Hi worriedbetty.

I’m sorry to see you’re so worried, but hope I can add some perspective as someone who has had cervical cancer twice now. 

It’s very common to have an hpv positive result-most of the sexually active population has come into contact with the virus at some point in their lives. It can go dormant and produce a negative result at another test but once you have hpv, you have it always in your body. 

Borderline changes are the lowest grade of cell changes, and are not cancer, and having hpv and borderline changes should not cause pain. There are many strains of hpv and the strains which are high risk for cell changes are not the same as those which cause genital warts, so the warts have no connection with cervical cancer. The colposcopy will be an appointment to look closely at your cervix and perhaps take biopsies if necessary. Biopsies may not be necessary depending on what they see, but borderline changes are the lowest type of cell changes so you may just be monitored.

Pain in the upper left abdomen does not suggest cervical cancer-pain would be expected in the pelvic area. 

Although I am not a medic, on balance I would suggest that you do not have cervical cancer, based on what you’ve said, my own experience and speaking to dozens of women who have this cancer. 

I hope you don’t have long to wait for your colposcopy and that it puts your mind at rest. Please let us know how you get on, and if you want to talk or have any questions I’ll be happy to try and help if I can. x

Thank you so much for replying to my message I really appreciate it.

I have a couple more questions, once a person has HPV is there no way of getting rid of it? not even through diets/ supplements?

I know this is a silly question, but the genital warts strain of HPV is why I tested positive right? but what about the bleeding? as that is supposed to be a key indicator of cervical cancer?

Thanks so much you've really helped calm me down, the information online is overwhelming and so much of it frightens me. I don't know if and when I will have a colposcopy so the waiting game is rather torturos.

Hi worriedbetty, I’m glad you’ve managed to calm yourself a little.

To answer your questions: once you have hpv, you have it forever. There is no way of getting rid of it. However hpv can be either dormant or active, and when it’s active cell changes can occur, although this doesn’t happen for everyone who has hpv. It is possible for your immune system to clear the virus-eating well, not smoking and being generally healthy. This would mean it could go dormant, and therefore you would show negative if tested for hpv, but it would still be there, just not active. Cell changes do not happen when the virus is dormant. 

I don’t know about you testing positive for hpv is because of the warts. It depends which strains of hpv (there are more than 100) were tested for. However, the strain causing genital warts is not one of the high risk ones, and if you have cell changes then that would suggest that you have one or more of the high risk strains which do cause these cell changes. But high risk doesn’t mean you will get cancer! 

Bleeding can be an indicator of cervical cancer, but also many other things which sound more likely in your case. Apart from bleeding, you haven’t indicated any other symptoms which I would associate with the disease. Bleeding could be hormonal, due to contraceptives...lots of things...so you shouldn’t leap to cancer as the answer. Google will make your symptoms seem to fit and is very unreliable as a means of diagnosing yourself-which is impossible from the Internet. Please try not to search for a diagnosis online as it will drive you crazy and frighten you! 

Waiting for further tests is horrible, but the colposcopy will be a quick and simple procedure and borderline changes really are the very first stage of cells changing rather than anything more serious. Try to get on with your life for now and not worry too much about it. x

Hi Minska,

I am so grateful for you, you explain things in such a clear way and I cannot thank you enough.

Its quite a hard time, as I'm home alone and I'm just kicking myself about how I got here. Worse enough the hospital are not making any coloscopy appointments anytime soon so I am going to be in limbo until they have time due to covid which doesn't help.

I didn't realise that I must be having two strains of HPV at the same time, that's quite scary. I assumed that the genital warts were the reason for the positive test. 

I'm not on any contraception that is why the bleeding has been so strange to me, it seems that if I ride my bike it gets triggered automatically and then lingers for a few days which gives me the impression my cervix is going through it. I really hope that you're right and that it is not cervical cancer as I do not know what I will do as I'm struggling to keep it together with just the HPV diagnosis.

Hi worriedbetty

It can be a shock to be diagnosed with hpv, but when you realise how common it is it becomes easier to accept I think. For me, I ceased to be concerned about hpv and focused on dealing with everything else going on. 

One thing to hold on to is the fact that if cervical cancer were suspected, you would be fast tracked to be seen by a gynaecologist within 2 weeks regardless of Covid. Cervical cancer can take years to develop.. and a wait for a colposcopy to check borderline cell changes should honestly not be a concern.My doctor referred me immediately to gynaecology after a look at my cervix because she could actually see the tumour. She didn’t tell me that, but when I saw the gynaecologist, he could see it as soon as he looked. 

You probably know loads of ladies with hpv, but there’s a stigma about it being sexually transmitted so that it’s not something that people talk about. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing to spend time worrying about. It’s there, it might not cause you any issues. I just would hate to think of you spending your time until the colposcopy worrying and getting upset. I guess I’ve learned not to sweat the small stuff given whet I’ve gone through, but I appreciate it’s worrying to get an abnormal result and not have anyone to talk to about it. I’m on the chat most days so I’m here if you want to talk about anything. After almost 2 years of dealing with cervical cancer and speaking to many, many women online and in person with the disease, it truly doesn’t seem likely that you have it. But of course nothing can be guaranteed. It just seems so unlikely on the basis of what you have said. x

Hi Minska,

You are a beacon of light truly, because I don't think you will ever understand how much you have helped me. I am trying not to worry so much, but it is really hard. I appreciate you sharing your story and feedback because it really helps.

I am trying to keep myself occupied on boosting my immune system, because this diagnosis is a real wake up call. My diet has been pretty bad and I have always been prone to colds so I know I am not strong. 

I am hoping the abormal bleeding in between my periods that I have been having is not as sinister as I am thinking, but I will try and be positive. Thank you xx

Hi there, I'm back to say that I have been lucky to get a colposcopy appointment this week. I am really nervous about what they will say as I am genuinely terrified. I'm trying not to scare myself but it is really hard not to.

I'm still having the weird abdomen cramps and pain on my left side only, I find that I feel sick and full very quickly even after not eating very much and I am trying to not let my mind go into overdrive that if I have CC it has spread to my stomach.

I went to the A&E a couple of times to see if I could find out the source of my pain but the ultrasound showed nothing. Please keep me in your thoughts as I am trying my best to keep calm :)

Hi Betty, thank you for keeping in touch and I’m glad you’ve got your appointment arranged: not long to wait now. 

I appreciate its scary..fear of the unknown always is, but I found I coped much better once I knew what was going on and how it would be treated. I hope you don’t mind me saying, but it seems that the borderline cell change result has focused your mind on cervical cancer although your symptoms don’t really sound like the disease at all. Cervical cancer pain tends to focus in the pelvic area/groin, not the abdomen, and ladies report hip and leg pain, loss of bladder control, back pain amongst other things.  Left hand side abdominal pain sounds much more like something bowel related although I’m only going on my own experience and that of others and I have no medical knowledge. But I have had cervical cancer twice! 

If you had advanced cervical cancer, I would expect that something may well have been spotted during a smear test. For example, my tumour was just under 4cm and was clearly visible to the naked eye, both for the gp and the gynaecologist. And mine had not spread. Your ultrasound was clear. Borderline changes are pre cancerous changes to the cervical cells, not cancer, and they are the lowest level of cell changes-which can be easily treated. But borderline cell changes are not typically accompanied by pain. They would usually have no symptoms at all. It all makes me think there is another explanation for your symptoms, but until you have your procedure you won’t know and it’s like going down a rabbit hole trying to diagnose yourself from the internet and doctor google. 

I cant say don’t worry, because I know you will not be able to avoid worrying, but I genuinely don’t believe you have advanced cervical cancer which has spread to your stomach on the basis of what you have said. I’ll keep you in my thoughts this week and wait for your update after the colposcopy, which I hope gives you the best possible results. xx

Minska, you are honestly a gem. You truly do know how to calm me down, and I thank you for that.

I am so worried, but I will try to calm down - this has been a whirlwind but I shall keep you posted on how I get on after my appointment. I truly hope that you are right in my case and I am crossing my fingers. Thank you once again and I hope that you have a lovely remainder to your week xx