For anyone putting off their smear

[KerryMucklowe]

I went today after dreading it for weeks. I was in and out of the nurses room within 5 minutes and the actual smear took under a minute with no pain.

Can't believe I spent weeks not wanting to go for it to be done in 5 minutes 😊

For those not having a smear - in all seriousness - if you do get all the symptoms of cervical cancer will you go and see a doctor? If cancer is then confirmed how will you feel?

I should imagine they'd feel unlucky to have got a very rare cancer.

I do go for smears because I've made an informed choice. I don't need someone on MN to tell me I must go. Likewise, I respect other women who make an informed choice not to go.

It is beyond patronising to tell other women that it's "time for big girl pants and get it done girls." Adult women can make decisions about what screening they may choose to have, and can think about whether it's a useful test for them.

I put off my smear by a year, went and was found to have stage 1 cervical cancer. I was luckily enough to be treated by a lovely team of drs from London, I had to undergo an 8 hour operation to remove my cervix and now have a smear every 3 months! I wish I hadn’t put my smear off and do advise friends not to either.
Just looking at the cancer research website 1 in 135 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in their lifetime.

Got my all clear today, it's an annual check up to age 50 here in the USA.... Maybe making it more frequent normalizes it a bit?

Bradley - no it doesn't normalise it - it lines the pockets of US obgyns. I thought the US had caught up with the rest of the world and had switched to 3 yearly smears.

I haven't been in years and no plans to. Last time I was tutted at and made to feel terrible, very judged, I just don't want to deal with the sighs and rolling eyes. I'm disabled and obese due to it, really struggled to get on the bed thing, and to move into the position they needed. There's nothing like red-hot shame to put you off doing something again.

I was invited to mine in 2016 when my son was first born. He's now nearly 18 months and I just keep putting it off... I know it's something I need to go for but I just can't pick up the phone and book the appointment

I had mine about 3 weeks ago... I was in and out of the surgery within 10 minutes. It was not nice but it was over in a blink. Every woman has the right to choose but personally, I would prefer 10 minutes of discomfort for the peace of mind it gives me after x

Evizza, it's not always just 10 minutes of discomfort though.
If it was I would just put up with it.
I posted up thread about this.
My female Dr actually did leave me alone in the consulting room, with speculum inside me and left the sodding door wide open.
People walked past this room on the way to other consult rooms.
People saw me with legs akimbo and speculum peeking out of me.
I cried buckets when I got out of there, so badly that strangers asked me if I was ok.
It will never happen to me again.

I thank my lucky stars to have access to healthcare like we do in the UK and have had many. All been very professional and pain free.

My GP keeps telling me I need to book in for mine but something is holding me back. I've been surprised to read lately just how many women are against the idea so I need to look into it more. I'd like to know why there's such an agenda to push cervical screening when there are no routine screenings for all the other types of cancer for example.

Befairdintjudge my friend has just finished a long course of chemo for rectal cancer so whilst it might be rare it's still common enough.
My last smear a week ago was quite painful as I have a funny cervix but I'm quite prepared to put up with the discomfort for peace of mind especially as I have young DC's. I don't understand people who refuse to get tested especially as it's free but can only assume they're very young and assume cancer is the preserve of older people. It really isn't!
It's a treatable cancer if caught early enough.

Flooffloof I completely understand. My previous smear was more complicated as they couldn't find my cervix due to having a retroverted uterus. It took 2 different speculums, 2 nurses and one doctor to get it done. Very uncomfortable and embarrassing. I was so pleased that my latest was so easy in comparison. I think that each time the experience will be different, but for me personally, the procedure is worth it to know all is healthy.

So sorry you had such a bad experience x

I can fully understand why a woman wouldn’t have it done if they’ve been sexually assaulted or had a bad experience previously TBH.

I'm shocked at the number of posters who are arguing against smears. So you have your reasons for not wanting one, but you're being grossly irresponsible in putting other women off.

In its current cash-strapped state, do you honestly think the NHS would be spending money on routine-screening if it didn't save enough lives to be worth the money? They don't even do mammograms for the 70+, even though the incidence of breast cancer rises with age.

Read the Op's post again. All over in 5 mins. I'm sorry that some people have had a bad experience, but they are not the norm.

I've had cervical cancer and am 5 years in the clear now. It was picked up by a routine smear.

People who are worried by the over treatment bit if pre cancerous cells are picked up that don't always develop into actual cancer. Surely the obvious thing in that case is to have the 3 year regular smears with the idea to then refuse any letz treatment recommended but request more regular smears to keep an eye on it? Even if you have to pay for these privately. You've then got a heads up that there might be a problem in the future which you can investigate more regularly than normal, rather than not going at all and risk cancer being caught far too late.

I know people hate the emotive language "My life was saved by a smear" but mine really was. It was an aggressive fast growing cancer. The treatment wasn't great but had I not gone for the smear, where would I be or not be 5 years later?

Oh dear, I have been putting mine off for years! I haven't had a test since 2006! I think I am at very low risk of cervical cancer, but even so I know it would be sensible to get another test done. I made an appointment a couple of weeks ago, but cancelled it the night before!

It does not meet a lot of the Wilson Criteria. Lots of over treatment and harm to the cervix, psychological distress, lead time bias etc, etc. A lot of educated guesswork on cervical screening rather than hard facts.

This is ridiculous.

How many women have an inkling what the Wilson Criteria is? (I don't for starters and am well educated on health.)

You are completely overthinking befair. If you had abnormal cells then would be the time to decide on treatment - either yay or nay .

It might be a rare cancer, so are many cancers, but they can still kill the people who get them.

Looking at the very worst possible scenarios of what might go wrong with treatment (and your post is not exactly scientific- it's very subjective the way you talk about'psychological distress') is not good advice.

The death rates from cervical cancer are low because early stages and pre-cancer are picked up. It is also a cancer which you cannot see for yourself until it's progressed and you get bleeding. When it is advanced it's not just a hysterectomy that's needed it can also mean surgery for your bowels and other organs. Why risk this for 3 minutes of your time?

Ive been thinking about this, and countries without the type of screening we have here have much higher rates of CC, so rarity is probably an argument in support of regulsr testing. Im also satisfied that it does meet the Wilson criteria, and most of the peer reviewed literature I could find seemed to concur.

I think it's a bit misleading to refer to CC as rare. It's not that rare. Or only rare in comparison with lung, breast and colorectal. It's 7th in the list of most common cancers. Prostate and leukaemia are both 'rarer'. If there were routine screening available for them, wouldn't you be nagging your partner and signing up your dcs?

I can’t believe the self righteousness of people coming on here to say they choose not to have them due to past sexual traumas. I’ve also had past sexual traumas which have put a proper dampener on my life and mental health. You know what would only compound that suffering? Cancer!!!!

Go and get checked.

I can’t believe the self righteousness of people coming on here to say they choose not to have them due to past sexual traumas. are you fucking kidding me? Could you be any more fucking insulting? No one has told others not to have a smear, but they’ve explained why they don’t want or have one. Talk about fucking kicking some one when they’re already down.

I've never had a smear. I actually have a few horrible symptoms atm and I'm working very hard with my psychologist and psychiatrist on how to manage to go and actually get one done. It's not a simple as 'just go' for everyone.

The way I look at it is getting cervical cancer would be a lot worse than having a smear and a lot more intrusive. Similarly to OP I was dreading mine (post birth) as I felt like it was going to really hurt more than previous ones for some reason. It was absolutely fine, the nurse was lovely.