Colposcopy results! Advice

Treatment for cell changes (abnormal cells)
1

Hey,

I am filled with severe anxiety right now. I had my first smear test at 37 in January ( I know this is terrible) but I have such bad health anxiety I was terrified to do. My results came back 10 weeks later saying I have high HPV and cell changes and need an urgent colposcopy within 2 weeks. This sent me in absolute panic and I ended up in A&E with severe anxiety. I had my colposcopy about 11 days ago. Wasn’t as bad as I thought tbh. I had lletz treatment, nurse and consultant said they didn’t see cancer or anything to worry about and would be surprised if it came back saying that, as my anxiety is so bad regarding the whole thing, she put my results through as urgent. And the waiting is absolutely killing me, I can’t sleep I am having the worst dreams ever. It’s so scary, I work in the hospital just down from the colposcopy clinic and every time I see the nurse, I am in absolute panic at what she’s going to tell me. The doctor says she would phone me with the results or come get me in the hospital if she’s there. I don’t want to go to work tomorrow as I am in such a panic and state I’m just crying all the time and convinced myself I have stage 4 cancer!

2

Hi I couldn’t read this and not reply. My heart goes out to you because I felt exactly the same after my Colposcopy appointment when I ended up having biopsies taken. I too suffer with crippling anxiety and I got myself into a right mess waiting for results. My advice to you is, stay off Google, take a breath and remind yourself of what the consultant said. They do this all day long day in day out. If they aren’t concerned then you shouldn’t be. It’s easier said than done but don’t worry about anything unless you are told you need to. My results came back absolutely fine and I regret the trauma I put myself through for absolutely no reason. Be kind to yourself. I’m sure all will be well xx

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Hi Callie14, thanks so much for replying to me, and I’m sorry to hear you had to go through this too. It’s absolutely awful the consultant said to me everytime I have a meltdown I’ve to think of the words she said to me, but I still can’t help thinking the worst. Like what if they have missed something. I am struggling to cope and deal with it all! I’m terrified I have cancer. I have 2 kids and every time I look at them I want to cry, as I am so scared. I am so grateful for this website as there is not enough information out there atall, or help or support for woman going through this.xx

4

Hey Donna! I too have just read your post and, bless you, I’m so with you on this… I went through a very similar experience to you a few years ago, and it was quite possibly the most traumatic experience I’d been through at that point of my life. I’d had HPV consistently for 2 years straight at that point and I just could not shift it, and then on my third smear it came up with cell changes, and I just felt my life fall from underneath me, back then the information around this was poor, and the C word was batted about so carelessly, so all I had to go on was google and my imagination- I was going out of my mind with worry, just like you, looking at my kids and wanting to cry, it was horrific, to the point of which I went private for my colposcopy because I could not bare the 7 week wait for my appt to come through… it cost me a fortune but saved me endless nights of worry waiting. Anyway, cut a long story short, the consultant was terrific, and he said that he believed it was CIN 1 / 2 (worse than my letter had said) but… he didn’t see cancer, and he wanted to make it clear to me that I DID NOT have cancer and he wanted me to sleep at night knowing that (well, I didn’t and I still worried, but here we are…) anyway, a week later my results came back from the biopsies, and he said that no pre cancerous cells had been found after all and it was purely inflammation, like wtf?! I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was over the moon and the worry just left me instantly, so it can look worse than it actually is - I did asked for a smear the following year and sadly it still came back HPV positive but there were no cell changes, so I thought, right, I need to do something about this - I completely changed my diet, exercised, cut down on the drink and upped my vitamins (a real concoction!) and then on my 5th smear, I was finally negative!!!

So, I really want to stress to you that please try to not worry until you know what you’re actually dealing with, but I know how you feel, I was the same, constantly thinking what ifs, but then, what if it’s ok? What if it’s fine? What if it’s nothing? And you too are going to be absolutely fine too :slight_smile: lettz treatments are incredibly successful, a few of my friends have had them and it’s all turned out fine.

Chin up girl, you’ve got this - you’re in the system, they’ve got you covered, and like the other lady said; this is their bread and butter, they know exactly what they’re looking at and what they’re dealing with xxx

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@sammie75 Hi, thanks for replying to me. I honestly feel like it’s the most traumatic thing I’ve been through and I’ve been through a lot but the level of anxiety this is causing I can’t cope with, 15 days and still not had a word. I’m terrified to look at my phone or come home to mail, I can’t even describe how scared I am and fearing the absolute worst. I want to run away from all this, my mind is a mess. So sorry you went through all this also. I can’t sleep at night or anything, I’m so scared xx

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Oh bless you, I’m so sorry you’re feeling so frightened, I really hope you aren’t waiting much longer for your results, I’m confident though that you’re going to be absolutely fine - my best friend had the exact same experience as yourself, and her results came back all clear after she had her treatment & she’s been fine ever since - sending you lots of positive thoughts 🩷 please do keep us posted xxx

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Thanks @sammie75 still no results, she did say it would be about 2 weeks and it’s now 16 days. Terrified letter is going to come In post tomorrow. I’m not dealing with this very well at all xx

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@Donna86 how are you holding up first of all, have you heard anything? I’m going through similar right now showed high grade severe on smear results and high risk hpv, went for colposcopy and she told me she could see nothing and couldn’t take biopsies because I have fibroids and cysts on my cervix and she was worried that I would bleed too much. She has mentioned having a lletz under general anaesthetic due to this, but I now have to wait till they have their mismatch results meeting on 1st may and my head is mush. Then yesterday on my nhs app I see a copy of the letter she sent my doctor which says she’s seen what is in her opinion cin low grade and I am just suffering so much confusion………my mental health is in tatters! So I won’t know for sure the management plan they will suggest until they have had their meeting on 1st May and I’m panicking I won’t get any form of biopsy done and will have to live with this hanging over my head. I’m so mentally drained :weary: I can’t live like this indefinitely. Hope you soon get the answers you need to settle your mind as a fellow overthinker I completely understand what you are going through xx

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Hi @Selina, I haven’t heard anything yet, the wait is horrendous isn’t it. I know the anxiety is going to be horrendous again next week, waiting on that call and I work in the hospital down from where I got the procedure so I see the nurses and I am scared they are going to tell me I have cervical cancer. The consultant said she was going to put it through as urgent because I was so anxious and it’s been over 2 weeks and I still haven’t heard anything, so I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing she said she would phone me either way to tell me although she said she didn’t see anything cancerous or anything to worry about. I can’t help but think what if she missed something, the anxiety is crippling me to point I can’t function. I haven’t had any symptoms at all and after 2 weeks my lletz has healed well don’t have bleeding or discharge anymore. I honestly feel for you 100% and understand how you feel xx

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@sammie75 @Selina @Callie14 hello, thought I would update you all. I got a letter today confirming I had CIN(abnormal cells, not cancer) and no further treatment is necessary at this stage however the doctor would like to review me on 29th May, I am so relieved but unsure why she wants to review me again next month! But good news so thought I would update. Thanks so much for all replying to me :heartbeat:

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That’s fantastic! I’m so happy for you! Best you could have hoped for! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: I suspect the only reason the doc will want to review is generally because CIN can fix itself and regress, so I could just be to see if it has… however I hope you have a great Saturday & you can relax ! All the best 🫶🏼🩷

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@Donna86 that’s great news so pleased for you, I’m still awaiting the meeting on 1st of May they are having before I know the course of action, it feels like I’ve been waiting a lifetime without even knowing what happens next should be a lletz but until confirmed I’m worrying xx