Well I had a reminder to go for my cervical smear test last week, first one since completing treatment, so I thought I’d make a telephone appointment with the nurse prior to going for the actual appointment just to give her a little background on my situation before turning up. What a lovely understanding lady! I explained about my diagnosis & subsequent treatment & the issues this treatment leaves behind, stenosis, fragile skin & so on & the fact that I’ve never managed to find out if my particular diagnosis was HPV related, she double checked through my smear history & said there was definitely no history of HPV ever being picked up on any previous screening. I’m going to have to put a call in to my surgeon to see if he can take a look at my notes to see if there’s any mention of HPV being the cause of my cancer. She has also said she’ll book a slightly longer appointment for me in case I feel the need to stop during the examination & has said she’ll start with the smallest available speculum so that it’s not too uncomfortable. I also voiced my concerns about the possible change to cells because of the radiotherapy giving a false result but she said she would put all the details on the form that’s filled in to go away with the sample so that the lab technicians would be aware of my history. Anyhoo my appointment isn’t until 12th April so still over a month away but will update once it’s done.
Nicola
Hi guys, just a quick update, I had my smear test appointment this morning & everything went really smoothly thank goodness, it was all over & done with in a couple of minutes. No pain not even any discomfort, the nurse was wonderful, patient & kind & was really interested in my journey thus far. She said everything looks healthy to the naked eye & that the pathology would take a couple of weeks maybe a bit longer with the bank holiday. So anyone coming up for a test try not to worry too much it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected.
Nicola
Hi Leslie ,
Thank you. I had my last smear just after my diagnosis, this was pure coincidence that it was due at this time but my colorectal surgeon asked me at my initial appointment was I up to date with them so this one I’ve had today was my 5 year routine smear.
If you’re in the UK I don’t think you’ll be offered a smear as part of your anal cancer follow-up protocol.
There’s a lot of mixed messages out there about whether pelvic radiotherapy alters the cells of your cervix & some women have been told not to have any more post treatment but I will always err on the side of caution! The nurse this morning said she was pleased I’d gone along & she would attach the information regarding my diagnosis & treatment to my sample so that the pathologists can take all of this into account when analysing it.
Hope this helps.
Nicola
Hi Jaycee12 , thank you, no I didn’t request it, it came as a routine smear request, the ones you get every 5 years. I’m 58 this month so I should squeeze one more in before they stop sending for me. I would maybe have a word with your GP or nurse practitioner at your surgery & see what they say.
Nicola
Hi Nicola
You’re right-it’s not usual to be able to have a smear outside the normal screening programme timescales, and so it was lucky yours was due at your follow up time-I’m glad to hear it went well for you. However, since the screening programme only goes to age 64, I’m not sure what would happen with ladies older than this as they won’t receive an invite. Definitely a question to be asked.
Sarah xx
