abnormal pap smear - Women's Health Message Board

coacheswife · 06-10-2003, 07:00 AM

Hi anybody ever have a leep procedure for abnormal pap?

Can you get pregnant and carry a child after a leep?

siobhan · 06-10-2003, 08:38 AM

I had a LEEP procedure. It wasn't a whole lot of fun, but it really was not the worst thing in the world. If you search this catagory, you'll find lots of women who have been through it.

And yes, you can carry a child, and deliver normally. I specifically asked my doctor about it, and he assured me.

anothersadgirl · 07-30-2003, 11:21 PM

Are you completely under for the LEEP procedure or are you aware of what's going on?

PaNik5717 · 07-31-2003, 08:45 AM

There are a couple of really long threads about LEEPs in the Cancer: Ovarian, Cervical, and Breast section of this site. If you go there, you will see the variety of experiences women have. I had mine very suddenly two and a half months ago. I had no pain pills ahead of time and no anxiety meds. Others have both of these. I was alert during the outpatient procedure in my doc's office - some people do it in the hospital and get put under. I had no IV. They used the same vinegar solution that they used for the colpo. There was one shot to my cervix that didn't hurt - the nurse was totally amazed at my pain threshold. The shot made me very jittery and then there was this warm feeling as they burned out the bad tissue - it cuts and cauterizes simultaneously. Oh, and I am pretty small and the speculum that he had to use for this was larger and very uncomfortable. The smell of your burning flesh can be alarming if you are alert and the size of the cervical tissue is alarming, too. The disharge in the weeks after really varies, but it seems like most of it is normal unless it is very foul smelling.

Ask your doc what kind of procedure he performs. Share any fears or anxieties and you can hopefully come up with the best situation for you. The hardest part for me is accepting that the cervix is not healed even when it there isn't much pain or bleeding or discharge. Overdoing it in the weeks after can really limit your chances of becoming pregnant. Otherwise, you shouldn't have any trouble carrying a baby, but your doc will probably tell you to wait awhile for the cervix to heal. I need a couple of surgeries and my doc won't perform them because he wants me to be able to have kids even though I don't think I want them.

Good luck with the LEEP and starting your family.

fachina1 · 07-31-2003, 01:33 PM

If you are considering burning, freezing, lasering, or cutting out part of your cervix for an abnormal pap or cervical dysplasia, consider trying the natural route first. Most MD's don't know a thing about nutrition so they have no way of instructing you how to nourish your cervix. For low grade to moderate dysplasia 60% of the cases resolve on their own because our immune systems go into high gear to fight off the virus. The humanpapilloma virus is thought to cause 90% of the cases of an abnormal pap. The HPV virus also causes genital warts and is a std. At some point in our lives 70% of the population is thought to carry HPV. the most important things you can do is boost your immune system with herbs like echinachea and goldenseal, take extra vitamin a and vitamin c and take extra folic acid 1-5 mg/day. Stopping smoking and having portected sex are also key. For more severe cases of dysplasia the risk is that if left untreated it will progress to cervical cancer. I suggest seeking out a licensed naturopathic doctor who can treat these more progressed cases. search for the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians on the web. There is also a risk of not being able to carry a pregnancy to term if there is too much trauma to the cervix during ablative procedures. hope this helps.