if you have an hysterectomy do you still need a pap smear?

Do you still have your ovaries? I am trying to remember. I don't think so but you still need to go to your GYN every 2-3 years. Might want to call to make sure though

My wife's gyn says yes and has already done one after my wife's surgery in July of last year.

Hi,

Let me tell you about my experience and you can decide what the best choice is in regards to Paps after a hysterectomy.

My family doctor told me after my hysterectomy in 2002 that I didn't need to have Pap tests anymore since I had never had an abnormal one and since I no longer have a cervix. (This is the current recommendation of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.) So I went three years without one.

In 2005, my new family doctor talked me into have a Pap. It came back ASC-US (Atypical Squamous Cells - Unknown Origin.) A retest three months later was also ASC-US. At the time of the retest, my doctor had the lab do an HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) test on the cells, and I tested positive for one or more of the strains of HPV which cause cancer. (Approximately 80% of all sexually active people have HPV at some time in their life and don't even know it.)

I was then referred to a gyn/oncologist who did a colposcopy and biopsy which showed moderate and severe dysplasia (VAIN II/III) on my vaginal cuff (the area where my cervix used to be.)

Long story short, in February of this year, after almost two years of having a mixture of bad Paps and good Paps, bad biopsies and good biopsies, I was diagnosed with carcinoma in situ, cancer which hasn't yet spread beyond the tissue in which it originated. I had laser surgery in May, and am coming up on my second post-op Pap and colposcopy to be sure that the cancer hasn't returned. I have to be checked every three months for two years, and with HPV, there is always a very real chance that the dysplasia or cancer could reoccur.

If I had listened to my first family doctor and never had another Pap test as many doctors recommend, the cancer may never have been discovered in time. I'm just grateful that my new family doctor suggested that I go ahead with the Pap.

I know a lot of women consider Pap tests to be uncomfortable and embarrassing. But it's a minor inconvenience which could save your life. And with the esculating rate of high-risk HPV, it's definitely better to be safe than sorry. Insist on a Pap test, even if your doctor says that you no longer need one.

Hugs,

Lisa

Amen, Lisa! Thank you!