Hi all, 

[TLDR] Post coital bleeding, bleeding between periods, missed periods. Negative STD tests, abnormal cells on pap smear. Should I be expecting them to look into it more? And how do I stay calm during the wait?

I'm new here and until three weeks ago I never thought I would be posting on a cancer forum, but I guess here we are...

For the past three months I had a lot of bleeding after sex, as well as random bleeding between periods, and have actually missed at least my last three periods. I am on the pill so I didn't overthink it but after one time where I bled a lot after sex my partner expressed concern so I said I would get it checked out. I went into the doctors surgery expecting chlamydia or some other silly STD and a telling off and some disapproval followed by some antibiotics.

I am only 26 and the doctor only initially planned a pelvic exam and an STD check. After having a good look at my down there he started to look concerned and told me he was also going to run a smear test to be safe. He said my cervix looked inflamed and that he couldn't see any sign of infection. I also asked when I would get my results back and he only mentioned the time I would get the smear test back.

The next day he rang me twice, I finally got in touch and he apologised because he mixed up the two tests (STD and smear) so I would have to repeat them. He said I could repeat the STD test at home but that he thought I should go to the hospital gyno for the smear to be repeated. Over the phone I agreed due to my state of relief hearing that it was something as daft as mixing up the swabs (I work in a lab so I know how easily that can happen and I have no ill feelings towards him). 

The same day I repeated the STD test in the doctors loo, a very awkward process. And I got the referral for the hospital gyno, the wait was going to be six weeks. Over the weekend I decided that was a ridiculously long time because it's just a standard smear test and there is no reason to go to hospital for that. I called up and asked if they could repeat it at the GP so that I didn't have to clog up hospital time and so that it could just be over and done with. My last doctor was off sick so I spoke to another doctor. She was very dismissive, sayign I didn't even need a smear test at 26 and suggesting I would have to pay for. Eventually after repeatedly explaining that I wasn't the one asking for a smear test, and that there had been a mix up with the last tests, and asking her why I would need to go to hospital to have it (a question that she couldn't answer), she finally agreed to do it.

When I came into the surgery, she was quite dismissive but as soon as she looked at my cervix she became super nice. She explained to me that she could see an area of unusual cells around my cervix which could maybe be cervical ectropion but that the smear would hopefully confirm that. Her shift in demeanor was very noticeable. She told me I would have the results the following week.
Fast forward a whole week to this monday, an easier wait thanks to her reassurance that it was likely to be ectropion, I called to ask if they had my results. Over the phone the assistant told me my STD tests all came back negative, but that he couldn't tell me the results of the smear because that had to be a doctor. I finally got put through on a phone call with yet another doctor. This doctor unfortunately told me early on in the call that my results had come back showing abnormal cells. This shook me so I didn't explain myself well in the rest of the call. This doctor was clearly under the impression that this was just a standard smear test, and not aware that this was triggered by symptoms and a visual lesion of unusual cells. She told me that she couldn't say anything about what the results mean until she had the HPV virus test results back which would take a further week.

The HPV test to me seems a little unnecessary now. I know that most cervical cancers are caused by HPV, but surely I have enough concerning symptoms that they should check it out a bit sooner? Also the gyno appointment that I have is still only for a smear test, when really that probably doesn't need to be repeated. I am wondering about pressing them to change it for a colposcopy but maybe I am overthinking it.

I will find out the HPV test results on monday, but I am starting to worry that the hospital gyno appointment which is still 5 weeks away and made back when no test results had come back should really be brought forward. Does anyone have any experience of cervical cancer diagnosis and how urgently these things should be investigated? And also does anyone know how to keep yourself distracted during the wait? I did very well keeping it out of my mind for the first few waits, but now I am finding it harder and harder not to worry? Am I being a "worry wart" as my nana would say and stressing over nothing?

Thanks for reading this ridiculously long explanation, and have a great evening all :)