Hi Lisa, I'm glad you had the smear done and subsequent treatment carried out before any spread occurred, but I believe your original doctor gave you wrong information.

As an RN who worked for an Ob/Gyn at one stage, women who had hysterectomies either did have follow up PAP smears, or they didn't. If the woman had ever had malignant cells in her cervix then she automatically had to continue having smears as before, starting with frequent ones then downgrading to yearly or twice yearly, as before. The only difference was the smear was a swab of her vaginal vault rather than a PAP smear of the cervix, because she no longer had one of those.

Women who had hysterectomies for reasons other than cancer, do not need to have follow up smears.

I had a hysterectomy for reasons other than cancer, and I do not have to have smears of my vaginal vault. I have checked from time to time to ensure that protocol hasn't changed, but no.....the guildelines are still as I outlined above.