Hello all, I’ve just recently joined this group for a bit of guidance.
last year I had a smear in June, I didn’t receive any results from this so gave the doctor a call in January when I remember and the receptionist was a little allusive and paused then said ‘everything was fine’, June comes round again and I get called for another which I found strange but went anyway. Turns out I had a positive HPV no abnormal cells 2023, my most recent smear found HPV and mild changes.
i was referred for a colposcopy where the consultant advised before the colposcopy I was likely CIN1 and they’d just have a look to verify but with women of my age (29) with no children they don’t usually do biopsy’s or treatment. While doing the colposcopy he said there was an area of concern that he’d biopsy.
I’ve got a letter now to say the biopsy’s abnormal and I need treatment as the biopsy has contradicted the smear but they won’t tell me over the phone the results despite me asking as they ‘can’t give results like that over the phone’.
apologies that’s long winded but I’m panicking now, my next appointment isn’t until the middle of October - has this been the case for anyone else?
thanks so much sorry for the essay x
Hi RoseMcC and welcome to our group.
I don’t have the same experience to share, but wanted to welcome you to our space, where hopefully you will get some replies from other ladies who have been in a similar position.
It’s quite common not to be given results over the phone-in my opinion it’s far better to have a face to face appointment to hear the results, go over any proposed next steps and be able to ask questions.
It is common to have biopsies taken if something has been seen which might be a concern, as has happened for you, but at the moment you don’t know what “abnormal” might mean, so while I appreciate you are panicking to be told this, you won’t know what has been found until you go for your appointment.
Normally CIN1 would be monitored in younger women, with no need for intervention as the cells can regress on their own, but it may be that the biopsy has revealed a higher level of CIN, which is why you have been told you need treatment. However, it’s impossible to second guess that at the moment. It’s important to remember that any level of CIN-CIN1,2 or 3 is not cancer.
Smear tests are not the definitive result so a colposcopy and biopsy is much more accurate in terms of deciding what’s next. Try not to let your thoughts run away with themselves, and I’d recommend not using dr Google, as it cannot give you answers which reflect your individual situation because you don’t know yet what level of abnormality has been identified from the biopsy.
Please let us know how you get on with your appointment, and there will always be support for you here in the group.
Sarah xx
