Hi Mandy 

Firstly a hug - this is a worrying letter to receive and in the middle of Covid even more so.  
 

Secondly, don't panic!  Which is an awful lot easier to type than do.  I know from recent experience the stresses of waiting for a test result when you've had something out of the blue.  
 

What you're now on is the start of a journey to investigate something which may - or may not - be a problem.  I'm not going to give you theories about what might or might not be the issue as I'm not a medic.  All I can do is share my experience to try to reassure you that you should ultimately be fine :-)

A few years ago I had a dodgy smear, then a colposcopy which identified changes to the cells in my cervix as CIN3.  Essentially these are cells which, left untreated, would join up together to form a malignant tumour.  The cell changes in the cervix are usually caused by HPV - a virus which girls in secondary school are now vaccinated against.

I then had a Letz Loop Incision - effectively my cervix was hot wired!  A bit uncomfortable and undignified but what it does is remove a thin layer of your cervix including all the naughty cells.  This means they can't join up and make a cancer conga.

I've had smears since and I'm absolutely fine - it's one of those things which if they catch early stops something from being a problem before it starts.

The things is, you just don't know yet how far down the path you are.  Try to use the time before your appointment to think of questions you'd like to ask and write them down.  It might be nothing or it might be something and the balance of probabilities is definitely on your side.  But I know full well that the waiting is sometimes the worst part.

Anothet hug to finish - keep your chin up, use the waiting time constructively and very best wishes for whatever journey is ahead.

Take care

Zoe

Wow thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me, I've had terrible anxiety over the weekend but trying to settle, I know the screening programme is great, but the thought of everything just makes my mind run riot, to know I have this hpv and cells have changed, but that's what it's all about preventing! I had my last smear a year ago so this was the follow up annual smear test which I got on time. I just need to stop doctor Google as it makes me quite ill. I wish I didn't bloody jump to worst case scenario all the time. Again thank you so much xx

I've spoke to my nurse who said I was borderline last year now minor changes this year, colposcopy appt is going to be back logged though...

Sorry Mandy - missed your first reply.

Well I suppose you've got good news and bad.  Rubbish that the appointment will be pushed back...I'm in Tier 4 and I know that in my area anything not urgent is being postponed.  But in a way I suppose it's good because you know it's not 'urgent'?  If it was really nasty they wouldn't push back your appointment I guess?

And minor changes - well even though it would be better to have no changes at all, minor is better than serious or significant?!

So although you must still be very anxious in a way it's not as bad as it could be.  But still really worrying.  I'm sure I read somewhere that cervical cell changes happen comparatively slowly so a little bit of a delay should cause  a problem.

Like I said before, there's a scale of seriousness with these things and they like to treat anything which could cause an issue in the future.  It's better for you - and cheaper for the NHS - to nip things in the bud before they become a problem.  So let's hope that's what it is for you.

Bug hugs once again and fingers crossed

Take care :-)

Zoe

Thank you again xxxx

My appointment is now 20 weeks but might be extended again... I'm tempted to go private as I'm scared to wait, do they know what grade you are with a smear test. I think anxiety high as I know someone who missed out due to covid and now has an aggressive form of cervical cancer... X

Hi, no still waiting xxx how long did you wait for? 

I have gone privately.

I have serious health anxiety, C in particular and waiting would have made me ill.

I only got my letter back on thur saying ive got borderline changes and HPV.

All smears have been normally and on time throughout my life.

im absolutely terrified x

I can relate to the health anxiety its awful, im still considering going private, a nurse told me to hang fire... I just feel the wait is going to be longer xx