Advice / handhold

[cocoromo]

I know this isn’t the right message board but posted for traffic.
i have just been referred on the two week wait for a cervical biopsy and I’m scared.
I am finding it hard not to think of worse case scenario and keep welling up at the thought of my kids.
how do you get through this wait! I would rather just know right now so at least I could have a plan.
my head feel like I can’t concentrate on anything as it filing my mind all the time.
any help and advice welcome.

Two things which help me in similar circumstances.

1. Statistics. Only about 4% of cervical biopsies result in finding cancer. Cervical cancer has one of the lowest rates of mortality as it is diagnosed early and is very easy to treat in the early stages. Cervical cancer takes decades to develop following HPV which then progresses to "abnormal cells". If your smear was clear in the last 3-5 years, it is highly unlikely that you would have developed cancer.
2. Distress tolerance skills: self-soothing, relaxation, breathing practices, mindfulness, radical acceptance etc.

Stop searching the internet. I drove myself nuts when I was waiting for an emergency breast scan 10 years ago. I obsessively looked at treatment-resistant cancers and all sorts and was genuinely prepared to die. All over a benign cyst. Ever since then, I vouched to simply not look at any information until I receive the results of the procedure. After two completely clear cervical biopsies and a couple of private appointments to check for "skin cancer" I am doing far better just taking my mind off my health by distracting myself with a good book or an outing with a friend. In the vast majority of cases, these procedures come to nothing whatsoever.

The vast majority of 2 week referrals turn out not to be cancer.

Thank you for your replies