In 1999 I had an abnormal pap smear, I had a colposcopy done and it turned out to be nothing, well atleast not cancer and required no treatment. A few pap smears after that were normal. I then had 2 kids and I have high risk pregnancies so I saw the doctor so much I didn't have a pap smear in maybe, 5 years! I knew I was way over due and I was worried. I finally went and wouldn't you know, it was abnormal and I have to have another colposcopy done. I did have the HPV test done and when the nurse called to tell me I needed further testing because she said my pap smear came back slightly abnormal and she wasn't telling me I had cancer just that I needed more testing. It was a VERY disturbing call and the way she acted was as if she didn't want to answer my questons or was not telling me something. I asked her if the HPV test came back positive and she told me that when pap smears come back like this they don't even test for hpv?? Wouldn't they test as that may be what it is? Or do they already know its something much worse? I have no symtoms of anything, no abnormal bleeding or spotting. No change at all aside from once in a while painful urination, but that is very rare. I do have lower back pain thats been bugging me. I was reading the internet sites and I am beyond scared that I have some type of cancer, My appointment is on the 24th of this month but mentally I can't handle it. I am almost to scared to go to it. I am 33 and everyone story I have read of this happening and being cancer they are all around my age. I have 3 kids, I am so scared I can't function. It is taking over my life and i can't stop crying. Feeling as though I should just hide and pretend i never went as irrational as that is.
Please, PLEASE calm down! There is no need for you to be upset or so distressed at this point. A pap smear is a screening tool for cervical changes and it'll usually pick up any abnormalities that are on the outer layer of the cervix.
Your nurse said you had a slightly abnormal pap??? That is nothing to lose sleep over! Honestly, I'm sure your nurse would've told you more info if it were something more worrisome. Did the pap come back ASCUS? This is the lowest grade of abnormality and many times ASCUS paps have no indication of being pre-cancerous. Even if your pap came back as a certain type of pre-cancerous changes, that is still nothing to worry about. It's all treatable and it's NOT cancer. Even the most severe type of dysplasia (pre-cancerous cells) is NOT cancer nor does it mean it'll develop into cancer.
Browse through the other posts on this board. The will ease your mind, trust me. A slightly abnormal pap is very, VERY common and nothing to worry about. Stay calm, relax, and know that if it were as bad as you're thinking it is now, then your doc would've had you come into his/her office ASAP. Take care and stop stressing! You'll be fine
ty LAgirl81, I have been reading the posts and I see many have been doing this a while. I am kinda a hypercondriac anyways but I guess it was something about the way, first the nurse from the hospital called me, not my own doctors office, she was very vague with me and didn't want to answer my questions as if she was holding back. This is a new doctor, my first time seeing him. I had what they said was positive A cells before(not even sure what that is) and I kick myself for letting it go for so long, that was back in 1999. I have had pap tests since that were normal but I did neglect myself for several years. A mistake I will never repeat if I don't have cancer. The other thing is, they never told me this time what the pap came back as, just said abnormal. I started asking her questions and thats when she told me they don't test for HPV when a pap comes back this way, I don't think her telling me it was slightly abnormal was what she really meant since she avoided all my questions, wouldn't give me any information at all! She sounded rehearsed and said oh i am not saying its cancer, just slighty abnormal and need more tests, was a brush off since she would not directly tell me anything. And why in hell would they not do my HPV test, I did take it! I hate waiting and I hate no information, I would rather just hear it if its bad, the unknown is killing me. I see the posts say it takes a while for dysplasia to turn into cancer, I hope this to be true since i had it before. ok I am going to read more, I am so glad I found this board and you guys! I honestly thought I was going to lose my mind, felt so alone and sooooo scared. Need a valium! lol its very comforting to see I am not alone, and hope for the best! ty!
I don't think you have anything to worry about. It might have been that the nurse you were talking to was new or just did not know the answers to your questions.
A slight abnormality in your Pap could be caused by many things not related to cancer or dysplasia, including vaginal infections, douching before the test, or even having sex within two days of having the test.
And keep in mind, even if you have dysplasia, it's pre-cancerous - not cancer. Mild dysplasia is the most common and up to 70% of all cases resolve on their own without treatment. Even with moderate and severe dysplasia, it can take 10 years or longer for it to turn into invasive cancer, and the greater majority of cases never do.
Also, dysplasia is very treatable. And even invasive cervical cancer is one of the most treatable cancers there is. So, worst case scenario has a very good prognosis.
It's funny, when the nurse called to tell me that I had vaginal carcinoma in situ (cancer which hasn't spread yet, which is also classified with severe dysplasia), she told me that my gyn was referring me to an oncologist (cancer doctor), but that I didn't have cancer, or even pre-cancer. (I don't know why she said that - it definitely wasn't true!)
Hang in there, okay? You'll get through this fine. Many, many women go through this with abnormal Paps, and very, very few ever have cancer.
i know it can be a shoick at first...i found out about my first abnormal pap by a letter from teh hospital with a chunky booklet called "what we do at colposcopies".
i have since had punch biopsies ( a little one tos ee if treatmenst required)a nd a leep, to remove cinIII and to this day they have never confirmed if hpv is the cause....it is just assumed in teh majority of cases that it will be, as around 87% of cases are hpv related. there is a test they can do to confirm for definate if this is the cause, where they remove and test cells, but this isnt usually done as part of a pap test.
the thing is with hpv women can carry it fro years and be immune to it.
the bit i'd concerntrate on (As i did, and first time round my punch biopsty came back showing nothing) is the "very slight"......by the time i had my next pap smear the "very slight" wa snolonger there, and thats when i was called in for a leep.
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