Urgent Referral (feeling anxious)

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Hi, I'm Gemma and 32 years old and just wanting a bit of advice. 

I had lletz for cin 3 and cgin back in 2016. Since then I've been HPV negative and my smears have a all been normal. 

Fast track to last Tuesday... I went for a smear and the nurse mentioned my cervix looked a little abnormal and asked my to book in with my GP. She took a look and said its defiantly not a polyp and the lesion was cobblestone in appearance. 

She's referred me to Colposcopy, but the referral says Urgent referral for suspected gynaecological cancer! And it also says suspicious lesion. 

Has anyone else had this, and what was the outcome. I'm still awaiting the results of my smear test so I'm not sure if the HPV is back or anything. How long did most peoples smears take to come back?

Thank you Blush 

  • Hi  and welcome to our group.

    It must have been scary to see that your referral was urgent for suspected cancer, but it’s common practice to make an urgent referral to make sure you are seen quicker to get a definite diagnosis. 

    Any kind of lesion(which basically means a collection of abnormal cells) would need to be investigated, and the gp has done the right thing in making a referral-remember that the nurse and the gp will not not know what this is without it being examined further.

    The time taken for smear results to come back will vary across the country depending on workloads at the labs, so it’s not possible to say for sure how long they might take, but the important thing is that you have your referral to colposcopy where things can be checked further. Your appointment may even come through before the test results are back since the referral is urgent. The smear will be looking first for the presence of hpv, and following that to check on the cells for any abnormality. The referral is based on the fact that something which has been seen needs further investigation.

    Please let us know how you get on, and the group is always here is you have any questions or are worried about anything.

    Sarah xx


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  • Thank you Sarah for your encouraging words! 

    I will update after my colposcopy, it's on 18th June so luckily it isn't too far away. 

    It's natural to worry and I had quite a bit of watery discharge last year but I haven't had it since last November so not sure if it's all linked or not. 

    It's awful waiting isn't it, my mind tends to go into overdrive. I will just have to keep busy over the next couple of weeks and keep off google Sweat smile

  • Hi Gemma

    That’s not too long but I know how every day feels like an age! Definitely I would recommend not going down the Google route to try and get any kind of diagnosis as you can end up going down all sorts of rabbit holes which won’t apply to you.

    I remember not going onto Google at the start of my own diagnostic process and I’m so glad as I saved myself a lot of unnecessary worry and stress. I kept to that as things went on and trusted my team to do the best for me.

    I hope everything goes well for you at your upcoming colposcopy, and while it’s natural to worry as you wait, you are right to keep busy and not make assumptions in advance.

    Sarah xx


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    Cervical Cancer Forum

    Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm