Abnormal Pap

[ladyowl]

I was just informed by my gyn that my last pap was "abnormal". She wants to wait 4 months to repeat another one. I asked her why wait so long and she said that is just what they do. Both of my sisters and my mother have had to have hysterectomies because of various problems...should I demand another test sooner? Anyone have experience with this? Thanks.

[Lisa/Tx]

I have had several abnormal PAPs due to yeast infections, recent sex, just took my diaphragm out that morning....

Every time my doc recommended waiting 3-6 months to repeat. This is a pretty standard recommendation. Everytime the repeat was normal.

Lisa

[marshamarshamarsha]

A friend of mine received an adnormal pap a couple of years ago and her/my gyn wanted to see her in 3 months, but my friend didn't want to wait, so went to another gyn and pap came back normal. I then went about 6 months later to my/her gyn and my pap came back abnormal and they called and wanted to see me asap. I went the next day. When I quizzed them why I was called back when I knew sometimes they recommend a 3 month wait, they said mine was too abnormal. The doctor did a coloscopy and found abnormal cells on my cervix and did a biopsy then and there. ouch, but not horrible. I guess my suggestion would be follow your heart. Can you wait 3 or 4 months or would you feel better if you knew asap like my friend? She has had all normal paps since. I on the other hand, had carcinoma in situ. Caught very early. Non-invasive. 1 year clear! That was my first and only abnormal pap. No history of dysplaysia or hpv. Jan

[This message has been edited by marshamarshamarsha (edited 02-07-2001).]

[sferg]

Ladyowl:
I read your post here and on the other site which you frequent. I was told on Thursday that I have an abnormal pap smear and it is early ca of the cervix or the beginnings of warts. If it is the last case, my husband has not been faithful.The thought of this tears me apart.
I would ask for another test immediately after reading some of your earlier posts regarding your ex-husband.
I also left you a post on the other site with my email address so if you want to talk about it I'm here for you.
Hang on,
Shelly

[FD]

Off topic to sferg, just so you know it being warts doesn't mean your husband hasn't been faithful.

HPV (the virus that causes warts) is debated far and wide about whether it is sexually transmitted or sexually activated. If you were a virgin before you married your husband, and if he has been faithful to you, that could be a sign that you were always a carrier of the warts and it took until now for them to surface. If either one of you had sexual relations before your married, either one of you could have been carrying around the virus for quite a while before having noticable signs/symptoms. Even then, men tend to carry the virus around while NEVER having visible symptoms even if they came into contact with the virus at birth. HPV is really a tricky virus and there is frankly not a whole ton of information out there about it that can be stated for certain. Here are some great resources for info on HPV: [url="http://www.herpes.org/drray/humanpapillomavirus101.shtml"]http://www.herpes.org/drray/humanpapillomavirus101.shtml[/url] (this link is on a herpes website, but herpes and HPV are NOT in any way connected. I didn't want to worry anyone!) [url="http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/stdhpv.htm"]http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/stdhpv.htm[/url]

One other thing, "early cancer of the cervix" and HPV (in a non visible outer wart stage, like it tends to show up on the cervix) generally go hand in hand. Not in every case, because there is no absolute when it comes to the body and disease, but in a lot of cases. HPV cells can be found in most women's cancerous cells when biopsied after the fact. It's when it's allowed to advance past the "abnormal cell" stage that doctors think is the problem. My gyn kept refering to mine as "precancerous" HPV.

I guess my point was that A) I could be speaking out of my a**, but B) don't punish your husband for something that may not necessarily be his fault. If you'd like to talk off the boards about this feel free to e-mail me. I'm by no means an expert but I've posted a LOT about my HPV and the procedures I went through to find it and (hopefully) erradicate it on this board...and the support here is great. The more we share and discover, the stronger we are.

Back on topic to ladyowl, what the other posters have said is totally true. Anything can cause an "abnormal" pap. I had one in high school because my boyfriend and I had had sex earlier that day. My gyn told me after my last abnormal pap (where in there was actually something wrong) that generally they say 3 months for a recheck because the progress of disease in the cervix/uterus is incredibly slow. So three months from today it could look practically the same, even if there is something wrong....which there probably isn't. If there is something noticably wrong in the first pap and it comes back as abnormal, they usually notice right away and will get you back in for a recheck sooner (like marshamarshamarsha said about hers).

I hope any of this endless babbling helped. Good luck everyone.