The waiting game

Cervical screening results
1

Hi all,

My wife has just been through the nightmare of an abnomrmal smear, referred to colposcopy, bleeding after lletz, and the never-ending wait for the biopsy results.  During the past 3 weeks I have found great strength from reading posts from people on this forum.  So, I just wanted to share our story in the hope that it gives strength and hope to some of you in the same situation.

It was frigthening at first when my wife got the abnormal smear result, but after doing a bit of research we learnt that this is actually not too concerning - it just shows the presence of precancerous cells that could develop into cc in several years time if not treated.  Her smear showed 'borderline' abnormalities, but since they were on glandular cells this is considered more serious and so she was referred to colposcopy straight away.  In fact, the short waiting time for the colposcopy (just one day!) scared us a bit, but it turns out this is normal. 

At the colposcopy the nurse told her that it looked like 'high-grade' glandular abnormality (i.e. CGIN 3), and that it would need to be removed straight away.  She had the lletz treatment and biopsies taken.  She was told it would be 2-3 weeks until the results.

The waiting has been the worse part...the dread of opening the door to find the results in the doorstep, checking her phone every few minutes in case there's been a missed call.  It was made worse by the fact that she was spotting between periods for a few months at the end of last year, and myself suffering from anxiety meant all sorts of horrible thoughts were going through my head for the past 3 weeks. (Turns out the spotting was probably just due to the stress of moving house!)

Also, she has been bleeding on and off for 3 weeks since the treatment, which was also a bit scary for her (but again, turns out to be normal, or at least not unheard of).

Anyway, it was 3 weeks today so she phoned up the hospital.  The receptionist told her that the results were ready but the letter hadn't been written yet so she would have to get the doctor/nurse to call her back (I guess the receptionist isn't qualified to give results over the phone).  It has been a horrible wait today, but in the afternoon she finally got the call...CGIN3 and CIN (don't know what number) confirmed, but no sign of cc.  Her results will be discussed at the hospital meeting on Friday to decide whether she will need another lletz treatment (pesumably if there are a few abmormal cells left).   But it's just such a relief that there is no cc, and that even though there are/were abnormal cells at least they will keep a close eye on this in the future, and the lletz is highly successful at removing these.

Sorry for the long post, but hopefully it will help some of you realise that there will be an end to all this worry that you're going through, and in most cases things turn out to be okay.  Stay strong - our thoughts are with you all.

2

Hi Moz what a lovely post to share with us all, I'm so pleased your wife is fine and there is no CC

 

like herself I had an abnormal smear that showed CIN3 and had the colposcopy last Monday, my consultant coundlt do treatment as there is CIN3 and CIN2 covering the cervix he could see so I had a few biopsies taking, he has the results but hasn't signed them off yet and like your situation his receptionist won't tell me anything, but after reading your story I have some hope that this will hopefully end soon. 

 

Thank you so much :) 

 

Nicola xx

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hi moz, welcom... I was the Same last yr my smear came back high grade changes cin 3, and I will never forgot getting that letter. The fear I felt was the worst I have ever felt. So I know what u and ur wife must of felt like, it's horrible. I couldn't eat sleep or function for weeks. And waiting for biopsy results was by far the worst, like everybody on here will agree the waiting for results is ths worst part. I had the same treatment as ur wife, and had my six month check in September last yr and was clear. like you said this treatment is very successful but at the time going through it, it didn't feel like that if u know what I mean. It's hard to stay positive when going through this. you sound like such a supportive partner and it's so nice to see that, my partner was brill but at times I felt so alone. I will always have this in the bk of my mind what we are going through and always worry, but life's for living not worrying over what might be if u know what I mean. And ur wife will be watched now and that's a comfort in helping that u are getting watched.

I hope ur wife is recovering well from the op and healing is going well... also hope u are doing ok, sounds like u are doing really well now and u have done your research on things and it does help u understand that this is commen and happens to a lot of women. And it's always nice to know we have good partners like u behind us..

take care.. Sky xxx