Smear Test Poster - Little Boy on stair - Mum didn't have test - now I have no Mum.

[Granitetopping]

AIBU to think that this poster is in poor taste and uses unnecessary emotional blackmail?

LemonylemonThu 21-Feb-13 14:09:25

OutsideOver, there was a campaign for testicular cancer. It was called 'Check Em Out'.
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Yes, but I don't remember it involving pictures of crying small children and the implicit message in that. (ie that as women we're responsible for our children's torment and culpable if we die due to not getting a test)

I guess its supposed to get that reaction to make you think! i have never had one im 25 in a few months i think they should start them sooner if you have kids

Agree re gendered nature of the advertising Outside, but overall anything that persuades women to get screened can only be positive.

My understanding is that by the time symptoms appear the cancer is fairly advanced.. Someone I was at school with died 2 years ago at the age of 38 leaving 2 kids. She hadn't been for screening. What a pointless and avoidable waste of a life.

I don't think it's saying we're culpable as such. It's saying that this scenario could be avoided if women take up the option to have a smear. It's marketed to get an emotive response from women, presumably found to be the biggest driver for women. The Check Em Out campaign was heavily promoted in football stadia, again gender bias being used in a successful manner.

OutsideOverThere, who is reposnsible for women attending smear appointments then? I'd find any suggestion that it is the responsibility of someone else, perhaps the NHS, to drag me there, very patronising and worryingly infantilising. As adults we are responsible for making and acting on decisions about our own health such as attending regular check ups. If we choose to ignore good advice we do take a risk.

Of course sometimes people do all the 'right' things and get horribly ill anyway, because the disease is too virulent or too fast. That is terrible and not fair but it isn't necessarily anyone's fault.

I see life insurance adverts all the time online with a 'think about your children' theme, showing both women and men looking worried, next to images of sad children. However, as others have said, women may be more likely to respond to a 'think of the children' message than they are to a message about their own well-being. Perhaps men respond better to messages about themselves, so don't need adverts to focus on impact on others.

YABU it's designed to get a reaction, it's supposed to be hard hitting. Good for those of you that have acted as a result of it.

I think you're spot on MrsD

I hate vaginal examinations and I have been putting it off after the birth of my DBaby, but this thread made me book an appointment for a smear test as much as I hate the speculum

'OutsideOverThere, who is reposnsible for women attending smear appointments then? I'd find any suggestion that it is the responsibility of someone else, perhaps the NHS, to drag me there, very patronising and worryingly infantilising. As adults we are responsible for making and acting on decisions about our own health such as attending regular check ups. If we choose to ignore good advice we do take a risk. '

I didn't suggest that at all. I said it seemed to imply that women are responsible for their children's torment if they don't go for a test, then find they have cancer and subsequently die.

Of course it's our responsibility to look after our own health to a degree and no one should be making us do it - but neither should they be pushing us into it by means of emotionally charged and guilt inducing advertising, imho at least.

'Of course sometimes people do all the 'right' things and get horribly ill anyway, because the disease is too virulent or too fast. That is terrible and not fair but it isn't necessarily anyone's fault. '

Does that imply that for people who don't 'do the right things' it's their fault?

Can I just ask - only read 2 pp of thread, but - they only do them every 3 years where I am, and it seems pretty pointless.

I mean, if cancer is going to develop, it's going to develop pretty quickly, surely? So the chances of a once-every-three-years smear catching it are pretty low, right?

Of course it's worth it for those whose symptoms happen to manifest in that window, but surely if they were serious about saving lives they'd do it more often....?

Or am I wrong?

You are wrong, cervical cancer develops very slowly.

Ah okay Birds. That makes more sense! I am at a big risk of melanoma so it is the cancer I know most about (which is not much) but that develops hella quickly so once every 3 years would be useless.

I also think it is not helpful when people say 'Oh it's just three minutes of discomfort' etc.

I have been for smears when necessary, and I am actually quite lucky that I have a baggy vadge don't find them uncomfortable, but I hate hate HATE them with a passion, and indeed any kind of intimate examination. I am sure some will find this melodramatic but it feels like being sexually assaulted. I know this is totally screwed up, but somehow having to willingly submit to it makes it a lot worse, psychologically. It somehow feels like the ultimate degradation.

I still go and I recognise this isn't a reason not to go, but please do appreciate this can give rise to really strong feelings in some women.

Crikey, I'm not going to cope well with childbirth, am I?

Actually, YABVVVU.

This poster urged me to get tested when I'd not bothered for 6 years.

I have early stage cervical cancer. It MAY have been caught early enough to save my life as a result of THIS poster.

So no, that poster ISN'T 'too much'.

OutsideOverThere - Well, the reality is, we are given plenty of information about the reasons for having regular smears and we are reminded to attend. If we choose not to have them, we do take the risk that a problem will go undetected, potentially to the point that it's untreatable. I think that is a personal choice, so a matter of personal responsibility. To say we have no individual responsibility for the consequences would be to infantilise us.

The whole point of smear tests, is that with cervical cancer, there is a very good chance of early detection and prevention. In many cases and unlike many other cancers, it is not something we fall victim to unpredictably and hopelessly.

Obviously, once someone is ill, pointing out they could have done something to prevent it is unhelpful and cruel. These ads are not aimed at the ill but at prevention of illness by reminding the well why it is important that they get checked regularly.

But, to answer your question directly, do I think that if I failed to attend smear appointments, got a cancer that would have been treatable had I attended, and died, I would be responsible for the effects of my early loss on my child? Yes, of course. That's why these ads could work. It's exactly because the balance between accepting a minor inconvenience to avoid an unlikely but extremely serious consequence results in many people hoping it won't happen to them and avoiding the issue, that scaring people into action might be a reasonable approach in this case.

Cann i ask does anyone know why they arent started earlier than 25? And why they're only done every 3 years?

MrsDeVere - I share your anger at that STUPID STUPID advert for childhood leukaemia.

I'm just glad that (so far) DD hasn't seen it yet.

YES, 80% of children MAY survive leukaemia now - but not those like her best friend, who died last July, after having her leukaemia misdiagnosed by the NHS as anorexia for 6 months after age started losing weight.

However. This cervical cancer advert was what made me stop putting off my own smear test.

7 years ago, I had an 'inconclusive' smear test, followed by a clear one.

Then life got busy, with multiple DC's with SN's, and I put it off and put it off.

Two weeks ago, I had some rectal bleeding, and needed a rectal exam to look for issues. I saw the cervical cancer poster on the way there. So when my rectal exam was taking place, I asked the nurse if she would do a smear 'while my trousers were down'.

That decision, made BECAUSE this poster had jogged my mind, may just have saved my life.

My smear came back as CIN3 changes. They have looked again at the sample and found a few cancerous cells. So I have early stage cervical cancer.

I am hoping that it has been caught early enough to be easily treated. And if it has, it is as a result of this campaign.

So I can't be het up about it, as it may have saved my life.

Ladies, no matter HOW busy you are, PLEASE do not put off your smear tests.

I think the ad is good and gets to the point. When I first saw it it made me well up so job done imo

I've had my smear results yesterday, they're abnormal :( just have to wait for a hospital appt for futher testing. Am shitting myself tbh

Sorry to digress a little just need to talk about it and here seemed a good place.

I'm nearly 25 and recently had the letter about going for my first smear test. I'm just way too scared to go. It's not so much the test itself but of what they might find. I've been sexually active for 10 years now, it seems such a long time to have not been checked and I'm worried about what might have developed in that time. I asked about having the test when I was 20ish and told I couldn't have it. Can't help but feel angry as my age group were too old to benefit from the HPV vaccine yet the age to have smear tests was upped as well so we couldn't have that sooner. I guess that's irrelevant now but it annoys me.

I really struggle badly with medical stuff as it is and I just can't bear the thought of finding out something is wrong and having to go back for more tests or treatment. I have a 4mo DD though (who I had by c/s as giving birth was my my biggest phobia!). I feel I should should have the test for her sake but I'm really really scared. Please can anyone reassure me, that I'm not alone in feeling like this? I know no-one can help really but just feels good to talk about it as can't talk about it in rl.

Book a separate appointment and tell your GP that you are that anxious about it. They'll reassure you and explain everything and then you'll feel better about making the appointment and having the smear. The results come back really quickly, so you won't be waiting and worrying for ages.

If you're afraid of the actual procedure as well as the outcome, the GP can prescribe something to help you through it too.

My cousin died of cervical cancer leaving three small children. I find this ad very upsetting

I clam up just thinking of it though and can't even talk to my DH or my mum. It sounds terrible but I think if I didn't have DD I wouldn't even contemplate having the test.

Right I just have to do it for her don't I, I know I do.

You can do it. Honestly, speak to your GP about it. And be completely honest. S/he will be used to reassuring people about smears and won't think you're being silly.

And you can get something to help you through it too, if necessary. I got a prescription for diazepam for an MRI (which was still horrible, because an hour in a teeny tiny enclosed space is not my idea of fun). I dread to think how bad it would have been without the diazepam. If you're just worried that it'll hurt, you can take painkillers beforehand.

It will be fine.