Hi everyone. I wanted to share my story. It has been so helpful for me to be able to read about others’ experiences through this forum and I thought I would give back by doing the same.
I had my first abnormal pap in 2015 (low grade). Had a colposcopy, and follow up paps every 6 months for a period of time and all was back to normal.
Fast forward to March of this year. It was my first pap since 2018 (my fault… I should have stayed up to date) and my result came back Ascus. I had a colposcopy and was informed that the results were similar… some minor abnormalities but nothing concerning so we would do a follow up in 6 months. A week after receiving my colp results, my doctor called back. She had no idea why, but the lab had decided to redo my biopsy and this time they found a small amount of high grade changes. She said she had never had that happen, and that we needed to schedule a LEEP. I was terrified and of course my thoughts kept going to worst case scenarios.
I had my LEEP two weeks ago and had my follow up appointment yesterday. My doctor shared that they found absolutely nothing abnormal this time and no sign of HPV. Essentially, the LEEP wasn’t even necessary. I’m choosing to be thankful that I received the best news possible and while I wish I didn’t have to get the procedure done in the first place, I know my doctor made the best decision she could with the information she had at the time and I would much rather err on the side of caution. I’ll continue to be thankful for my health and will absolutely stay diligent about my smears moving forward.
I know this was lengthy but I hope it gives hope to those of you who are waiting and worrying. I know none of this is easy.
