If anyone can help me out here and read this, it could really help me out. About 3 weeks ago I went in for another yearly pap smear, a few days later I did get a call saying I have HPV and they need to do a colposcopy. Well, I am only 18 and had absolutely no clue what a colposcopy was.....until today, I went in for it and wasn't exaclty sure what to expect. I was undressed from waist down and sitting in the room waiting for the doctor when i looked to the table next to me and started reading this instruction sheet on what to expect after it was done, it said i was gonna bleed, couldnt put anything up there..and a bunch of stuff that sounded like this wasnt no regular check up. I started worrying then the dr. came in and i felt like i got slammed with the flu while she told me what was going to happen, i almost threw up i was so scared and felt so sweaty and sick. I was shaking and because my cervix is slightly tilted it hurt while she was messing around trying to see it, she barely had put the vinager on my cervix when she said i had to reschedule and prescribed me valium and advil for next week when they are going to try again. Just the slightest thought of what happens in a colposcopy scares me because pap smears seriously hurt and cramp me up bad enough because my cervix is so sensitive and also because my cervix isnt easy to see (i'm told)!!, i am bleeding some brownish discharge down there and cramping a lil bit they barely did anything. i just can't imagine going through this it makes me cringe. I DEFINATELY would get all 4 of my wisdom teeth cut out again that do this seriously. I am so worried and i cried like an hour after. i just know its going to be painful..for me at least and i'm scared they might have to do another one if the cancer cells are bad. Does anyone have any advice for me and some info on cervical cancer and all this i feel like i'm kinda in this whirl wind i dont understand everything yet and i wonder how bad my cancer cells are and if they will go away. thanks!!!
Last edited by kirsten07; 01-23-2007 at 09:30 PM.
Reason: adding a setence
Okay, sweetheart, first of all- take a deep breath. You need to find a way to relax at least a tiny bit so that you can hear the advice that's coming.
Don't self-diagnose. Just because they found HPV does not mean that there is cancer present. Most women who have HPV do not get cervical cancer. And colposcopy is used to rule out other things, as well as cervical cancer.
When it comes to the procedure itself, do whatever you can to relax. Take the meds that they give you, and perhaps you can take a family member or friend to be there in the waiting room for you when you come out.
If you put the word "colposcopy" in the search window at the top of the page you will find all kinds of information. emedicine and familmedicine were very easy to read, especially.
I realize every woman is different, but I definitely know how scared you must have been.
I hope this comforts you a bit:
Last Thursday, almost a week ago, I went in for my yearly pap. The actual swab itself doesn't cause me discomfort or pain, but getting the speculum in and situated doesn't feel "good."
My doc got the speculum in, took a look, and told me my cervix appeared abnormal, would I mind if he took a biopsy. A WHAT??? Does he mean he's going to cut something out of my most private of privates? Will it hurt??? Will I feel it??? What will happen to me after??? Will I bleed??? A lot or a little and for how long??? What is this biopsy going to test for???
I was pretty freaked out and asking a thousand questions a second.
Well, I've got to tell you, it was positively painless, and I'm a pretty big baby about pain. I felt absolutely nothing. Zilch. Nada. I feel the tickle of the swab during a pap more than I felt the biopsy itself.
Like the PP mentioned, try not to worry. Breathe, take a friend or family member, take the anti-anxiety med and antiinflammatory. Once my doc got the equipment in and situated right, it was smooth sailing, completely painless and over in no time.
Last edited by StenoLady1; 01-24-2007 at 10:23 AM.
