Hi all,
I have been referred for a Colposcopy at my local hospital. I am a survivor of sexual assault and find any pelvic examination extremely difficult. I assume due to covid I cannot have anyone at my appointment but I am wondering if anyone can explain to me what happens in some detail? Does the nuse/doctor explain what they are doing as they go along? Do they tell you your results up front? How many people are in the room? Sorry for all the questions!
Thanks so much!
Hi Daisy
I've been having colposcopies since 2012. Its fairly similar to a smear. Usually 2 nurses in the room, the one doing the colposcopy and her assistant or it could be a consultant and a nurse. They'll ask you to take bottom half off but give you a sheet to cover yourself. You lay on the chair and put legs in stirrups. Ive always had good nurses who tell me what they're doing, some try and make chit chat. They'll insert the speculum and put a solution onto your cervix to show up any abnormal area. There's a camera used and a screen they're looking at so you can see your cervix but they can turn the screen away from you if you don't want to see it. They can tell you straight away if they can see any abnormal areas but if they need to take a biopsy, that will need sending off to the lab and normally takes 2 weeks for results. The biopsy is a punch biopsy, they'll tell you to cough then they take a bit of tissue away. I know some people have lletz on the same day as colposcopy but I was called back for that as a separate appointment. Maybe you could ring the colposcopy clinic ahead of your appointment and just let them know your situation. I'm always very anxious when I go for my appointments but I've always been treated well by the colposcopy staff, very friendly and respectful.
Hi Daisy,
Really sorry to hear this. I couldn't find anything before my colposcopy so a couple of hours after it, I wrote a detailed account of what happened. You can find it on the link in my back story below.
I really hope it helps, but do bare in mind that things can be different depending on the findings xx
