I have been back and forward to hospital every six months over past few years due to abnormal smears. Been checked out and they could not see any cell changes. My last smear was normal so I have now been put back in the care of my local surgery.
I went today and the nurse advised that they would now test for HPV. As it is so new in the area she had no idea on it all really so I have come away worried and waiting for results in 2 weeks time. All she said was if it was negative HPV and smear I would go back to 3 years (although in my head its not going to be as straight forward!)
Has anyone had both the smear results and HPV back and know what the outcomes mean? Ie If I have normal smear but positive HPV or abnormal smear and positive hpv am I back to regular hospital checks? Or what if I have abnormal smear but negative HPV does this mean regular visits?
I know people on here will have had a lot worse. I am just stressing out thinking am I going to be forever going back and forth to the hospital and never quite knowing whats going on. I keep gearing myself up for all these checks then get told oh we can't see anything its another 6 months and check again. I stress anyway because I lost my mum to ovarian cancer so anything thats to do with cancer freaks me out. Think I feel over past 3 years I am no further forward to getting any answers, so fed up of the 6 month trips.
Sorry for rambling just trying to figure it all out!
Hi jgirl, sorry to hear you are in the seemingly never ending cycle of tests and waiting. It is my understanding that many things can cause a smear to come back as abnormal, everything from hormones to thrush to the cell changes we all fear. Some of these abnormalities can be caused by the high risk hpv virus which causes normal healthy cells to change, its common for these changes to revert bact to normal by themselves but sometimes they dont, and sometimes these changes can progress to cancer.
The new hpv tests identifies if one of these viruses is active in your body, most women have it at some point in their lives and it can be cleared by your bodies immune system. If you test positive for hpv it just means that they need to be a bit more vigilant with monitoring things as it means a higher risk but by no means indicates that you will get cancer so it isnt something to freak out about.
My mum also had ovarian cancer so I can understand how anything to do with cancer is really scary. My mum was diagnosed with ovarian and bowel cancer in her mid 30's, fortunatley she won her battle, so there are some happy endings.
It sounds like they are doing all they should be to keep an eye on things and take care of you, in th unlikley event that anything progresses further it will be picked up and therefore treated early. Even if your hpv test comes back positive try to stay positive, it just means a slightly higher risk factor. most of us who find our way to this forum have tested positive and are here to support each other and there is nothing wrong with feeling anxious or scared about things, thats what we are here for.
Hi Niki, Thank you so much for giving me that info on it all. For some reason the nurse at my GP's didn't seem to have much idea at all so I came away baffled by it all and of course that sets off the worry. Feeling bit better now after reading your response so hopefully I can try and relax and then see what happens with results. If it is positive hpv then I will try look at it like you have said that it is a higher risk but doesn't mean I have anything just they can catch it before it gets worse.
Glad to hear your mum got through her cancer. Unfortunately my mum was mis diagnosed with IBS for over a year so by the time it was spotted she didn't even make it to treatment. Is nice to see that someone had a good outcome and got through it.
Good luck with your treatment having read your list I can see you are having more going on with you than I am, so I really appreciate you reassuring me when you have your own things to deal with, Take care x
glad your feeling a bit better, I have had many days when my head has just spun and this site has been a godsend, keeping me positive and a really valuable source of information from women who know how you feel and what you are going through. No matter how big or small your worries are dont be affraid to shout out.
Thanks niki, it did seem like such a small issue compared to others so felt bit daft posting. Glad I did though, you have given me a lot more information than the nurse did! I think I was quite chilled after my very first borderline result but not long after my mum became ill and makes you re address things. My results seem to go from one extreme to the other so its baffling, I got normal last time so that should make me more positive but I had normal in the past and it went back to dyskariosis!
I think it depends on the nhs trust in your area. I have just had a follow up smear after lletz which came back normal but positive for HPV, I was sent to have another colposcopy due to the HPV. I was told had HPV been negative I would be back to smears every 3 years. I was also told that had my colposcopy not found anything (it did) I would be back to every 3 years even though HPV is present. I have heard of other ladies being more closely monitored when HPV is found.
Hi Jen, certainly sounds like different areas do different things. I know the HPV is very new in my area. Sounds like my area monitors people very closely with me going back every 6 months, although the nurse at my GP surgery seemed surprised by this she thought I would of been on yearly so its all confusing. Thanks for the info though gives me an idea of what I can expect, got everything crossed for all being negative but never quite worked that way for some reason! Hope things go well for you too x
I had my smear test results back a few days ago and I have borderline abnormal cells and HPV aswell. I now have to wait for another appointment to go for a Colscopy which im hoping will be clear. It is quite worrying as previous smear tests have been normal. Hope everything goes ok for you
Hi lizziesoton ive just had my smear and recieved the same results back as you did i hope you still come on this site as im so scared and just wanting to no if your results were ok at the end of check ups .
