I've been putting off posting about this as I wanted to wait until I knew more about what was going on. But I am losing sleep about it right now so I thought I would go ahead and share thinking it might help me to talk about it. I think I have mentioned before I don't know many people where I live yet because I just moved here. DH doesn't want to talk about this because the possible results frighten him and upset his anxiety. What about MY anxiety?
Last week my Ob/Gyn called and said that my annual PAP came back as Severely Abnormal/Precancerous. They wanted me to come in immediately for a Colposcopy to find out more. Last year my PAP was done by my primary care doctor and came back abnormal and they advised me to go to an Ob/Gyn, which I didn't do because my insurance ran out after losing my job. This year I had moved so I went to an Ob/Gyn for my annual since my new primary care up here won't do them.
I went last Thursday for the Colposcopy, which is where the doctor brushes the cervix with vinegar to make the abnormal cells show up white, and then uses a scope to look at the cervix and see what that looks like. The doctor had originally told me she did not want to do any biopsies during the procedure if at all possible because I am on blood thinners due to a clot in my right lung and she did not want to risk bleeding if she could help it. She also said that if she had to do biopsies she was only going to do two to limit the bleeding.
By the end of the procedure she had done five biopsies and an endocervical brush sample. Then we did a consult in her office and she advised that my cervix looked much worse than she expected from my PAP results, and that most of the abnormal tissue was around the entrance to the cervix which indicates more problems could be beyond the surface. That my PAP was abnormal last year and not addressed is also concerning.
She asked me to come back in 1 week (tomorrow) to discuss the biopsy results and a treatment plan. She told me to be prepared for a diagnosis of Pre-Cancer also known as Carcinoma in Situ (cancer that involves only the place in which it began and that has not spread) or possibly worse. She said her office was going to contact my insurance to make sure a visit to an Oncologist will be pre-authorized just in case I need it. But it is also possible we caught the abnormality in time and will just have to have a minor in-office procedure and follow up with repeat PAPs every 6 months.
There is no way to know. I was very sick for 2 days after the Colposcopy but we weren't sure if that was from blood loss from the biopsies or just mental shock. I told my mother what was going on and ended up with a house full of parents (Mom, Dad, Stepmom) all weekend as they are so concerned. As I mentioned DH doesn't want to talk about it because he is terrified of the possibilities. I have been trying to not stress about it and just wait to hear from the doctor.
I don't know why I am posting this other than to just talk to some people who won't all just tell me to not think about it or just smile and everything will be fine. I am afraid to go to sleep tonight because I worry about what is coming tomorrow.
Thank you to all who read all this and got down this far. It means a lot.
Last week my Ob/Gyn called and said that my annual PAP came back as Severely Abnormal/Precancerous. They wanted me to come in immediately for a Colposcopy to find out more. Last year my PAP was done by my primary care doctor and came back abnormal and they advised me to go to an Ob/Gyn, which I didn't do because my insurance ran out after losing my job. This year I had moved so I went to an Ob/Gyn for my annual since my new primary care up here won't do them.
I went last Thursday for the Colposcopy, which is where the doctor brushes the cervix with vinegar to make the abnormal cells show up white, and then uses a scope to look at the cervix and see what that looks like. The doctor had originally told me she did not want to do any biopsies during the procedure if at all possible because I am on blood thinners due to a clot in my right lung and she did not want to risk bleeding if she could help it. She also said that if she had to do biopsies she was only going to do two to limit the bleeding.
By the end of the procedure she had done five biopsies and an endocervical brush sample. Then we did a consult in her office and she advised that my cervix looked much worse than she expected from my PAP results, and that most of the abnormal tissue was around the entrance to the cervix which indicates more problems could be beyond the surface. That my PAP was abnormal last year and not addressed is also concerning.
She asked me to come back in 1 week (tomorrow) to discuss the biopsy results and a treatment plan. She told me to be prepared for a diagnosis of Pre-Cancer also known as Carcinoma in Situ (cancer that involves only the place in which it began and that has not spread) or possibly worse. She said her office was going to contact my insurance to make sure a visit to an Oncologist will be pre-authorized just in case I need it. But it is also possible we caught the abnormality in time and will just have to have a minor in-office procedure and follow up with repeat PAPs every 6 months.
There is no way to know. I was very sick for 2 days after the Colposcopy but we weren't sure if that was from blood loss from the biopsies or just mental shock. I told my mother what was going on and ended up with a house full of parents (Mom, Dad, Stepmom) all weekend as they are so concerned. As I mentioned DH doesn't want to talk about it because he is terrified of the possibilities. I have been trying to not stress about it and just wait to hear from the doctor.
I don't know why I am posting this other than to just talk to some people who won't all just tell me to not think about it or just smile and everything will be fine. I am afraid to go to sleep tonight because I worry about what is coming tomorrow.
Thank you to all who read all this and got down this far. It means a lot.