Hi @ottie27, sorry to hear of your results but I'm hoping I can offer some reassurance as I'm a bit further on and I've had a really positive experience 😁
I had my first smear in September 2020 and got abnormal results (moderate changes and HPV positive). I had my colposcopy in November, it was super quick and a punch biopsy was taken. Got my letter within 2 weeks to say I had CIN2 and another appointment had been booked for early Jan. On this day I saw a stand in Dr, who was nice, if a bit cold. She explained that I could either have LLETZ treatment there and then, or I could opt for a 'conservative management plan' and come back in 6 months to see if the cells had regressed (4 in 10 people have cells that go away by themselves). She explained there was an increased risk of late miscarriage that went along with the LLETZ and that if I need to have recurring treatments, each time the risk goes up. I was obviously a bit conflicted. I went in fully expecting to have the treatment but it almost felt like I was encouraged to wait and when you hear the word miscarriage its like alarm bells go off! Anyway, she did another colposcopy, and with my legs in stirrups and 2 nurses and a doctor staring at me asking what I wanted to do, I said I would wait and see. As soon as I left I regretted it! Please don't get me wrong, its absolutely better to be given a choice but I felt like she didn't want to do the procedure. As I later found out she was a stand in Dr it kind of made sense as perhaps she didn't want the admin 😂
Anyway, as I said I regretted my choice as soon as I left as I had committed to 6 months of waiting. As luck would have it, I got a letter in late Feb saying the monthly consultants meeting had gone ahead and they wanted me to come back for treatment (after less than 2 months instead of 6 - didn't think I would ever be excited for a colposcopy but there we are!)
I went for my appointment on Tuesday, had the LLETZ procedure done and I cant stress enough how glad I am. I saw the nurse who I was supposed to see in Jan, and she was so lovely, warm and explained everything so much better than the Dr had. I wish I had seen her in Jan! She told me the area of abnormal cells was very small, so small she would only need to use the smallest equipment they had. She explained that the risk of late miscarriage was statistically tiny and not something to worry about. She said if you need 3, 4, 5 treatments this may be something your midwife would need to monitor but that it was highly unlikely as the LLETZ works first time for 95/100 people. The procedure itself was about 3 minutes, didnt hurt, we chatted the while way through and when she said it was over I couldn't quite believe it. I had minimal spotting after, 2 days have gone by and I dont even need a pad.
My advice would be that if they say you need the LLETZ done, just get it over with. Yes, you'll need to wait for 6 months to allow a follow up smear to go ahead. But honestly, the way I see it is that my health needs to come before ttc. I might not be a mum yet, but I want to be and part of being a mum is making sure you're healthy. If you opt for a conservative management plan, youre committing to putting off ttc for 6 months, then if you still need treatment that's another 6 months. I'm now in the 6 month countdown and I'm using this time to take pre natals, relax, get to know my cycle really well so that hopefully when we are given the green light we can have a good chance of it happening quickly 🤞 Hope this helps!