Please don't put off your smear...

Hello ladies

I just wanted to share my story with you all and hopefully offer some reassurance at the same time.

I put off going for my first smear for a few months, when eventually I plucked up the courage to go I was suprised how quick it was done. Unfortunately my first result was CiN 2, this resulted in a colposcopy and lletz treatment.

That was almost 3 years ago and I am now having yearly smears for another 8 years (just so they can keep an eye on me).

I do not want to scare anybody, as the majority of smears come back normal, I just want to point out that these PRE- cancerous changes can be picked up and treated long before anything sinister can develop, and please remember that smears are simply a way to check if your cervix is healthy. I always think that I was lucky to have these changes picked up and dealt with because what really scares me is if I had never been for my smear.

I know how scary it is when you dont know what to expect but a smear only takes a couple of minutes.

Take care xxx heart

Hello, 

Thank you for posting your experience. I had a LLETZ last week, having been disgnosed with CIN 2/3. When I received the initial smear test results, I have to say that I thought I was well and truly on the path to at best, infertility, and at worst, cancer. Google had a lot to do with this!! While I have no idea what the future holds, it is so reassuring to hear from people who have got through this experience and continue to be healthy and cancer-free. Abnormal cells should not instil so much fear - I say this, having gone through a whole range of terrible emotions in the past 2 months since my smear. 

I would also encourage people to get themselves tested - it can literally be life-saving!!

thank you for your post. i am currently awaiting biospy results she told me at colposcopy was going to be cin 1 possibly 2 but it doesnt take the fear away. google is mainly resposnsible for my fear of cancer and leaving my 4 month old with no mummy but im hoping things will be ok x

Hi everyone, I'm finding it such a relief to hear others going through the same worry I had when I got my first abnormal results of CIN 2. I think I've blanked out what happened after that as I now only remember being told a year or so later I had CIN 3 and needed a loop excision. It was all very quick between receiving the letter, having a biopsy at my colposcopy appointment to then being admitted to hospital for the day to have it all removed. It was my first time going under general anesthetic so that worried me. I'm now on my 7th year of annual smears and every smear gets a little easier but I'm still stressed before and after it. I had been given information in a bad way so I never really understood what I went through till now.

I hope many women continue to get support from each other and Jos Cervical Cancer Trust. I am now on a quest to retrieve all my medical records from the various doctors and hospital I've been too as my current doctors are missing  a few years worth of information (including my treatment for CIN 3) while I lived away x