In a nut shell, I went for my second smear test back in April and received a high-grade abnormality.
Yesterday I went for my colposcopy appointment and had the relevant chats with the doctor. Due to my irrational fear of needles we left treatment as we would decide during the colposcopy whether or not we would proceed with treatment immediately or opt for going for a general anaesthetic.
The doctor carried out the colposcopy and identified a very small area of abnormalities and due to my rapidly increasing panicked state, I opted for going under general for treatment. Doctor took a biopsy and then as the area is small suggested that the cells be left 6months and have a follow up colposcopy to see whether the cells had healed themselves? Is this normal protocol?? What happens if the biopsy shows high grade abnormalities?? Will I be called back in for removal before 6months?? Can I ask for the cells to be removed before the 6months?? 6months is a long way off and my husband I had just decided to begin trying for a baby prior to smear test results. Also what would happen if I fell pregnant between colposcopy??
Any advice would be very helpful as I am a very bewildered by all this.
Hi Sarah - just wrote a reply, then reread your post, and now I think I misunderstood. I had a similar situtation which started about a year and a half ago and recently had my first lletz. It sounds like you're still waiting for biospy results - if they are CIN1 the docs usually wait six months before doing another colposcopy as these cells most often go away by themselves. If they are CIN2 or CIN3 the docs should offer you another appointment to talk about treatment and have treatment if you want it, which for me was within a month of the biopsy. I was allowed to watch and wait with CIN2, which is what I did twice, but in the end, after watching and waiting for 15 months and still having CIN2 I decided to have the LLETZ and I have no regrets. It was honestly fine - painless and quick! Easier than the punch biopsy! Take a paracetamol (not ibuprofen or aspirin) an hour beforehand for extra painlessness. If you do have the lletz, I've heard you're supposed to wait six months after the procedure before getting pregnant, which means that if you do need it, the sooner you get it done, the sooner you can get back to baby plans. I wish I'd just gone ahead with this minor (and routine) procedure two years ago - it's nothing at all to be scared of, honestly. Think on very rare occasions people get more affected by it, and it's those scary stories that we read online and keep in our minds, but for most people it's so uneventful that there's nothing to say, so we don't read their stories as often. Also you can always change your mind with your colposcopist. Just call the department and be clear and confident about what you want, and what you want to know. A xx
I was offered Lletz treatment at the same time as my colposcopy but I think the nurse would have had to physically pin me down to do the procedure.
I understand what you are saying about wishing you had done it all sooner and tbh that is my thinking, I do not want to be in this situation 6months, a year or even longer down the line.
It is not so much the pain, I am just not good with the idea of an injection of local anaethetic in my cerivx. I'm sure that if she had not told me about it and just done it I would have been fine, but the nurses were trying to be ultra friendly due to my panicked state and freaked me out more by making general chat.
I shall wait to hear what the biopsy result bring, but if it follows what you have said and it is as suspected CIN3 then I should be booked in for general pretty quick presumably. My main query was because she had said that due to the small size it may not require treatment, but then perhaps she took the biopsy to see if it is necessary (CIN2/3) sooner than 6 months?
Normally if it is CIN3 they want to treat it as soon as possible, occasionally they will leave CIN2 and keep and eye on it.
If you do need LLETZ treatment, then the local injection isn't that bad - I don't like needles but it helps that you can't actually see it! I have heard of lots of people having LLETZ under general though, so definitely ask for that if you do require treatment.
I think I probably just wasn't taking in what the doctor said at the time, sometimes I wish I carried a tape recorder with me!
I suppose it is now just waiting for biopsy results then going from there.
As soon as I mentioned needle phobia the doctor said I could have GA but I was trying my hardest just to get it over with, but will definately ask for it immediately next time.
I know you posted this 3 years ago, but I'm currently in your exact position. I have a severe phobia of needles - I've had 3 courses of CBT and 1 course of EMDR. I never used to actually be able to say the word needle without it bringing on a panic attack. All of these forums say about local anesthetic not hurting, but that isn't my issue, it's the actual process of injecting me (personally I have a high pain threshold and pain doesn't bother me, so would happily have the procedure done without pain relief).
Anyway. I've been called for an emergency colposcopy on Tuesday (7th Jan) following my 2nd smear which came back as CIN2 with HPV positive. Smears don't bother me, so the actual colposcopy isn't causing me any issue, it's the fact I've been told I should be having the treatment. I explained on the phone that each doctor to see me at the hospital has said I'm the worst case of trypanophobia they've seen (brought on and made worse by health care professionals with no understanding of phobias, including a dentist that got her assistant to pin me down at the age of 12 which resulted in the needle nearly going into my eye). Yeah, it's a full blown phobia. My GP has given me the maximum dosage of diazapam to take for 24 hours before the procedure in the hope they will calm me. The last time I took they (lower dose), I might as well have taken smarties.
I'm just wanting to know any updates from you? Was there an alternative treatment offered? Did they tell you to wait? Or did you have to have general anesthetic? I'm hoping to have GA at the last option before a needle as I don't react good to the meds and then always freak out when they're wanting to remove the cannula from my foot (which they put in once I've been put out by gas).
Any help or advise would be extremely appreciated as I've not slept for the last 8 days since my appointment phone call (which I got out of the blue before my letter). Thanks x
