Hi all,
I have only come on here to update you on my experience, I was lurking in the background for a while when I was awaiting results and I found alot of posts where people were worried but you never found out how they got on, but this site really helped me keep sane.
So on the 8th September I went in for my smear, I was overdue as I have been travelling and I suddenly realised I could not remember when I had last had a test. The smear itself was normal and I thought nothing of it. I had moved house and told the receptionist to make sure my letter went to the correct place. Some mix up happened and I never got my letter, I did however get a phone call from the colposcopy department saying they had booked me in for an appointment on Tuesday 19th (it was Friday 15th that I got the voice mail) I had no idea what was going on and had completely forgotten about my smear. I called my doctor who explained and it scared me alot! I was very upset, why was I being called in so quickly.
So I went to my appointment on the Tuesday, they messed up the paperwork so I ended up sitting in the waiting room an hour longer than I needed to.
Once I got in the doctor and the nurse were lovely, the doctor explained to me that they were going to carry out lletz treatment on the day because my smear had indicated severe cells were present. She explained the procedure and then sent me behind the curtain to get undressed. The bed you had to lie on looked scary, you had to pop your legs on this stirrup contraption that hooked under your knees.
My doctor, injected me straight away with the local anaesthetic, it didn't really hurt, I could feel something but it didn't hurt. She then poured in the solution to show where the bad cells were. At the same time the nurse put a blue patch on my leg whilst the doctor explained what she was about to do, I also watched it on the screen. The doctor and nurse kept asking if I was ok and if it hurt but it didn't. I also watched it on the screen, it was quite interesting. The doctor then showed me that the cells they had taken out were the size of the top of a large hospital cotton bud. She then sealed the wound, I didn't watch that bit but I could hear it. I went in with the mindset that I need to be as relaxed as possible so that they make sure all the cells are got, this really helped both me and the doctor as it's a very invasive procedure it was hard to do.
Afterwards I did have some cramping pain it was quite uncomfortable and wearing towels for 5 weeks wasn't much fun but the waiting was horrible. I was told it would take 4-5 weeks for the results to be given. In the end I called up the department and they gave me my results on the phone. The cells were CIN3 I had clear margins on 2 sides. The side that wasn't clear is not the margin they are that worried about (I think the bottom one is the one that needs to be clear) but the one that didn't have a clear margin may now be clear from the sealing part of the procedure but they can't test that bit. I have been told to wait for my letter to come through to tell me the next steps but it's likely to be a 6 monthly smear.
It was quite an emotional experience I think it disrupts your hormones and you are anxious too, but I'm so glad I went for that smear test even if I was bursting into tears alot whilst waiting to hear.
Good luck all of you with your tests, if you are about to go in try and be relaxed as possible, it's better for you and the doctor.
