AIBU - Smear test

[Dibble135]

A lot of money is being spent on a TV campaign encouraging women to go for smear tests.

Fortunately I am not one of those who are reluctant to attend but if I was, I think my experience of trying to get an appointment would cause me not to bother.

Just been to the GP surgery having taken time out of work to be told my appointment has been cancelled for what is now the third time.

No one bothered to tell me before I attended and no explanation as to why.

To add insult to injury, I had to yell my personal details across the counter because the receptionist did not get up from his computer to come and speak to me and I could see the lady I was booked in with having a coffee and a chat with her colleagues.

These campaigns are such a waste of money. Who isn’t aware of smears tests? Anyone?

Ive never missed one and had to have two colposcopys.Thankfully they've removed the hpv cells so im back to smears every 5 year now.

I already use Superdrug to buy my pill so will look into the private test.

Ironically at my last smear, the nurse was incredulous I pay for contraception.

My response? Have you tried to get an appointment here?

I don’t pay for the pill so much as the convenience!

For all those of you saying for one reason or another you won’t be going….please please please make sure you do. Yes I know it can be hard to get an appointment, a bit uncomfortable etc etc.
I didn’t as I lived out of the uk then didn’t get round to it fast enough.
Result stage 3 cancer = very nearly died in my early 30’s, no ability to have children, invasive painful awful treatment lasting months, long term serious health implications, will be a lifelong sentence for me now.
In for another op tomorrow dealing with the internal damage done from the treatment of that saved my life.
And I am lucky as I’m still here, and the damage done is not as completely awful as it could have been.
Please have your smear test done & make sure your children get the hpv vaccine.
The NHS isn’t perfect but at least we do have healthcare which is accessible for all without charge.

@Holothane

Luckily managed to book mine a few weeks ago it must be done there and then so taking pillow sweets book, I can’t afford another trip to theatre I’ve plans and they mustn’t be messed up.

@Holothane

Pillow sweets book?

Trip to theatre?

What??!?

@Dibble135

I’m a lawyer so used to refusing to take no for an answer in my job but when surgery say it’s cancelled and will not see you, what do you do?

Put a complaint in to the practice manager?

Tbf it’s not like that at our surgery. I’m frequently gobsmacked at the experiences people have on MN wrt booking to see their GP/Nurse/phlebotomist.

After an absolutely agonising procedure (not smear related) I have decided not to participate in screening. In fact, I won't go to the GP unless I really have to. If I knew I was HPV positive I would likely have a smear to check cells but I'm not willing to have an invasive procedure to check for HPV when there's a way to find out without anyone else even touching me. I'll take my chances as I do with other cancers, which are probably more likely to affect me anyway as I have a low HPV risk.

Here is the horrific thread from 2weeks ago detailing why women dont go for smears. Not going is a pretty rational reaction to the sheer amount of trauma inflicted upon our bodies by men and the medical profession.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4485663-To-ask-why-you-ve-missed-delayed-declined-cervical-screening

There are always women on here saying 'please please go, you could die without it' - I'm very sorry for those of you who have had or are suffering with cervical cancer, but this messaging denies the reality that for most women, cervical smears are an unnecessary, incredibly invasive and for many, incredibly upsetting procedure. Smear tests are NOT necessary and they often do more harm than good. Women scaring other women into reinforcing the smear test myth is part of the problem.

I had this explained to me by a nurse last time I went - after a ten year gap. She said unless you have HPV you can't have cervical cancer. Some NHS Trusts - mine included - are now trialling self-swabbing at home, so that women can swab themselves, send off the sample, and then only if HPV is detected, they will be recalled for a smear test. Smear tests aren't necessary UNLESS HPV is detected. However, because no one gives a shit about women and our bodies, in most areas cervical smears remain the only method of getting cervical swabs - which aren't even checked unless HPV is detected. Most people's cervical swabs will therefore never even be looked at. It's an entirely wasteful procedure.

I experience vaginismus during cervical exams due to past trauma and find smear tests literally agonising. People always blather on about how it's 'just a bit of discomfort' but for me it's like having jagged glass put up my cervix. During my last smear I was gritting my teeth and arching my back to cope with the pain and in the end the nurse just said - look - we don't even need to do this - I can just give you the swab stick and you can do it yourself. It was lifechanging for me.

Rather than spending a load of money on marketing campaigns to guilt and harass women into getting smear tests, why the hell doesn't the NHS roll out the self-swab HPV tests to every eligible woman? If men needed smear tests, this would have happened YEARS ago. When I think of the pain and distress I've experienced over the years it boils my blood.

[quote StrictlyAFemaleFemale]Here is the horrific thread from 2weeks ago detailing why women dont go for smears. Not going is a pretty rational reaction to the sheer amount of trauma inflicted upon our bodies by men and the medical profession.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4485663-To-ask-why-you-ve-missed-delayed-declined-cervical-screening[/quote]
And the amount of women on that thread saying that a smear test couldn’t possibly be excruciatingly painful or traumatic because it wasn’t for THEM was unbelievable. Trying to get through to them that we are all different was impossible.

[quote StrictlyAFemaleFemale]Here is the horrific thread from 2weeks ago detailing why women dont go for smears. Not going is a pretty rational reaction to the sheer amount of trauma inflicted upon our bodies by men and the medical profession.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4485663-To-ask-why-you-ve-missed-delayed-declined-cervical-screening[/quote]
Wow, I can't believe some of this?!

Aside from people having a total lack of empathy and understanding, how is it anyone else's business if someone chooses to not have a smear test?

The nurses and gps at my local surgery are useless at smears. Bearing in mind they are all female (!) they have no idea of the layout of the female anatomy.
Having tolerated their incompetence for several years.. I now pull the examination table away from the wall, arrange myself appropriately in a position I KNOW works for me and tell them to get on with it.
I no longer tolerate officious cows who cannot do the job they are paid to do.....
I no longer have any problems come smear tests.. 5 mins in and out....very little inane conversation.

[quote StrictlyAFemaleFemale]Here is the horrific thread from 2weeks ago detailing why women dont go for smears. Not going is a pretty rational reaction to the sheer amount of trauma inflicted upon our bodies by men and the medical profession.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4485663-To-ask-why-you-ve-missed-delayed-declined-cervical-screening[/quote]

Louder!!

The NHS isn’t perfect but at least we do have healthcare which is accessible for all without charge.

Incorrect. The NHS is inaccessible to many women living with severe trauma.

That is a failing of the NHS not traumatised women.

I am very sorry for what you have been through, but you are completely out of line to attempt to lecture and guilt trip women living with severe trauma who are unable to access healthcare because the NHS is failing them.

My surgery cancelled my smear test three times - the third time I received a text at 08.00am as I was walking through the door into the surgery. They then sent another text (when I arrived at work that morning) to reschedule it for 12.30! I had to go private and pay to have it done at a convenient time. I've sent my surgery the results four times and told staff who call that I went private but every three-four months receptionists phone and tell me that the test is overdue and I need to book an appointment - we just go around in circles.

For all those of you saying for one reason or another you won’t be going….please please please make sure you do. Yes I know it can be hard to get an appointment, a bit uncomfortable etc etc.

My GP surgery currently flat out refuses to book any appointments unless it is for (in the receptionist’s words) “an acute medical emergency.”
Oh, they do do childhood vaccinations which is something I guess. But no smear tests.

Why didn't you ask why it was cancelled?

I get it wouldn't have got you seen today but I'd have wanted to know.

@formalineadeline you really better hope that you don’t need it then….I’d hate to think what you’d do in the event of a serious accident!
I’m very glad it is there. Pointing out the horrendous consequences of getting cervical cancer isn’t guilt tripping or lecturing. Just sharing my honest real life experience.
I believe the figures are that 80% of people get the hpv virus at some point. It’s the biggest cause of cervical cancer.
Most people don’t have some major trauma which make it totally impossible to get a smear test - they just don’t get round to / find it hard to get a convenient appointment / had a bit of off-putting experience etc. It isn’t anyones favourite way to spend 5 minutes but for the vast majority of women in the uk it is the best easily available way to check for cervical cancer.
If you don’t want to do that then it’s up to you. At least you’ve been informed and had the choice. For most women in the world it isn’t a choice they have & cervical cancer is one of the biggest killers of women under the age of 40 in the developing world.
Lecture over and out

@RenovationNightmare if you don't mind me asking was there any difference between private and the NHS? It was so rushed and painful last time that I'm not planning on having another NHS smear if I can help it. I was wondering if it was less rushed going private.

[quote SundaysinKernow]@formalineadeline you really better hope that you don’t need it then….I’d hate to think what you’d do in the event of a serious accident!
I’m very glad it is there. Pointing out the horrendous consequences of getting cervical cancer isn’t guilt tripping or lecturing. Just sharing my honest real life experience.
I believe the figures are that 80% of people get the hpv virus at some point. It’s the biggest cause of cervical cancer.
Most people don’t have some major trauma which make it totally impossible to get a smear test - they just don’t get round to / find it hard to get a convenient appointment / had a bit of off-putting experience etc. It isn’t anyones favourite way to spend 5 minutes but for the vast majority of women in the uk it is the best easily available way to check for cervical cancer.
If you don’t want to do that then it’s up to you. At least you’ve been informed and had the choice. For most women in the world it isn’t a choice they have & cervical cancer is one of the biggest killers of women under the age of 40 in the developing world.
Lecture over and out [/quote]
HPV is pretty much the only cause of cervical cancer. Any cervical cancer not caused by HPV would have spread from somewhere else.

This is why smear tests are not necessary. HPV tests are. HPV tests do not require anything nearly as invasive as smear tests and can be self administered in the comfort of your own home at a time when it suits you to do it.

Smear tests are not the best and easiest available way to detect cervical cancer. This is factually untrue and again feeding into this shame and blame culture peddled out by the NHS when actually their methodology for screening is outdated, inconvenient, wasteful and actively harmful to many women.

As I said above, if men needed cervical smears, the whole system would have been abolished years ago. Why on earth in 2022 are women still being required to have an invasive procedure like this when other methods exist? And why are other women continuing to reinforce that this procedure is something we should be GRATEFUL for?!

they're pretty eager to get women in for them - there's a reason for that and it's not concern for women's health!

YANBU that's appalling behaviour by your gp surgery op.

I commented on the other recent thread on this topic that StrictlyaFemaleFemale linked

I was FAR from alone in finding them painful, traumatic and seriously anxiety inducing NOT "just embarrassing and a little uncomfortable" as per the govt narrative!

Why? Because I have endo, a tilted uterus and awkwardly positioned cervix and I'm also a Csa survivor

SOME nurses have been kind/gentle/understanding - the vast majority ime are not!

THIS is what needs to be addressed NOT a wide scale adjustment to women's "attitude" and "hysteria" around this

It's like this massive woman-blaming woman-maiming incompetent malfunctioning state machine that can't keep a diary, all wrapped up in stupid fucking cozy language about cheery nurses who apparently have "seen it all". Fuck off.

HEAR HEAR!

but condoms were available during in the pandemic and it's a massive shame people don't use them.

1 condoms have a higher failure rate than hormonal contraception and larc

2 you're assuming the women are in healthy non abusive relationships where the men use condoms not to mention rape victims

I agree on the sexual health side of things though where there's a true choice

The nhs has failed me as a female patient since puberty I'm 50 this year! And if anything it's getting much worse

But I'm also well aware that this govt WANT us to turn our backs on the nhs as a whole which is also unacceptable

We need it fully and properly funded and run and for the service of the patients but I absolutely don't want healthcare fully privatised

Most people don’t have some major trauma which make it totally impossible to get a smear test

For starters - not people WOMEN only women HAVE a cervix in the first place

For another - how the hell would you know re major trauma? An awful lot of us HAVE been through a related trauma BUT we rarely discuss this openly because of the huge stigma and victim blaming that STILL surrounds such things

Maybe the way to get things changed IS for us to refuse them en masse - and deprive gp surgeries of the money they get for doing them! - and maybe then the gps will advocate for their patients finally - as they are supposed to anyway!

Yes totally agree. The amount of Harrasment from my gp surgery to get smear when I didn’t actually need one as there was no way I could have had hpv. But they just constantly harass you until you book an appointment. Also had some really horrible nurses. Very painful smears and very undignified. And the implication from these adverts that women and just being silly and it’s just a few second of discomfort

@graphista you are quite right about abusive relationships etc in regards to condoms.

My thoughts were more directed at young people who don't seem to consider condoms as an option, just straight to hormonal birth control.

I think it's really damning that we've had to roll out a vaccine to teenagers because so many young women contract HPV. I can't help feeling that's a result of a big push towards hormonal birth control for women and the dismissal of condoms by both sexes.

I realise it's a hard sell, condoms are...a bit gross, but that's not a good enough reason to get HPV.

I'm so sick of the constant coercive campaigns to go and get a smear test. It's a screening test and I will make my own informed choice whether I have one or not.

Is the current protocol not an HPV test as opposed to a “true smear” test?