I was referred for an urgent 2 week appointment for a colposcopy which should have been today at noon. Just had a cal from the hospital cancelling my appointment as they don’t have any clinicians today. Have to say this has already been the longest 2 week wait so felt so upset at cancellation at such short notice as I had been desperate for today to arrive.
I’ve called The Spire and Nuffield hospitals to see what timescales are for a private procedure but no appointments available until December ! So, now just waiting for NHS to give me next date which will hopefully be soon.
I’ve been bleeding heavily with large clots since my smear and so waiting to find out when I’ll have my colposcopy is a bit of a head fudge especially as that’s just the 1st part of the process and I realise there’s potentially going to be weeks more of waits for scans etc
Sorry - just venting I guess…
Oh Ajay100, I’m sorry your appointment has been cancelled at such short notice-it’s just awful when that happens and you’re psyched up to go. You’re on a 2 week referral if I remember correctly? If that’s the case, you shouldn’t have to wait much longer to be seen. I waited 3 weeks on a 2 week referral as the clinics were so busy, and managed to get into an extra clinic that was being put on at another hospital.
You will be more of a priority than someone who hasn’t been referred as urgent so I hope it’s not too long to wait. Staff shortages can’t be helped, but that doesn’t help you when you’re waiting, I know. There is a lot of waiting in the process of diagnosis generally, but it doesn’t mean anything is going to get worse while you wait.
Sarah xx
Hi Ajay100
Good news about your appointment being soon. No hpv detected doesn’t mean necessarily that you don’t have hpv- it may have been dormant when the test was taken so will not show on a result. Hpv can be active or dormant, not cured, and the vast majority of sexually active people in the world will have come into contact with it. Normally without hpv they wouldn’t check further but as you have symptoms they definitely need to examine you. Post menopausal bleeding should always be checked out anyway.
While most cervical cancers are caused by hpv, not all are, and you can have cervical cancer without hpv ever being present because some types are not caused by hpv. (There are a number of different types of cervical cancer-something I had no idea about when I was first diagnosed!).
That’s the reason, in my opinion, that it’s so important to have symptoms investigated rather than relying on a smear test to provide all the answers. A smear is not a diagnostic test for cancer, it’s a screening test for hpv, and from there if active hpv is identified, a colposcopy to check for cell abnormalities. It shouldn’t be relied on as a 100% indicator that you don’t have cancer if it doesn’t identify hpv.
Sarah xx
