smear tests.

[biscuitqueen]

Hi.Need to now if any of you have experienced this when going for a routine smear test.
I went this morning after putting it off for a year(moved house, blah,blah).I was told to position myself in the usual way,relaxed. Once spatula in, the nurse started to really move it about as she couldnt find my cervix. Very painful.The nurse then said as she was swabbing me that she had made me bleed and to expect light spotting.
Now i have had quite a few smears done in my time but never have they had to poke around to find my cervix or made me bleed. I am now bleeding like a period and have cramping.She said she was the "smear nurse" and very good .
Sorry for grammer,spelling, worked last night and have not slept.

Hi Biscuit

Yep, had this the other day - the nurse was very young and jabbered nineteen to the dozen and couldn't 'find' my cervix. She made me bleed by cutting my vaginal wall and tried several times.

She had to call another nurse in to do the test. The other nurse did it within seconds because she 'lubed' and warmed the speculum.

I have had several loop cone procedures and colocosopies (sic) and know the routine.

The nurse I had was very nervous and luckily I was very understanding (it hurt like hell though).

I am a nice person but believe me I felt her 'rummagings' for a few days afterwards. Hope she gets it right next time.

But on the other hand, the rest have been amazing and if it wasn't for the NHS I would have died like Jade Goody at the age of 27.

I had a smear test in my mid twenties that showed abnormal, this was on the Monday. On the Wednesday evening I got a call from my doctor saying I needed surgery. I was in theatre on the following Monday and had the radical cells removed. I have had several procedures since then, all very minor.

Smear tests saved my life and I will never ever listen to anyone who complains about the NHS. When the sh*t hits the fan they spring into action.

NEVER ignore a recall for a smear test. It could save your life!

Jade Goody died of ignorance, don't let it happen to you

Ive just had a smear test result come back " borderline Grade 8" anyone know what this means?
Doc says not serious and re test in 6 months??

Yes, I've had many botched smear tests. I now refuse the practice nurse option and have it written in my notes that I can only have smear tests performed by a doctor, because none of the practice nurses are trained to find the cervix manually prior to inserting the speculum at our surgery (or any of the others I've been a patient at). No-one has a problem finding my cervix with the speculum if they check the general direction it's pointing in with their fingers, first. Without doing this, I've had them rummaging around inside me for 20 minutes, trying different sizes of speculum, telling me to cough, banging hard up against my insides and insinuating there must be something wrong with me, when clearly the problem is theirs. After 20 minutes of ramming a large piece of metal up and down inside someone's vagina, most people will have started to produce extra discharge and/or started bleeding as a result. And the more of a mess they make of finding the cervix, I would have thought the greater the chance that the mashed up cells they eventually do retrieve are going to be rejected as inadequate, borderline abnormal or impossible to interpret by the cytologist.

However, as you have never had a smear test like this before, I expect you were just unlucky. My cervix is apparently retroverted, so always difficult to find if you expect it to be in more or less a straight line from the entrance to the vagina!

Northernchick

It is not serious at that level but it will become serious if you ignore the follow up letters. Go to each and appointment. I do not care how busy you are or what is happening in your life at that moment. GO AND GET YOUR CHECK!

I am very, very serious. It will save your life. Do not ignore your six month check and it is not cancer but would you ignore a lump in your breast and 'put it off for later'?

Take my advice - I have had some small scale treatments but I would be dead without them. They don't hurt, take twenty minutes of your time and the results come back very quickly.

Is the 'alternative' worth it?

Jade Goody died because she 'did not find the time' or 'did not understand' the severity of the letters she was sent.

thanks lamplighter and rabbitstew

I am getting private re-test done next month- I cant wait 6 months!!! The results are back in 1 week.
x

NC

Good luck - you are sensible and will be ok

Hi Northernchick - you don't necessarily need to have another test done in a month. The reason you are supposed to wait 6 months is because often the reason for a borderline changes is inflammation or infection.
The 6 months gives the body a chance to deal with it and settle down. The vast majority of women who have a borderline test have negative ones afterwards. I work in a screening lab btw.

Yes you should definitely go back in 6 months but if you go back sooner its more likely to be abnormal again.

Borderline changes (BC) are more like a holding category - often its due to infection, inflammation, hormonal changes that all have a slight overlap in their appearance with abnormal cells. This is because it is a sliding scale of looking to see how active the cells look. Abnormal cells are essentially really really active ones where they shouldn't be.
BC is where there's very minor changes but not enough to say definitely abnormal and just a little too active for normal.

Anyway, I hope that gives you some idea about what it means. Hope your repeat test (whenever it is) is ok.

Northernchick

I have never done this before in my life. Today I want to extract a promise from you.

Please, please go to every appointment no matter how busy you are. Even if it is in fifteen years or more time?

I thought JG died due to medical negligence? I remember reading that she kept going to the doctor with pain and was repeatedly turned away.

Ladylush

JG had two letters from the hospital asking her to come in for tests. She ignored both of them. When she finally went in (before she went on the Indian Big Brother) the disease was too far advanced. Cervical cancer is called 'the silent killer' because there is no pain with it in the early stages.

This is why so many women die from it. Her doctor recalled her after the results of her last test but it was too late. Jade Goody did not go for her follow up treatments.

Cervical cancer moves very fast, faster than you think. Treatment is needed and quick.

Please be aware that bleeding can contaminate the test cells, so you may get told that your test result is unclear and that you need a repeat test.

I had this happen 4 times in a year (I was recovering from a serious illness and prone to bleeding at the time), as one test after another was contaminated.

All was fine in the end - just took a while to prove it .

To go back to the OP - a borderline result does not mean you have cervical cancer. See my explanation above. Also the www.bsccp.org and cancerscreening.nhs.uk/cervical have useful info too.
It is (a) important to back for your follow up (b) better not to go back early to give your cells time to settle down.

Oops sorry that was to northernchick not the OP.

I am in the middle of IVF treatment so Ive been taking loads of hormones etc etc I am having treatment overseas and the clinic are really strict about having a smear test with current all clear results within a year.
Thats why I need to get a re-test done prono, I cant wait 6 months as Im going back to Russia next month.
My gyny man here doesnt seem concerned and said to just go anyway- test or not as the changes could be due to the high amount of hormones, but he didnt seem very sure, and so I thought it best to get a re-test done to see whats happening. I have no idea if Russia would reject me because of the borderline changes result.

I am in my 40's and Ive had a smear done every year for the last 4 years all with negative results ( due to the requirement at overseas clinics that you have to have a smear test within a year of treatment)

P.S Lamplighter - Im on it! Thanks! x

Lamplighter - thanks for that. Maybe the pain was a secondary issue - I didn't realise she hadn't gone for tests.

Morning. Thanks everyone, Thought maybe i was the problem but obviously not! Thought maybe since having my second child 4 years ago that i had changed so much down there that all future tests were going to be like this so thanks for the reassurance.

lamplighter. Thanks. Yes you are right,no matter what happens we have to have them,would never not have them as they are a lifesaver.

rabbitstew. ooowww.Will ask for a doctor or someother nurse if called back which will happen as their was a fair bit of blood on the swab.
The new brush type swabs they use are not good ,can i ask for the old type they used?
oh and just to make everyone laugh the nurse actually said to me that i must of either been stitched up too tight(never had stitches) or im doing too many pelvic floors and stop(WTF). ha ha.