Hey, I haven’t posted in so long because I just wanted to distance myself from all of this for a while.
I hope everyone is doing okay.
I had LLETZ back in August and they found cin2&3.
Next month I got for my 6month check up smear.
Ive been pretty calm about it up until now but i read something the other day and its just knocked me and now i can’t stop thinking about it.
Someone had asked if the abnormal cells will keep coming back if you are positive for hpv.
Because most abnormal cells are caused by the hpv, and lletz doesnt get rid of it, will abnormal cells just keep coming back.
Does that make sense?
Its making me really nervous for next month now whereas before i was in a really good head space.
lletz will get rid of the abnormal cells which contain the HPV. For some women, that is enough to clear the infection. For some, there is HPV in the cells that have not been removed but, if you had clear margins, this cells are a "newer" infection as the HPV moves from cell to cell if this makes sense. It takes time from a cell being infected to it becoming abnormal. In the mean time, your immune system is working to clear/suppress the virus. From extensive reading of all the studies I can get my hands on, this is what I have found out. 20 - 40% of women are still HPV positive at their 6 month smear. This drops dramatically by 12 months after treatment. You are at the higher end of the risk of being HPV positive if (like me) you are over 50 as older women's immune systems are not as efficient. Between 5 - 17% of women require further treatment at some point, the vast majority of these within 2 years. Smoking, age, margin status,size of original legion and HPV status at 6 - 12 months are the biggest predictors of this. So lletz, statistically speaking, is very successful and most women have no further problems.
My test of cure smear is on Monday (aaaaargh!!!) and despite all the statistics above (apart from my age) being well in my favour, I am still bricking it!!
wishing you all the best!! I had a check up after 3 months which came back free of high risk hpv & I'm 55 so there is hope!!! I have to go back for colposcopy again in June because of the discrepancy between my routine smear the Llletz but I feel really relieved. I really hope it works out for you both. I've slept much better since the results came through last Monday but am wondering if the anxiety will ever really go away!!!
