Hi, I am new on this forum, thank goodness I came across it because my GP has been rubbish!
I had a smear 3 weeks ago and have received a letter saying i need to go for a coloscopy as i have " hidg grade dyskaryosis" which sounds horrific in itself ! Having done the worst possible thing and googled it I am now terrified and confused . so i rung my GP for some reassurance and got none - as she couldnt answer any of my questions! She just said " you will have to wait and see".
The main question i have is What are the chances that this is cancer?
My coloscopy is in 9 days - evry day feels like a year when you are waiting, doesnt it?
Any words of support would be hugely appreciated right now
I know how it feels to get that letter! I totally went to pieces when i got mine, it was the first time I had had any kind of real worry about my health and I think the fear and panic is a natural reaction and like most google was my first port of call. I think that is a double edged sword though, knowledge is good as it helps to understand what is happening to you and to be honest the advice leaflets I got didnt contain much information, they are also very concise so the info often comes off as very medicalised and a bit scary. The problem with the net is that its often full of rubbish and outdated info, not to mention all the scare stories, granted some have bad experiences but more people post about those than positive experiences giving a very unbalanced representation of the true picture.
If you feel you need more info stick to Jo's or other more 'official' sources of information, you can always ask questions on here and for anything the ladies here cant help with there is the 'ask the expert' facility.
If your results are high grade then it is more than likley you will need treatment and thats not meant to scare you, in fact its a good thing to get rid of any abnormal cells before they ever get the chance to become cancerous and the treatment really isnt that bad. I was terrified but it was all over so quickly and i think I had built it up into something way worse than it actually was, my treatment isnt over yet though so that opinion may change lol.
Nobody can say what your results will be but one thing i have learned is that there really is no point in overthinking the 'what ifs' I have driven myself crazy more than once thiking about all the possibilities but have now come to the conclusion that I will deal with things/results as they happen.
good luck with your colpo and let us know how you get on. Feel free to ask any questions no matter how silly they may seem.
hi sasja. i know how you feel too, i had high grade changes cin 3. and like you was really scared and thought the worse, the waiting for appointments and results is the hardest part well it was for me. but try not to over worry youself, i know that is hard not to do. you will know more once you have your colop.
anytime you need to talk all the ladies on here are great, and it was a massive help to me when i felt alone and it will be for you too.do come bk and let us know how you get on..
Its so wierd , you are going along in life quite normally and suddenly you get a letter that floors you and changes everything. And all i can think about is " oh my god, what is going to happen to my kids if something happens to me? ". Jumping the gun, i know, but you cant help these thoughts, can you? x
Hi again. I can totally relate to what you are saying, its a massive shock to get that letter, i remmber opening it and thinking what now in total panic.I was in a state, crying with all sorts going through my head. When i was gettin biopsys done in march this yr, that was my lowest point the fear i felt was nothing i can explain i had felt befor. And i can say this whole thing has changed me, i am not that care free person i once was. But i am so thankfull i went for my smear, and even though it was well over due it has woke me up and made me realise how important it is now to keep on top of it...I am like a mad woman now as i keep on asking all my friends and my mams if they have had theres, they must look at me and think i am a bit strange to be asking that lol... One thing i will say to you is, dont bottol things up, talk to your friends and family and here, as it will help you get through it, i didnt talk much as i was holding my feelings in but this does not help at all.
I am due for my six month check up in september and i am hoping it will be clear, the worry never leaves you. But you just learn to live with it, we cant let our fears rule us as we will just be making our selfs more miserble and its not going to change things. I have only just really got my self to say that, as it does take time. I still have bad days, but just plod on we have too.
We all have a strength in us that we dont know we have untill we are tested.
Hi Sasja, firstly congrats on coming to the right place early on. it took me far too long to discover this forum and i did a lot of my own research in the mean time...bad idea! I hope so far youve been reassured a little, although I know just as well how hard that letter is to receive. Despite anyone's advice I think it is natural instinct to fear the worst.
I also had a routine smear, and a letter a week later saying I had high grade dyskaryosis After no previous problems at all. i also cried and had myself dead and bured :-( This was less than week before I had to fly out to cyprus for my brothers wedding so I couldn't have my Colposcopy until I returned. Luckily they got me in the day i got back, although it was a very stressful week! The consultant explained exactly what they would do and answered all my questions. She was loveLy. she then took me into another room to do the colposcopy, which was only embarrassing, not painful at all, and then explained that she would continue with the LLETZ. This was slightly uncomfortable, no more than a smear and the only pain was a small scratch from the anesthetic. It took ten mins and I walked out of there. After i had less pain and bleeding than a period for 24 hours. Nearly two weeks later I am just waiting for the results from the biopsy, but after sticking to trustworthy sites like this, I have discovered that it is actually really quite common to go through all this, and the majority of ladies will be all sorted and only kneed more regular smears after :-)
Please DO NOT GOOGLE! It was the worst thing I could have done. most information is talking about 'worst cases' which are few and far between. The whole point of getting a smear done is to detect any 'potential' problems early enough to dela with them well before they turn nasty. It takes many years for potentially cancerous cells to develop, so as long as you continue to attend your appointments there's a huge chance you will be absolutely fine.
Those letters dont half scare the crap out of us dont they! My GP wasnt particuarly helpful either
I wasnt in quite the same position as my smear was moderate but treatment is the same either way and mine ended up being severe anyway. At your appointment theyll have a look to see whats going on and either take a biopsy or do treatment there and then. The colp or the treatment really was no where near as bad as I imagined.
I know how much this can knock you sideways but its great you went for your smear and it has been picked up. If you have any questions about the appointment or the treatment let us know
Hi Sasja…i concur with all the above. When my letter came it said i had cin3 & cgin3. Thankfully a leaflet the hospital sent me before explaibed cin but not cgin. Then like you, i panicked, googled & decided i’d have to have a hysterectomy & never have kids…my, how our brains work lol. I’ve since had 3 lletz & am now all clear! I asked a GP after my 1st colpo about the stats of it becoming cancer & she said there aren’t any stats. This is because they remove abnormalities as a precaution & that it wouldn’t be fair to leave ladies with severe abnormalities just to see what happens. I suspect the figures are verysmall. I think I read somewhere that if you have lletz treatment it’s 95% effective if that helps.
Well, i had my appointment and the loop treatment.It really wasnt too bad and the doctors and nurses were really nice. They have taken a biopsy so now i have to wait a couple of weeks for the results - which is going ot feel like a couple of years! I will keep in touch, and thankyou all so much for your support.
