Results letter relief after red flags

Hi everyone!

I'm very happy! I received my letter from the hospital, finally. It has been almost 4 weeks since my LLETZ so I was swinging between thinking "it's obviously less serious than they thought" and the occassional "maybe it's so complicated that they need to figure out what to do". The letter (like all I have received before) has not actually given a result such as 'we removed cin3 cells', it just states that they have removed the source of the abnormal cells and I am discharged from their care. I now wait 6 months for my smear, and a HPV test of cure.

Now, I just want to reassure any of you who have had bad smear/colposcopy results and are thinking the worst. Throughout my experience there were a lot of 'red flags' which were making me expect the worst. I have had pain during sex, bleeding after sex, back pain. When I had my smear done the nurse was super nice to me and gave me her direct number to call her on if I had any questions about my result. When I failed to call her, she called me to check I had been given a colposcopy appointment! She told me they would definitely want to treat it straight away so it was important that I had someone with me. At the colposcopy I watched the tests they did to find the abnormal areas. The acetowhite area wasn't huge, but when she did the iodine test she gave a sideways glance at the other nurse and mumbled about how there was no uptake visible at all. I knew that 'normal' cells are meant to stain a dark brown with this test. The other nurse squeezed my hand really tight and looked at me sympathetically. I looked away while she took some punch biopsies. They had a lot of trouble stopping me bleed. The colposcopist seemed to be very worried about me passing out. I had a LLETZ appointment letter, but they didn't confirm my results in writing, so I emailed my colposcopist and she said the biopsies showed CIN3, which is what she suspected and matched my smear result. The same colposcopist did my LLETZ. At first she seemed confident she could do one treatment and they hoped that would cure me. But after examining me again she wasn't so sure. After the LLETZ I bled a lot again. I was told I would be high risk of bleeding after the procedure so I had to take it easy for at least a few days, and that if I started bleeding heavily I had to go to A&E straight away. She also warned me that it was a very complicated procedure and it was likely I would need further treatment, but under GA due to the risk of bleeding.

So, considering all of that, I am proof that it doesn't always turn out to be as bad as you think! It's natural to worry, but if you can distract yourself from it a bit it helps. Sending lots of best wishes and love to you all. I'll be back to tell you about my follow-up in 6 months xxx

So glad it's all turned out well for you :) I had my results yesterday too...CIN 3 as expected but all removed. I think I had a slightly more straightforward experience than you...no bleeding etc, but I echo all you say abut about distracting yourself and trying not to presume the worst. The stress doesn't do anyone any good! Easy to say after you've got your results though I guess! Xx

lucky!! still not got mine been over 4 weeks and nothing at my doctors end either!

 

so glad you ladies have yours though 

 

xx

Yaaaayy, great news! You must have been so worried x x

I was surprised how quickly mine arrived...less than 3 weeks! The nurse had told me 6 weeks...must have been a quiet period in my area! Hope yours arrive soon xxx