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.

Well I tried to call the doctor who performed my colposcopy today, and his office apparently closes at 3:30pm... it was 3:35pm when I tried calling. Sigh.

So I'll try again earlier tomorrow and get this all sorted out in any event.

I hope they don't have to put me under for this procedure. I'd rather stay awake. I've been put under twice before (wisdom tooth removal/surgery for endometriosis) and I'm always more fearful of being 'put under' than the actual procedure itself.

Gimme some pain meds and I'll suck it up awake imo.

I still have smears done. The doctor said that just because I have no cervix doesn't mean I can't get vaginal cancer. BUT, I only do this once every three years.

Koala, isn't it strange how different the protocol's are? You have yearly, we have every three years.

True! Annual here for PAP smears, and our free mamograms are every second year..... yearly if you've had breast cancer.

Thanks for that Sandy. Maybe that's another protocol that's unique to us here, but as cancer is not unique to any country, it seems a bit strange to me.

Actually, Koala, I had never had an abnormal Pap test before my hysterectomy, which was done because of fibroid tumors. So my doctor was correct in telling me that I didn't need further Pap smears. However, as I now know, that recommendation could have been deadly because if I had continued to follow his advice and the guidelines from the American Cancer Society, I might have invasive cancer or worse by now.

The problem is that there is no clear dividing line between the cervix and the vagina. The lining cells are virtually identical, so the human papilloma virus, which causes cervical cancer, can cause the same changes to the vaginal cuff and walls of the vagina as it can to the cervix.

Due to the increasing prevelance of HPV (and it's estimated that up to 80% of all sexually active people will have one or more strains of the virus in their lifetime), I feel that all women, regardless of their hysterectomy status or prior Pap status, should have regular Pap tests. You might think that you don't have the virus (like I did), but it can lie dormant and undetectable in the body for months or even years and not cause any problems at all until your immune system is depressed during times of stress or illness.

Yes, Pap tests are embarrassing and can be inconvenient. And yes, current guidelines may indicate that you don't need a Pap test. But it's better to be safe than sorry. A Pap test is a small inconvenience which might save your life. It did mine!

Hugs,

Lisa

We are told to have complete annuals, with a pap smear and mammogram, every year. I know the annuals with pap smears start early (earlier than 30 yrs old), but mammograms are an annual event after 40. All of those tests are free here, but that is the case with most medical procedures anyway.

I was not put out for my laser treatment, and could have watched him do it on the screen. That was about 16 yrs ago though.

Cherie

Well I called the doctor today, and the secretary scheduled me to go in September 29th. She went on to say that he may want to see me in 6 weeks again or 6 months.

So it doesn't really sound OVERLY severe.... at least I hope not! I'd imagine if it was something terribly bad, they'd have me in right away.

You're over thinking this! STOP!!! Your driving yourself crazy.

And I say that with all the nice tone and well meaning I can muster.

LOL! Well, I guess what got me into 'panic mode' was my GP looking at the results with me sitting there saying "Oh wow they should have contacted you, this is serious". Did she REALLY need to say, "This is serious"? Maybe she was just kawfuffing to herself.

Kawfuffing is a word, right?

ps Gazelle, sorry but that quote in my signature was too good to let slip away into thread history. Still laughing about it. My Mom thought it was hilarious!

You know what? Mine didn't tell me that I should worry. He did the Colposcopy, I went on my honeymoon and moved cross country (kind of ignored his advice on the no sex thing...). I had the LEEP a few months later, because the previous doc said I should. Apparently the bad cells were pretty bad. I did the LEEP several months later and there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. 5 years later, I've never had so much as an abnormal PAP since. I'm going to think positive thoughts that yours will be fine too! With luck and skill, the Colposcopy got all the bad stuff and nothing will show on the LEEP.