Hi All,

I am new to this board. About two months ago I had an abnormal pap. It was just when my husband and I were about to start trying to get pregnant. I was not aware of HPV or what any of this meant so I was so scared and I am still really preoccupied by it all. Definitely not the person I was two months ago.

My biopsy showed CNIII and my dr recommended a fischer cone biopsy, which is different than a cold knife. It sounds very similiar to LEEP. Anyone else familiar with it? I haven't seen any posts on it. My dr highly recommended it and I had it done earlier this week. I wasn't awake for any of it, so it ended up being better than the col. biopsy b/c all of these things make me uncomfortable and I was glad to have no memory of it. Anyway, her approach was to remove as little as possible (I will check when I see her next week about size and such...she said medium to me afterwards but I don't know what that means) and to confirm that the bad cells had not spread up my cervix (is that invasion??). She won't be surprised if my margins aren't clear but is fine with that b/c she says my body may heal itself or she will go back in. I hate, hate thinking about having to go back, but her thinking is that she doesn't want to compromise my cervix for holding a pregnancy so would rather take too little to start to see if my body beats it (and, again, she seemed more concerned about whether or not it was up in the cervix) than too much. Anyone else had a dr take this approach?

I haven't had my follow up so don't know the results of the cone biopsy yet, and as you can all imagine, my mind is racing and I am so nervous even though that does nothing. I may have more questions after I get my results...especially regarding thoughts on when we could start trying to get pregnant if the results are good. Mr dr said she wasn't sure yet b/c she would want the cervix to heal as much as it could but suggested 6 months.

Thanks for any thoughts on my situation. This board has been really helpful and I now have a good list of questions for my dr when I go in next week.

Hi Marie and welcome!

I have to say, it truly sounds like you are in the hands of a good & caring doctor. CIS is not classified as cancer unless it has spread past the first layer of the lining & invaded the tissue. I have not heard much about the fischer cone other than it is the "new & improved" which is usually a good thing. As for the margin issue, I would be interested in hearing more of what your doctor has to say on this myself. I am high risk HPV postive & had unclear margins after LEEP in 2005. I am in the "wait & see" boat, and am always curious what others are or have experienced personally. Research says the cutting process "should" take care of any remaining, but I would prefer to hear real & actual testimony considering I am still on "close watch" at this point. At any rate, your doctor sounds awesome, or at least better than those I have encountered. I would say the best bet is wait & see what the results come back as, see what the doctor recommends, then go from there. Its hard to really pick a path until you know exactly where you are at. I really hope that you get the results soon, nothing is harder than the hurry up & wait stuff. I wish the best for you!! Again, please let me know what else you find out about positive margin follow up, and keep us posted on how you are doing!!!

Cyn, thanks very much for the reply. I did wonder since I haven't seen any posts about the fischer cone if it was usual and just something my dr was trained in so that is what she does. From what I gathered online, it does seem very similiar to leep and an improvement from the cold knife. I will let you know how things go for me. As much as it would have been better for you to have had clear margins, it is comforting to hear that someone else didn't have clear margins and is doing the wait and see. I do have confidence in my dr and believe she is taking the best approach for where I am in my life, but I can't help but feel that I just want all bad cells out especially when clear margins seem to be what most want. I have a feeling that won't be the situation for me, but again I am trusting my dr and that she is doing what is best right now. Thanks again, and I will let you know how things go.