Hi all
Had my smear done on 25th April and when the speculum was put in and opened it really hurt though the nurse said it might be due to the fact I had a discharge at the time and I then got the results exactly 2 weeks later which are that I have borderline changes and also HPV. I am now waiting for a Colscopy appointment but quite worried that the borderline changes will get worse by the time of my Colscopy appointment
This is a great forum and website
Hannah
Hi Hannah. I’m sorry to hear you had an uncomfortable smear but good for you for having it done. I can’t say how your situation will progress. 14 years ago I had a borderline smear. I had to have a colposcopy so they could get a more detailed look. They took a small biopsy & by the time I returned for my follow-up (sorry I can’t remember the time period) everything had returned to normal! All my subsequent smears were clear. Last year though I had another borderline smear. This time the colposcopy showed severe changes (cin3 & high grade cgin.). I was panicking but the ladies on here kept me calm. Unfortunately the subsequent treatment (lletz, where they remove the bad cells) didn’t quite get it all, so they had another go. However those results showed they needed to look higher up so I had my 3rd treatment under general anaesthetic 2 wks ago. I was certain that everything was going bad to worse & my anxiety levels went through the roof. Today however I got my results…all clear. “No abnormalities other than some inflammation.” I’m now back to annual smears at my GP. Having borderline results does not necessarily mean the results will eventually get worse. The important thing is to keep all gynae appts. This way if there are abnormalities they can nip them in the bud asap. Good luck Hannah & I’m sure it’ll be fine. Chat on here when you feel anxious & let us know how you get on.
Hi Hannah,
I'm sorry you found your smear uncomfortable. One thing you can ask for at smears (or even the colposcopy) is a smaller speculum if this would help. I find the normal size ones very painful and now ask for smaller ones, as I didn't know for a long time that speculums come in different sizes. I just thought I'd mention it in case this is helpful.
I do appreciate how worrying all this is. You'll have been referred to colposcopy because your result showed HPV not because the cells are borderline. It's all to do with the HPV testing they are now doing. A couple of years back if you had one borderline smear they would most likely have repeated the smear in six months. Borderline changes are the very earliest changes in cells and in most cases they go back to normal. It's because of the HPV positive that they'll take a look at you with the colposcope and possibly take a biopsy. It's all part of something called HPV triage and there is more info the NHS cervical screening website if you want to read more.
Having an abnormal result is frightening, I do understand your feelings on that, and I think that waiting for tests and results is one of the hardest parts. The important thing is that you had your smear and these cell changes have been caught really early.
Hope all geoes well with your appointment and take care x
would just like to second what Binks said with regard to diet, I think it's easy for people to simply dismiss what others on here suggest and I don't see the need for that. Not only can you help your immune system by eating a cancer helping diet but I also would say it works helping your mental attitude.As for the warts, I have used a "Penam" recommended by Liz and it helped me burn off most of them. xx
