Diagnosing cervical cancer - anyone had a private scan?

[buffy20]

Im really sorry to jump in on this thread but try as I might I can't seem to start my own thread! It keeps telling me to login first, even though I am logged in.

I'm 41, on the pill and for the last month I've been having some spotting. I do not take a break with my pill, I take it continuously so I don't believe the bleeding is anything menstrual related.

For the last couple of weeks I have some very slight but noticeable pain in my pelvis and lower back. I have noticed that the more active I am, the more spotting I notice.

I have made an appointment for a smear on Friday, I'm actualy due for my regular smear anyway. The nurse I spoke to said she would speak with the GP and refer me for an ultrasound scan, but she advised that this could take at least 6-8 weeks to happen.

I am not someone who is ever ill or who overreacts about potential illness but I am becoming quite anxious that I may have cervical cancer. I am going to speak to the nurse on Friday about what the situation would be if I were to have a scan privately, and if it came back with any concerns would that elimiate that step of the NHS process. I do not want to undergo any treatment privately as I wouldn't trust it as much as I would trust NHS treatment.

What I'd like to know is:

• has anyone here gone private for cancer diagnosis and how did they find it
• does anyone have experience of my symptoms and subsequently received a cancer diagnosis and how long did the whole process take?

Thanks in advance! New to mumsnet so hope this opening message isn't overly long!!

@stclair
Thanks for that, i will go ahead with the smear as well as seeing arranging to see a GP in that case.
I'm in S.Wales. My sister had a smear beginning of December and she had the results just before the New Year so seems to be about 4 weeks here.

Is it the combined pill you’re taking? I take mine back to back but if I go over 3 months I spot between and get an achy pelvis too. I usually have a break for 4-5 days and start it again and it stops. Might be worth having a break if you’re on the combined pill and have taken it over 3 months straight

Hey OP

I had similar symptoms to those you described except I’m not on the pill so was also was suffering very heavy periods with lots of clothing which what made me ring the doctors.

Now my mum and my aunt both had cervical cancer so I’m always up to date with smear tests and also keep an eye out for potential symptoms.

My timeline with the NHS was:

Rang my GP at the start of October and got a telephone appointment for the following day. Doctor booked my in for a smear test and based on my symptoms also referred me to the hospital for a scan. My smear was booked for the 15th whilst I awaited the appointment for the scan. A few day later the hospital rang with an appointment for the 9th so I actually ended up having my scan first which I was rather surprised about as I had expected to wait weeks if not longer.

My scan revealed cystic ovaries, so PCOS and I got my smear results back early November which were clear. I hope that’s somewhat reassuring in regards to the timeline of events, as I was worried and first spoke to the GP at the start of the month and by the start of the following months I had my results for both scan and smear.

Meant to point out that this was October 2020 so recent. Things happened much quicker that I expected, especially given the pandemic.

@buffy20 It's jumping the gun a bit to think any blood loss is cervical cancer, or any cancer. What's more likely is something called a cervical erosion which can be caused by the Pill. (I had one.) it's nothing to do with cancer. The cells inside the cervix grow on the outside with an erosion and they are very delicate and bleed when touched or possibly with movement (even a bowel movement.)

A scan is not to look at your cervix- it's to look at your womb and ovaries.

Bleeding can happen for all kinds of reasons- maybe the Pill isn't working properly now and you need a higher dose- all kinds of possible reasons.

You can have smears privately- most private hospitals run well woman clinics, as do Marie Stopes centres (or used to.)

Sorry for the late reply - mine was caused by an endometrial polyp seen on the ultrasound.

Hope you've managed to get a GP appt.

I had similar symptoms from polyps too.

Hi Everyone

Thought I would quickly update, appreciate all the comments and feedback, its been very helpful.

I had my smear on Friday. Nurse said that my cervix looked a little inflamed, but this is not something particularly unusual. I had some bleeding that evening, which was to be expected.

I contacted a local private healthcare provider to book an ultrasound scan (pelvic and trans-vaginal). They are going to contact me once they've had the referral form from my GP and book me in, likely to be 2nd week of February as they're quite busy.

I'm taking a break from my pill to see if having a period helps balance things out, if that makes sense.

I have a phone consultation with my GP tomorrow, however, I can't imagine that thye will say anything different or advise any other investigations until my smear and ultrasound results are in.

I feel a bit like I overreacted now, was just very concerned about my body behaving differently

Sounds positive. Keep us updated.