second dodgy smear test - hospital appointment now - what to expect?

[zookeeper]

I had a smear test about six months ago (after three years of not having them) and that indicated some "changes". I had a second one a couple of weeks ago and now have been sent a hospital appoitnment which says that "I may require some treatment" and that it is not recommended that I drive home.

does anyone know what I might expect? I am trying not to feel nervous but if it is something nasty the thought that I didn't have a smear for three years is not good.

don´t blame yourself. The best thing is to call and ask what is it they will be treating.

Cell changes are likely to be pre-cancerous. You will have colposcopy where the doctor will look at the cells with a colposcope (doesn't go inside you) and possibly a biopsy. If they need treating they are lasered or cut off usually with a local anaesthetic (injection like at the dentist when you have a filling). Takes minutes and you can leave straight away as an outpatient if you've had a local. Not desperately pleasant but not too painful and it's effective.

I had treatment for dodgy cells and it was absolutely fine in the sense that it doesn't hurt at all and all I had was bleeding for a while after (no worse than a period and less painful). I think the not recommended that you drive home is probably more because they have to cover themselves in case you suddenly need a general anaesthetic, rather than because they are going to do anything appalling to you. But please do make sure you know exactly what they are planning to do before they do it. I say this not because they might do something peculiar or distressing but because that's just sensible when people are messing with important parts of your anatomy!

I had a colposcopy after my abnormal smear. It was done at the local hospital. They take some cells for analysis. It's not very dignified, but needs to be done.

Agree with five candles... a little bit painful - but bearable. Take some pain killers before hand if you think it might help you. Good luck.

When I was asked to go back they just did a colposcopy (a more thorough smear test), However I don't remember them saying I shouldn't drive back. Although my friend did drive me as I had taken some diazepam to calm down. I think the nurse or consultant will dap some vinegary like fluid on your cervix and it shows up the dodgy cells. Mine came up really bad so the nurse said straight away that I would need them cut out with LLETZ treatment in the near future.

I had two LLETX treatments under a general anaesthetic over the following 6 months and have had 4 all clear colposopies since.

Its not dignfied and you will almost certainly worry yourself to death (at least I did) but its preferable to getting cancer.

Just take a deep breath and go get it sorted.

Hi Zookeeper, I'm going through exactly the same at the mo. Had a colposcopy a few weeks ago which showed up dodgy cells, also had a biopsy. Was a little uncomfortable so had a few paracetamol after - and it bleeds for a few hours so take a pad. The Dr explained that the cells are not cancerous but if left untreated may turn into cancer in 10-20 years so it makes sense to remove them now. Having them removed on Tuesday

thanks everybody - I fel better now

I had a colposcopy many years ago. I found it quite painful, but was told at the time by a doctor friend that women who have had children usually don't find it so bad. An afternoon in bed with a hot water bottle and some neurofen sorted me out. It was the biopsy that hurt - I didn't need any treatment, but they would have done it at the time if they needed to. I would recommend that if possible you have someone to pamper you a bit, in case you feel a bit sore and crampy (or even if you're not) - chocolate worked wonders too.
I had very regular and frequent smears afterwards, and have now had a clean bill of health for several years.

Hi Zookeeper. Don't worry about it. The best thing you have done is to actually go for your smear test in the first place which will now give you the opportunity to nip anything in the bud (that may need nipping!). I had a positive smear 8 years ago. A colposcopy followed, which isn't exactly pleasant, but wasn't painful either. After that, I had a loop excision, where they take a cone of the cervix away with a hot wire - done under local anaesthetic. Worst bit was bleeding for six weeks, but not with the hormonal period issues so actually was an improvement! So even if they find anything, the procedure you may go through to fix it will be immeasureably better than what could happen in a decade or so. Well done on biting the bullet and have the smear done. I now have them once a year and so far, have had a clean bill of health. Good luck.