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

Hi Minska, please could I ask you for some help please in the for m of advice? , I've been having pain after sex Which started 6 months ago roughly , 3 months ago I started having fatigue ,about 7 or 6 weeks ago I started having pelvic pain which got worse and worse now it hurts to sit down , I now have back pain and weekends in my legs , since yesterday it hurts to urinate , I'm having night sweats and I also have pain in my anus I forgot to mention , my fatigue is increasing rapidly and I've had a sore throat since Christmas, I had a full blood count and they said "it was within normal ranges" ( I also have a bad cough I just remembered to add this ) , I feel I need to urinate all the time  also , my whole pelvis feels like it weighs 10 kilos it feels so heavy , I had a smear test yesterday the nurse said it looked very red before the smear , I have and internal ultrasound tomorrow (I don't know if that will help me ) I feel I need a colposcopy but I can't force the doctor to rush that as they are doing it step by step but I'm so ill already , I have a son who is 13 and my anxiety is so high now , my fatigue and pain are the worst symptoms and no matter how much sleep I get , please can you give me some advice as I feel like I definitely have cancer down below and maybe even that it's spreading , plz can you help me with some advice /your experience xxxx 

Hi fran86

Gosh, I’m sorry to hear you have so much going on, and it’s no wonder you are concerned...,although it’s too soon to assume you have cancer anywhere just yet.

First of all, I’m not a medical professional, just someone who has been through cervical cancer twice so my experiences are based around the knowledge I have gained from that. 

Have you told your doctor all of your symptoms? A full blood count in normal ranges is a good thing, but not all cancer is picked up by blood tests, so it’s not a definitive answer. It’s good to have had a smear, but this is not a diagnostic test for cancer either-it is a screening for the HPV virus to be followed possibly by a colposcopy if the result is positive for HPV, which is extremely common. Your immune system needs to be good to fight off HPV, but it does sound like your immune system may not be at its best right now given your fatigue and other symptoms. 

The fact that your cervix looked very red could indicate a cervical ectropion, where the cells from inside the cervical canal grow on the outside and this can cause bleeding. This is not cancer, and is not connected with cervical cancer. 

Your symptoms can very easily be the symptoms of something other than cancer, especially cervical cancer, but the first step is to find out your smear results and the results of the ultrasound you are having. The ultrasound will allow a good look at your pelvic area to see if there is anything going on in there. It is not typically used to diagnose cervical cancer, but it could indicate if there are any issues within the pelvis..with your womb for example. 

The doctors will go through testing one thing at a time, as much to rule things out as rule them in, and unfortunately this all takes time. It is really important that your doctor is aware of all of your symptoms in order to get the right type of tests done, but you have made a start with the smear test and ultrasound. You may not need a colposcopy at all-that is not automatically your next step as the cervical cells are only now tested if you have a positive HPV result.

You need to make sure you have told your doctor everything you have said here. That’s really important, and if you have good results from the smear and ultrasound, but still have all of these symptoms then you need to go back to the doctor and say you are still having issues. 

I understand how worried you will be, and your anxiety will not be helped by your fatigue and pain, which no doubt will make everything feel even worse. But you need to hold tight for these first results to come back to see what the next step might be. It’s very difficult to be in this limbo period of waiting when you don’t yet have answers, but my biggest piece of advice would be not to use dr google in an attempt to dianipose yourself. It cannot tell you what might be wrong and will give you all sorts of scary and irrelevant information. 

The next piece of advice I’d give you is that nothing is cancer until they tell you it is, and no matter how much you worry it won’t change anything. You are doing the right thing by getting tests, so try if you can not to let your anxiety run away with itself at this point when you don’t know anything. Easier said than done, but I’m speaking from experience here. 

Try and look after yourself and do things to minimise your worry-distract yourself by doing things you enjoy, and try not to focus on “what if”. 

I hope your results don’t indicate any kind of cancer, but please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. The forum is very supportive too if there is a problem. xx

Hi fran86

Gosh, I’m sorry to hear you have so much going on, and it’s no wonder you are concerned...,although it’s too soon to assume you have cancer anywhere just yet.

First of all, I’m not a medical professional, just someone who has been through cervical cancer twice so my experiences are based around the knowledge I have gained from that. 

Have you told your doctor all of your symptoms? A full blood count in normal ranges is a good thing, but not all cancer is picked up by blood tests, so it’s not a definitive answer. It’s good to have had a smear, but this is not a diagnostic test for cancer either-it is a screening for the HPV virus to be followed possibly by a colposcopy if the result is positive for HPV, which is extremely common. Your immune system needs to be good to fight off HPV, but it does sound like your immune system may not be at its best right now given your fatigue and other symptoms. 

The fact that your cervix looked very red could indicate a cervical ectropion, where the cells from inside the cervical canal grow on the outside and this can cause bleeding. This is not cancer, and is not connected with cervical cancer. 

Your symptoms can very easily be the symptoms of something other than cancer, especially cervical cancer, but the first step is to find out your smear results and the results of the ultrasound you are having. The ultrasound will allow a good look at your pelvic area to see if there is anything going on in there. It is not typically used to diagnose cervical cancer, but it could indicate if there are any issues within the pelvis..with your womb for example. 

The doctors will go through testing one thing at a time, as much to rule things out as rule them in, and unfortunately this all takes time. It is really important that your doctor is aware of all of your symptoms in order to get the right type of tests done, but you have made a start with the smear test and ultrasound. You may not need a colposcopy at all-that is not automatically your next step as the cervical cells are only now tested if you have a positive HPV result.

You need to make sure you have told your doctor everything you have said here. That’s really important, and if you have good results from the smear and ultrasound, but still have all of these symptoms then you need to go back to the doctor and say you are still having issues. 

I understand how worried you will be, and your anxiety will not be helped by your fatigue and pain, which no doubt will make everything feel even worse. But you need to hold tight for these first results to come back to see what the next step might be. It’s very difficult to be in this limbo period of waiting when you don’t yet have answers, but my biggest piece of advice would be not to use dr google in an attempt to dianipose yourself. It cannot tell you what might be wrong and will give you all sorts of scary and irrelevant information. 

The next piece of advice I’d give you is that nothing is cancer until they tell you it is, and no matter how much you worry it won’t change anything. You are doing the right thing by getting tests, so try if you can not to let your anxiety run away with itself at this point when you don’t know anything. Easier said than done, but I’m speaking from experience here. 

Try and look after yourself and do things to minimise your worry-distract yourself by doing things you enjoy, and try not to focus on “what if”. 

I hope your results don’t indicate any kind of cancer, but please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. The forum is very supportive too if there is a problem. xx

Thank you so much for your reply I appreciate the time and energy you took to reply , I don't think the internal pelvic scan will show what the problem is and then the doctors will likely think their is no serious problem if it doesn't show up on scan so I'm surely fine , but I am really just about getting through each day physically speaking ,and due to increased in anxiety etc I'm now barely functioning mentally , my gynaecologist is on leave for a week , and even then my appointment isn't until April with her , can I ask what was the test that actually gave you your diagnosis please ?, I'm also mindful that their are more than one type of vaginal cancer I'm just focusing on cervical due to pain when I was having sex , it also Hurts more when I bend down to pick something up and also the pain is can shoot up into my abdomen , my bowel movements have became difficult now and it's a struggle and I think whatever it is is pressing down into my bowel , my discharge has also changed it ln consistency , I have not been having any bleeding inbetween periods which is the only thing that isn't happening, when I was having sex the neck off my womb was painful not just the cervix , I have a doctor calling me today but they will likely just say wait for your test results, sorry that my post is all over the place that's just anxiousness , but I will try to stay off google and just take it step by step , everything is so long with the nhs and Covid and in these situations a resolution a fast resolution is important isn't it , I hope you are happy and living your best life now without cancer and I think it really makes you live in the moment doesn't it   ️ ️ ️

In my case, I had post menopausal bleeding, went to the doctor who referrered me to gynaecology. I had a lesion on my cervix, so had biopsies taken. It was a tumour, so got a cancer diagnosis a week later. 

There are several different types of cervical cancer, and many different types of gynaecological cancers, but please don’t assume you have cancer just yet as it will make your anxiety worse. To be honest you are not really describing any of the typical symptoms of cervical cancer other than pelvic pain, which normally is well down in the pelvis and doesn’t go to the abdomen. 

Dont write off the ultrasound test just yet-it could give all sorts of results for issues in the pelvic area which are not cancer, but much less serious. 

I waited a long time before going to the doctor-stupidly- and this was pre covid, but even with a cancer diagnosis everything seemed to take a long time to happen-tests, scans, planning etc. Nothing is quick, but they need to make sure they have all the information they need to make the right treatment plan. 

Living in the moment is a good philosophy, and making the most of life. I personally don’t want to spend my life being anxious and worrying because it doesn’t actually help with anything. xx