Sorry you have been through all that. Assuming you are in the UK, the way smears are done have changed. When you had your first abnormal smear, due to the grade of abnormality they would not have tested for HPV. They used to test for cell changes first and only test for HPV if the abnormal result was borderline. For more severe results, they would just assume that HPV was present and treatment would be the same whether it was or it wasn't.
At the end of 2019, they changed to testing for HPV first and only testing cells if it is present.
It is therefore most likely that you have had HPV throughout and that your immune system has been unable to clear it.
I had a high grade abnormal smear last year, lletz and a diagnosis of CIN 3. The first HPV test i had was at my test of cure smear in January. Thankfully this was negative but I obviously had it previously, I just wasn't tested for it. Good luck with whatever they decide to do next.
Please try and not be terrified by HPV. It is a very common virus and 80% of women will be infected at some point in their lives. Most women will naturally clear it within 2 years of infection. Those that don't will be offered close monitoring by the NHS which is something that didn't used to happen so well before HPV screening. I've never known my HPV status and decided, on the basis of what I understood age 50y in 2007, that I could safely stop going for smear tests. I wasn't worried at all but it turned out that blissful ignorance was a dangerous thing in my case - as per my back story. I'm sure that if I'd known I was positive for HPV it would have motivated me to continue to get screened and then my cervical cancer would very likely have been prevented or caught much earlier hence requiring relatively minor treatment - rolling back time and having that opportunity would be a dream come true for me - if only....
Knowing one has contracted HPV is better than not knowing - knowledge is power.
Thankyou so much for your replies, so reassuring and i thank you for that.
I have calmed down now. I'm assuming the HPV is high risk although I'm not going to panic. The low grade cells was a positive as I was expecting high again.
Coloposcopy wont be fun, cervix is shortened so much due to the double Lletz and doc said he got a good amount of tissue each time.
