Smear refusal

Hi Charitynanna19072e and welcome to our group.

I’m not sure from your post if you’ve had a successful smear test and are waiting for results or if you have to go back again to see the gp?

Any instance of post menopausal bleeding needs to be investigated to see what’s going on, so if you can give us some more information perhaps we can help.

Sarah xx

Hi, The doctor wasn't able to perform the smear, she got me to make an appointment with the nurse the following week. The nurse had a look and went and got my own Doctor, there's visible lesions on my cervix so I've an urgent referral to the gynaecologist. said it's red and inflamed 

Hi again. Thanks for clarifying. The next step when something like lesions have been seen by the gp is seeing the gynaecologist as standard to investigate further.

When I was referred by my gp the gynaecologist could see a visible lesion on my cervix so took some biopsies. This didn’t hurt, but he needed to send the samples to the lab for testing. There was a wait for the results to come back, so I had another appointment made for a week’s time. I would expect something similar would happen for you.

The testing will confirm what the lesions are, and confirm whether there is cancer or something less serious. 

I hope you’ll get your appointment through soon, and please keep in touch and let us know how you get on.

Sarah xx

Thanks Sarah, I'm anxious about it all, doctor says I should be seen within 2 weeks but the waiting is horrible. I just knew something wasn't right, I've been so tired lately, been days at work I've really struggled. Thanks for responding and saying it wasn't sore, been worrying about that as well xx

It’s always a worry when we’ve had something happen like an unexpected bleed, but being referred urgently means you shouldn’t have too long to wait to be seen. I did have quite significant bleeding and a lot of pain so it was actually a relief to know what was wrong. I was also post menopausal.

My gynaecologist was very kind, and gentle, and tried to do a hysteroscopy (a tiny camera into my womb) but there was too much blood to see anything much. Then he did several punch biopsies where he took tissue samples from the lesion. It’s a bit uncomfortable getting poked about but for me it was no more than that and didn’t hurt. It’s very quick in any case. 

I did bleed after this was done, but not everyone does. However, I’d recommend taking a pad with you just in case. 

Sarah xx

Update- Biopsies came back as at least cin 3 so I've had a larger biopsies done. Local anaesthetic but was so sore  that was 2 weeks ago and right now I'm waiting on the consultant phoning me at home (my request) to give me the results. All she said on the day was it was very vascular looking. 

Hi Charitynanna19072e 

I’m really sorry things were so sore for you-I was fortunate my biopsies were fairly small. Usually any results from testing and biopsies go to a multi disciplinary team meeting (an MDT) where a number of the medical professionals will discuss your case and decide on treatment going forward. Depending on how often your hospital holds these meetings will determine when you get the results. 

It’s not possible to say much on the day the biopsies are taken as they need the analysis of the tissue removed. Vascular looking just means a lot of blood vessels were seen but it’s not a diagnosis itself. 

I hope you don’t have long to wait to get your call, and please come back and let us know if you need any support.

Sarah xx

Phone call was today, biopsies were taken 2 weeks ago. It's cancer. Results have been sent to a 2nd pathophysiology department as there unusual? Not sure how I feel, my gut was telling me this would be the outcome xx

Hi again

I’m sorry to read that you’ve had a cancer diagnosis now…even if you might suspect it’s coming, it’s still a shock to hear the words out loud. Give yourself time to get your head around it.

Yes, samples are often sent to other labs for further analysis or assessment to determine the correct course of action/treatment. We are all given individual treatment plans depending on our circumstances so the doctors will want to make sure you get exactly what you need. It will depend on the staging of the cancer whether you would be able to have surgery or would need chemo and/or radiation, so I would expect you to have another appointment once all the information is available, and for that to be face to face so you will be able to ask questions and have a full discussion with your consultant. 

Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on-lots of us in the group have got a variety of experiences in dealing with this cancer and treatments.

Sarah xx