy on the couch and he was busy ordering Chinese take out.

After the meal he came from the kitchen holding two fortune cookies. He stood before her and opened his. His fortune read: “You will have good fortune in love.”

My friend was speechless. She couldn’t understand how the fortune cookie could actually say that (she’s very literal). Dumbfounded, she just sat there with her mouth open and staring back at him. He had a goofy smile on his face and she was busy trying to figure out what was going on (was he proposing?). He nudged her to open her fortune cookie and once she did she saw the words: “Will you marry me?”

By now he was on his knees in front of her, and he had pulled a tiny box out from beneath the couch.

Like so many people I know that have gotten engaged, she doesn’t really remember what she said or what happened next. She said it was surreal. He said that only seconds after she had the ring she was planning their wedding and trying to decide who to call first.

So now here they are. Colors are decided, fittings are done, the buffet is selected, and the guest list is finalized. What a love story.

I hope they have fortune cookies for dessert. I love those yummy things.