I know this might be long, but please I dont know where else to turn. I am a 23 yr old female. I dont not smoke and socially drink. I just finished 4 yrs in the Marine Corps. I have been active my entire life, playing sports in school and of course physical activities throughout my military life. I never drink soda, I drink water like a fish. I take vitamins all the time and am probably one of the most health conscious people you will ever meet. I have not had very many sexual partners and in fact am very quite prude.

Anywayz. . . my point of this is b/c I have had problems with paps for quite sometime and no one has been able to help me. My very first pap was at age 17 and came back abnormal. I didnt have health insurance nor parents to talk to about it and went about like it was nothing. Nor did I know how much of a big deal it was at the time. Once in the military I had paps regularly and they almost always came back abnormal.

See the thing is in the military you never see the same doctor twice. So I never had anyone to look into the fact that I always had abnormal pap smears. Finally, after 4 yrs at the end of my term I recieved a call saying I needed to get a colposcopy done. With that I did and results, I guess were ok b/c all it said was I needed a follow-up colposcopy in 6 months. Well I missed the 6 month marker and it ended up being a year later where I proceeded to get my next colposcopy. Only this one came back with abnormal cells and I was told I now need a LEEP within the next month.

My scheduled exam for the LEEP is suppose to be on Dec 3. I have been reading to inform myself what its all about, why I need it and what my scenarios are. Like I said before you dont exactly have one Dr. to turn to and its quite hard to get answers. Pretty much I need to know what your opinion is on this. What is the severity. .? I am kind of afraid to even go and do not want to. Even a routine pap makes me cry b/c it hurts!! I know it sounds silly but its how I feel. Reading all these other messages made me wonder, could I already have cancer?? Would they know that already if I did???? Does it mean that if I dont treat it now that it will turn into cancer later on... ???
I don't kno.

any responses will help greatly!!!!!

THANK YOU

Hi,
First of all I would like to say please please never miss a smear again!!!
I do know what you are going through though. I am 24 and very health concious, I eat well, dont smoke and take vitamins etc. I have been with my partner for 6 years, previoulsy only having one other sexual partner, so I often think, why am I going through this!

I had my first abnormal smear in March and was sent straight away for a colposcopy, where they detected lots of pre-cancerous cells, so I actuallly had them removed there and then under local anaethetic.

If you only had to have a followup colposcopy after your first, they normally do this if you only have a small amound of pre-cancerous cells (mild) as they can sometimes turn back to normal themselves.

Obviously this hasnt happend for you which is why you need the Leep.

Your doctor will perform the colposcopy again and put some fluid on your cervix which actually makes the pre cancerous cells turn white so he can see how many you have. Depending on where you live and your doctor he may do it here and then, or he may ask you to come back and put you to sleep to do the procedure.

Once the Leep has been done a piece of skin will be sent away for analysis and you will receive your results. My results came back as CIN III, which means severe pre-cancerous cells.

Please remember these changes are NOT cancer they just are changes of the cells which can (not always) become cancer later in life, which is why they remove them.

I know how you feel I hate smears and find them painful too, and hate having anything like this done. Makes me feel sick with worry, but when you go make sure you tell your doctor how nervous you are! He might give you something to relax you and be more gentle! I have my follow up colposcopy on the 6th Dec, and already losing sleep over it,.

Good luck x

Thank you, thank you for your reply.. . I dont understand though. If these are just cells which in time, may or may not become cancer then why is it so worry-some?? Thats the part that I am confused about. I have stressed on my results and worried over it. But at the same time have had a kinda care free attitude about it. Should I be more worried??

ang

I think we just worry naturally dont we. The thought of having cells with CAN become cancer is enough to worry anyone isnt it really.

When I went to have my colposcopy my doctor said that it was nothing to be concerned with and extremely common for women to go through and there is no gaurentee that the cells will turn into cancer, but better safe than sorry! He said there is no point leaving the cells just in case they do turn into something else.

I guess thats why we have smears to detect any precancerous cells before they become anything else which is why cervical cancer is rare as the system is good. This is why its so important to have regular smear tests

I worry more because I am a wimp and hate having anything done to me, if you know what I mean and get very freightend goiing to hospital.


xx

Hi Angie...did you get your LEEP done today? I hope you are doing well!

Hi Angie...did you get your LEEP done today? I hope you are doing well!

hey, :wave:

no i pushed it back til jan. i was really scared, but mostly b/c i am still recovering from getting my tonsils out. and also my husband leaves to iraq in a month, and i didnt want our last month together to be with me recovering from that. so . . i decided to wait a lil longer. =/