To cancel my smear test today - do you go for yours?

[Wheresmyappetite]

I feel panicky and sweaty with fear at the thought. I have two days of hospital appointments this week and just don't think I can face another one today. It was due at the start of the year, so thinking about rescheduling in a couple of months.

I do have vaginismus which means penetration really fucking hurts unless I'm aroused and enthusiastic, which obviously is the complete opposite of feelings you have during a smear.

Do you go for yours bang on when it's due? Is it pathetic of me to cancel?

Indeed, it it does happen that women have abnormal bleeding but don’t seek urgent help because their last smear was clear so “at least I’m not going to have CC and leave my children without a mother “.

It may well be that women are advised to get attention for any odd symptoms regardless of a clear smear, but the message obviously doesn’t always get through. The image of the smear test as some miracle-worker may actually be counterproductive here. (It’s also odd that women are deemed capable of following up on that advice, but not capable of doing some really basic personal risk-assessment in the 1st place.)

I used to take my uncle for radiotherapy 5 days a week and there was a lady who shared the waiting area each day.
She had never been for a smear and had terminal cervical cancer. I will never miss or postpone a smear again.

I understand your fear and discomfort though OP, please speak to the nurse at the surgery / clinic.

Please go for it.

I've got a tilted womb and smears are painful for me and I panic every time but I would never miss one.
I've just lost a friend with 3 kids to cervical cancer.
It's just not worth the risk to your health.

I've just cancelled mine for the second time because I don't have childcare for my youngest.
I only made the initial appointment because the nurse personally rang my mobile to tell me to get it done as I'm overdue. This is after being harassed at previous unrelated appointments at my GP's. tbh I'm finding it quite sinister.

Some people on this thread really don't understand the pain that comes with Op's condition. I think contact the nurse and find out what your options are. As someone said up-thread, it is possible to have gas and air if the pain is severe (and believe me people, it's akin to giving birth for some people).

Always go.
Had abnormal cells and a calposcopy many years ago. Would never miss one.
Please don't cancel.

I’m sorry it failed. Next time you’ll be prepared better. I hope your go is sympathetic. Otherwise there is the private option.

Love a bit of flaming.

Jade Goody did NOT have all advised smears.

Mummy did not state she was in pain like OP.

If smears were not picking up cancer they would not have a national screening programme - NHS doesn't spend money on this without research based outcomes (As opposed to Mumsnetters who know best)

And wtaf - "Many women their bodies will sort out the dodgy cells anyway." YEAH, that happens all the time - cancer just cures itself.

I work for NHS so, I do know what I'm talking about.

My suggestion was an uncomfortable smear better than causing motherless children and I stand by that.

@BlancheM how old is your youngest? I've taken my at the time 1 year old onto a internal ultrasound appointment and she just sat in the buggy facing the other way with a bottle and it was fine.
Have also taken DD at 3 to a smear and gave her my phone to play a game and she waited while they pulled the curtain round. I would speak to them I would think most places would be fine with you taking DC and understand not everyone has easy childcare.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GO. I'm sure your GP would prescribe something like a diazepam to help relax you, and take ibuprofen and paracetamol before.

My friend was 30 and miscarried her second child. She'd never been for a smear. Whilst having the procedure to remove the baby, they spotted something and referred her for tests. She had stage 4 cervical cancer. She had to have a full hysterectomy. Who knows what the outcome would've been had the miscarriage not happened?

I've had regular smears and am HPV positive. I've had abnormal cells removed via a quick procedure with local anaesthetic, had I not had the smears it could've been much worse.

And wtaf - "Many women their bodies will sort out the dodgy cells anyway." YEAH, that happens all the time - cancer just cures itself.

There is good evidence that many cases of cervical cell change that are currently treated will resolve spontaneously if left alone. Over treatment is a recognised problem of cervical screening. I’m surprised that you haven’t heard about this before as someone who works for the NHS.

by coincidence I got my result through today. I had a bit of a scare a couple of weeks ago which prompted me to get mine done. and I got the letter today telling me everything is normal and next test in 5 years. Im very relieved as my birth mother had cervical cancer so I know I am a higher risk.

It wasnt pleasant having the test, it was uncomfortable rather than painful, but Im glad I have the peace of mind now as I had put if off for a long time.

Re Jade Goody- no. She was having symptoms for a long time. Smears are not diagnostic tests. The problem was that doctors did not act quickly enough on her symptoms. She even had smears before she was 20 and had cells removed.

It is entirely true that abnormal cells tend to sort themselves out. Having them burnt off can cause more problems than it solves.

Cervical screening saves some lives but not as many as people think. Also even cancers that are caught early can then metastasise quickly. This isn’t reflected in cancer survival stats which are based on 5 year survival but even people who have very early stage breast or skin cancers can then have it come back as stage 4 years later. I suspect Jade fell into that category- ie that removing pre cancer cells was never going to be enough

@tistheseason17

Smears don't detect cancer. They detect abnormal cells which may develop into cancer. The problem is once these abnormal cells have been found we have no way of knowing which ones will go on to be cancer and which ones are harmless and will go away on their own.

Nobody is saying that cancer just goes away by itself. Of course that's ridiculous. What they are saying however is that the abnormal cells will probably go away on their own. Abnormal cells are not cancer.

Can't believe the nurse didn't know what vaginismus was!! That's shocking. Maybe a quiet word to the practice manager if you feel up to it?

It was NOT a waste of time! You got there, the procedure was started, and I think the nurse's advice of going at a different time in your cycle was good. It was no more of a waste of time than any other smear that has to be re-done for other reasons. I'd give you a hug and a high-five if I knew you

PS I have a pesky hiding cervix too - don't panic about that bit!

I think it's entirely up to you whether you go or not, there's no point people saying you must go you must go - it's your body and it's up to you. But do some research and make your own decision. Way up the pros and cons, there is research out there you can look at and see how it applies to your situation and see how you want to weigh up the risks.
If you really want to go but it's the fear issue, see if you can speak to the gp for help, or look into counselling/cbt/hypnotherapy.

Jade Goody did have smear tests but she apparently ignored letters saying that she had abnormal cells and didn't get that treated. I guess those abnormal cells didnt sort themselves out.

She did have a lot of other symptoms though - I remember it being reported when she kept having abdominal pain and collapsing and stuff.

I don't take medical advice from MN.

Well, we can all go to nth degree about smears only detecting cells that "May" turn into cancer.

Yep, NHS still recommending smears and not what "people on MN say".

I'll take my chances with the professional advice from Public Health and NHS, rather than take my chances with abnormal cells clearing up on their own. YES, THIS CAN HAPPEN - BUT VERY DANGEROUS TO SUGGEST ON PUBLIC PLATFORM WITH POTENTIAL FOR REDUCING SMEAR UPTAKE.

YES, THIS CAN HAPPEN - BUT VERY DANGEROUS TO SUGGEST ON PUBLIC PLATFORM WITH POTENTIAL FOR REDUCING SMEAR UPTAKE.

You are infantilising women here. I think we’re clever enough to listen to evidence and reach an informed decision about whether to attend screening or not. Pretending that overtreatmebt isn’t an issue is totally the wrong path to take.

The NHS has invested vast amounts of money and resources into cervical and breast screening and so women are encouraged to attend. There's nothing wrong with that as long as women make informed choices. It is a well established fact that screening causes harm (ie treatment of abnormal cells and cancers that would never have done harm to a woman's health) as well as good, but at the moment, the NHS feels that the good outweighs the harm.

Tistheseason17 do you really work for the NHS - if so I am very surprised you are not aware of the facts about screening and the evidence that's out there.

@Tistheseason17

Mummy did not state she was in pain like OP.

You assumed it was because she was worried about appearance when she hadn't stated that, I was just providing a possible different explanation of her post.

"For every 10 000 women screened from 1976 to 1996, 1564 had abnormal cytology, 818 were investigated, and 543 had abnormal histology. One hundred and seventy six had persistent abnormality for two years or more. In the absence of screening 80 women would be expected to develop cancer of the cervix by 2011, of whom 25 would die. With screening 10 of these deaths would be avoided. Comparison of cumulative abnormality rates with numbers expected to develop cancer in the absence of screening suggests that at least 80% of high grade dyskaryosis and of high grade dysplasia would not progress to cancer. The lifetime risk of having abnormal cytology detected could be as high as 40% for women born since 1960.

Conclusions

Screening is labour and resource intensive. It involves treatment for many women not destined to develop invasive cancer. The increased intervention rate for cervical abnormality in England is due to change in practice, not a cohort effect, and is probably the reason for the marked fall in incidence and mortality during the 1990s. For other cancers there is scope for major iatrogenic harm from screening because of invasive tests and treatments."

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC153831/

RunningBean, DS is 18 months and not at the stage where he'd sit quietly. The pushchair would be straightforward enough but the doctor's is up one flight of stairs and pushchairs have to be secured in the entrance of the building.
I will rearrange when possible, though.

OP also, I think you should just take the pressure off yourself for a bit. Look into the help that's available, you can give it a try if you want, see if it works for you, and if it doesn't just leave it for a bit.