January is the start of a new year and it is also cervical health awareness month. If you’re like me when you hear the word “cervix” you think of that horribly awkward and equally uncomfortable procedure known as a Pap smear. I can think of a million other things I’d rather be doing than getting that test, however it proved to be extremely important and life saving.
My First Abnormal Pap Smear
In 2005 I was 22 years old and engaged. I had just graduated college the year before and had a job. It wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I had amazing people to do it with. Around May of that year, I got a phone call from my OB office that told me that my most recent Pap smear came back “irregular” and tested positive for the Human papillomavirus (HPV). I had never heard of the HPV virus before, so I did what anyone would do – I googled it. Which, as you know, is the worst thing you could do. I read that HPV could lead to cervical cancer.
I immediately started to panic and a few days later I was in my OB office for a procedure called a colposcopy. If you think a Pap smear is bad, this is worse. It’s around 10-15 minutes, but feels like an eternity. My OB took a sample of my cervix and sent it off to pathology for further testing. To my enormous relief, all the testing came back normal and the next course of action was to repeat Pap smears every six months.
My Second Abnormal Pap Smear
The fear that I felt during my first abnormal Pap smear made me get over my anxiety of the test itself. I diligently went every six months without missing an appointment. To my relief all the Pap smears were negative and I was put on a yearly schedule afterwards. Everything was fine until after my daughter was born in 2009.
My yearly Pap exam just happened to fall during my third trimester. Being my tests had been negative for years and I was already a high risk pregnancy my OB took pity on me and allowed me to wait until after the birth of my daughter for the test to minimize discomfort. My Pap smear was only late by five months or so, but two weeks after that test I got a call from the OB saying my Pap came back abnormal and HPV was positive.
My OB believed that my weakened immune system, caused by my pregnancy, contributed to the HPV returning. Either way I was back for another colposcopy. During that procedure I heard a word that you never want to hear your doctor say – “lesion.” My doctor noted a highly suspicious area on my cervix. This time around I wouldn’t be waiting for a call from the pathologist giving me the OK. I left the office that day with a LEEP procedure scheduled for the following week.
The LEEP procedure was by far the worst experience of the entire ordeal. It’s much more invasive than a colposcopy and requires a lot more recovery time. I was not allowed to lift my daughter for a full 24 hours due to the risk of severe bleeding. The cramping afterwards equates to moderate contraction pain. My follow-up appointment was 10 days later. There I got the news that there were “clean margins.” That meant that all the abnormal cells from my cervix were removed. While I was back on my six month Pap smear schedule, I didn’t care. I was healthy.
Get Over the Awkwardness
I’m grateful that I have yet to have another abnormal Pap smear since. The LEEP procedure didn’t effect my cervix when I was pregnant with my son in 2014, and I’m now on the recommended three year Pap smear schedule. My most recent was in November which came back normal with no evidence of HPV.
Yes Pap smears aren’t fun and there are so many other things we could be doing with our time, BUT they saved my life. If I hadn’t been diligent in my Pap smears I could be dealing with cervical cancer today. While cervical cancer is a slow growing cancer, it is also preventable by sticking with your Pap smears. So get over the awkwardness, go to your OB, get your Pap smear and move on with your day.
Remember, this is the same doctor who was front and center when you gave birth. If you can get through that – you can get through anything.
