i went to the gyno at the beginning of may for my annual. they called back a few weeks later to let me know it was abnormal and made an appointment for me to come back for another pap in august. i figured since they weren't asking me to come back right away, it couldn't be too serious...plus i had a urinary tract infection at the time, so i figured that the bacteria from that was what caused my pap to be abnormal. however, i got a bill from the diagnostics center last week and it said "hpv high risk dna capture". after i saw that, i got online and did my research. when i learned that i could have warts, i immediately went to the bathroom to check myself out...that's when i found, what looks to be a wart near my anus. i also saw a whitish looking area near my vagina...i felt it and it was a little hard and didn't feel anything like the skin around it. also, for a little while, i've had an abnormal amount of vaginal discharge...i have to change my underwear 2 or 3 times a day because of this problem. and lastly, when i go # 2, and wipe, it's a little bloody, and now it's gotten kinda sore down there.

i'm guessing i do have hpv, but are these signs of something else too? i will be seeing my gyno next thursday, but just wanted to see if anyone here may know what's going on with me.

Don't freak out! That is the new way of doing Paps now. You get the traditional Pap plus the "HPV High Risk DNA" test. The last time I had my annual GYN exam, I went to get the results and the nurse told me, "Your Pap and HPV tests were negative." I was like, huh? HPV test? Why was THAT ordered??? She explained that it was a more accurate way of doing Pap smears. If both are negative, you have less than 1% chance of getting cervical cancer. Right after that, I read the same thing in a woman's magazine.

Now, there are a lot of reasons for an abnormal Pap, so try not to worry too much.