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Every woman should (MUST) go through this.. atleast every three years.
Some go through it once and think thats it.
Some go through it every year.. one of those people is me.
Yup thats right. I have a papsmear every year! I hate it. But it is a must.
The risk of Cervical Cancer has hit my family a few times and so a doctor a few years ago suggested I get my smears done annually due to the high risk I may have (even though not hereditary).
After MissC was born I had an abnormal papsmear – for me to repeat it in a year. As new babies go, the year went very quickly.
Whoops.. fell pregnant with MasterS a month after MissC’s 1st birthday.
Had a papsmear in the early stages of MasterS’s pregnancy – tests came back normal.
Missed my week 6 checkup papsmear after MasterS was born as they said it was too early to check again since I had one at 15 weeks pregnant and to come back in October (this was in June 2011)
October came and went. I forgot. I put it off. I can give you every excuse in the world. I know I was put it off.
It wasn’t until Mrs Woog and her Do Not Fear Papsmear post came up. It reminded me that I really needed to book my papsmear.
So I did.. That afternoon I twittered to Mrs Woog and thanked her for reminding me – with my appointment on that Thursday.
Before I went I twittered: off for my #smear today!! I am looking forward to taking my pants off and showing my bits to a stranger before my wedding day!!
Ahh it wasn’t that uncomfortable.. the Dr was nice and chatty and ended up doing alot more than the normal smear (due to me having 2 c-section scars, she had to check everything was healing well).
As I left she said that I wouldn’t hear from them if everything was ok. That was the 16th February.
I received a call today. 23rd February 2012.
My Dr wanted me to come in and see her urgently within the next month.
I asked if that was because my papsmear had come back abnormal?
The nurse replied Yes. But also that she needed to discuss options with me.
By now I was freaking out in my head.. a thousand things was running through my head.. The usual scary thoughts that happen when you get a phonecall that doesn’t explain anything – and could be nothing or could be something more!
My mum was with me when I received the phonecall (we were shopping for my wedding dress underwear). The look on her face was worse than the way my head and my stomach was feeling. I am pretty sure she freaks out more than I do.. sometimes I wish I didn’t have to tell my mum certain things, as she really is a worry wart!! But thats not the point. I also need her to look after the lil squirts while I go to my follow up appointment (love that Nanna and Grampy live 5 minutes from my house!).
Back on twitter tonight I thanked Mrs Woog for her reminder post and that if it wasn’t for her post, I would have waited until after the Wedding. Yes I now have a little added stress to think about. But that will not get me upset. I will not let it upset me!
Things have been going so well this week (compared to my meltdown last week) I am feeling so much better and not feeling as pressured!
Appointment has been made for the 29th February.
With this post. I would like you ladies to check your diaries and figure out when you last had your papsmear, and please book one if it is overdue! It really is important for yourself and your family.
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Gonna call the Dr and book in for one as I'm loooonnng over due and I too had a low cell grade change a few years back too so I really shouldn't be so slack! Fingers crossed its nothing too serious for you and its just a minor issue the Dr wants to see you about xx
oh goodness me… you have had such a rough few weeks
i will be crossing everything for you that the next appointment goes smoothly and for the best possible news for you. Mrs Woog gave me a bad case of the guilts over this when she put the post up, and you definitely have put the firecracker up my er… bum. Hoping to make it this weekend or the next – had been a good 8 years since my last one, but we always think we are 'too young' don't we 
Good luck with your appointment. I got a pap done around the same time, after putting it off for 6 YEARS. Yes, bad, I know. I will not be leaving it so long in the future. It was no where near as bad as I was expecting.
Fingers crossed nothing serious xx
I put mine off for 5 years, went and got it done 2 weeks ago. Was nowhere near as bad as I had built it up to be in my head! Such an important thing for us women to be talking about, thanks so much for sharing xx
Fairy wishes and butterfly kisses
As my youngest is about to turn 2 it is time for my next appointment… I already have dr booked for other things so might just ring up and see if I can make it an extended one to get a smear test as well. Thank you for the reminder and fingers crossed for your results.
I have mine every 2 years…and I'm overdue! Must get it done, I know. Best of luck with your follow up one xx
I had an abnormal result that they didn't tell me about, only found out by seeing it flash up on a computer screen and the doctor click it away – errr what was that big warning? Oh, you had an abnormal smear result, didn't you know? Pretty sure I would have remembered being told – could you forget that phone call??? Nup.
I have one next week to get it all sorted. Good on you for writing about it, sure it will all be fine xxx
Good on you for following up and getting it checked out. You can't rely on anyone but yourself to make sure everything is ok down there. Just like Glow's experience, I too wasn't told there were problems with my results! Insane isn't it? One good thing to do it get on the cervical screening registry so you get a letter reminder. Hope all goes well for you x
Thanks for the reminder Yvette. I can't actually remember when my last one was but I think it was sometime before I got pregnant with the SMiling Tiger and he is now 20 months… so 20mths + 9mths pregnancy + however long before that I had one… hmmmm not looking too good on my part and I had an abnormal once too followed up by a normal. Hope everything goes well for you xx
Fingers crossed that it's nothing serious.
I have regular pap smears. Always have, always will. Yes it's uncomfortable but prevention is better than cure.