Went for a smear after ten years..

[Grobagsforever]

I'm a responsible 40 year old woman and should 100 percent know better than to ignore the letters. I have health anxiety due to husbands death and avoided this test as I was scared of the results. Ridiculous I know, as of course the test is there to pick up potential cancer before it occurs! Absolutely illogical but that's how healthy anxiety works, I thought getting cervical cancer would be my punishment for not getting smears for ten years..

Anyway it came back clear.

So if you're avoiding the test for the same reasons as me, please don't. I feel SO much better without the niggling worry and panic if I get a twinge in that area!!!

@Grobagsforever thank you. It was my own fault though. Kept putting it off and off.

And I was very lucky it wasn't more advanced. So apart from medically induced menopause I'm all back to normal now 😊

@Ohwhatbliss I'd agree. I had brachy over 3 days, 2 fractions a day. Wasn't the most pleasant experience 😬

in fact if I went for my smear in January (like I would of been) then it would have tested for HPV, it would of been negative - and my cancer (which was a 6cm tumour) would of kept on going and I would hate to think what stage it would of been then!

I’m so glad it was diagnosed.

Part of the smear test is looking at the cervix so it would most likely have been seen by the person doing it. That is one of the down sides of just doing a vaginal hpv swab yourself.

Congratulations on your clear result @Grobagsforever

I have had them every 3 years and more often when they were inconclusive.

Some were extremely painful with bleeding after. I have been 'Told off' by the nurse for gripping the side of the bed as it was 'nothing' to be bothered about despite the pain I felt. I have been thrust a hand towel to use as I was bleeding afterwards because they were so rough. This is the NHS by the way and it's is shameful in the way it was done.

Fortunately I haven't stopped going for them despite the shoddy treatment in the past but I fully understand why someone would. And thank god training in HCP has clearly moved on because I haven't had any bad experiences in recent years and when I have said I found them painful in the past I have been treated very well.

I am glad you found it ok OP but I do understand why others put it off especially if they have had any bad experiencing in the past.

@PurpleDaisies

in fact if I went for my smear in January (like I would of been) then it would have tested for HPV, it would of been negative - and my cancer (which was a 6cm tumour) would of kept on going and I would hate to think what stage it would of been then!

I’m so glad it was diagnosed.

Part of the smear test is looking at the cervix so it would most likely have been seen by the person doing it. That is one of the down sides of just doing a vaginal hpv swab yourself.

Unfortunately I had an internal and external ultra sound, swabs and a 'visual ' exam a month before my diagnosis and it was missed- said it was all fine!

When I went for the colonoscopy 2 weeks later they put special stuff that makes the abnormal cells turn white or something - that's how they knew - and my world has turned upside down since! Xxx

Gosh that’s so tough @WoWsers16.
Wishing you all the best with your treatment and recovery.

I dodged them for god knows how many years, finally went in Septrmber. Good job as I was diagnosed with cervical cancer and I had a hysterectomy this week.

Smear tests are not pleasant, hence why I skipped a decade, but my god they are better than the alternative

Well done.

I haven't been to the DRs in 23 years. Who knows what's going on in my body .I am still pretty young. I guess one day someone will know when I drop down dead. I need to sign up to a GP. It's my mission to do so by the end of 2021.

Well done on your success.

pretty young means on the right side of 100

okay under 50

To the pp not having a smear because she was having negative on her last one.....i've been with my partner 14 years. Had at least 3 smears and the one just gone has come back positive for HPV. No change in partners....no idea how this happens....I guess it was just dormant in my body.....

In response to the article linked to....that is an incredibly unwise piece of journalism from a GP (I hope the NHS isn't paying for her....) Whilst she might be right that there are not many women saved.... every woman that is saved is a success. I'm sure we all know of women taken much too young with cancer. The devastated family left behind, the children who have to grow up with no mother, the friends who lose a friend.....they wouldn't say that its only a small number so don't bother.....

This is a more up to date article....
www.nhs.uk/news/cancer/one-three-women-dont-attend-cervical-screening-because-embarrassment/

but I'm baffled as to why when you were having a cool fitted you didn't allow the nurse to do the smear test?

Because I don't agree with routine smears pre-30. I was there to have something inserted to prevent pregnancy, not to check for dodgy cells. Regardless, the nurse had precisely zero right to assume she could do a smear without obtaining my consent. Why I chose not to have a smear is irrelevant.

There is a drive to lower the age to 20, which is silky given hormonal changes. When I say they should be available if symptoms: I did mean colposcopy there, my apologies. Often young women get told they are too young for cervical cancer and thus don't get the diagnostics required. That is an issue.

As to the person who says women aren't being shamed: you are kidding, right? Women get called silly for not dealing with a "small" amount of discomfort, women get told to put their big girl pants on, the repeated letters you get from the surgery reminding you, despite telling them to stop sending them, the fact that a nurse assumes mid procedure she can just go ahead and perform a smear.

So hopefully you will reconsider getting your own smear done soon and follow the timings in future to keep yourself safe. Be well

I will if I feel I should. But like I say, I tested negative for HPV last time and haven't changed partner.

@Elieza I think your comments to your co worker were extremely patronising.

This is about personal choice. As others have said for some women it is a painful and upsetting experience which shouldn’t be dismissed.

I’ll be honest I don’t go any more because if all the problems I have each time. Plus cancer has blighted the lives of so many women I know who were clear of one type, only to disc late that they had another that it has shown me what a lottery it is.

However that’s my choice. I wouldn’t dream of lecturing someone else on their responsibility to have one, nor discourage someone from having one.

Might be a stupid question, but if you had a smear 2 years ago, and presumably were HPV negative as the results came back normal, is there any point in having another smear if since then you have stopped having sex? There is no chance of that again as DH died, and he was my only lover for over 20 years. Am I misunderstanding something?

@acatcalledjohn
I am thankful that they used to do routine smears pre-30s as i had cervical cancer at 23.

@acatcalledjohn please read my comment above you. . I too was negative and now am positive - no change in partner at all.....

Does anyone have a link to the private HPV test? I'm physically unable to have a smear due to past trauma.

I had my first mammogram this year. I was terrified but it was a breeze for me. I think this makes up for a lifetime of excruciating painful smears. How can they expect it not to hurt when my cervix, hiding round back, has to be poked and pushed into position by hard plastic! Anyway, I go. I once had a bad result and like some upthread had the cone thing, it hurts but this is how this potentially killer disease is kept at bay. Well done op and everyone, all of us who go knowing it won't be a breeze!

[quote Mumdiva99]@acatcalledjohn please read my comment above you. . I too was negative and now am positive - no change in partner at all.....[/quote]

I get that. The chances are tiny, and I'm sorry you went through that. Still, it is a risk so small I'm willing to take it.

@acatcalledjohn I don't understand your adversion to it. You're there waiting for your coil to be fitted so obviously no issues with having anything done down there, therefore why would you not have a quick, probably less painful, procedure which could have your life?!

@MrsGrindah

The dictionary meaning of patronising is
“treat in a way that is apparently kind or helpful but that betrays a feeling of superiority”.

Did I feel superior at the time, no I was terrified myself, having just been told that I had a dodgy result and was awaiting treatment, imagining the worst.

When I told her, she told me she was long overdue for hers. She didn’t like getting it done (who does) but we talked and she was not phobic about it or I would not have encouraged her in the way I did.

She thought about it and decided herself to prioritise her health. This was 12 years ago when cancer treatments were not as successful as they are now. If she’s said she decided not to go after considering her options,I’d have left it.

I’m sorry if I upset you by the comments I mentioned. I did not direct my comments at you personally

As you said it’s up to individuals to encourage or not as they see fit. I saw fit. You don’t. That’s your choice.

Not my intention to hurt anyone, only to encourage women to look after ourselves and get any tests we are due. And many have now forgotten about Jade from Big brother but at the time I know she must have saved countless lives because young women listened to her and got tested.

[quote Sparklyring]@acatcalledjohn I don't understand your adversion to it. You're there waiting for your coil to be fitted so obviously no issues with having anything done down there, therefore why would you not have a quick, probably less painful, procedure which could have your life?![/quote]

You are making assumptions. No issues?

I do.

Hormonal contraception isn't an option for me anymore. It was a necessity.

HTH.

It's not always to do with knowing not knowing better. Often its genuine fear
.