After getting three abnormal paps in a row, coincidentally after I started going to a “real” gynecologist, I’ve been diagnosed with level one cervical dysplasia.
At first this made me feel like a rottweiler, since the only other encounters I’d had with “dysplasia” involved doggie hips.
The doctor told me that there were three different severities of dysplasia - cleverly named one, two, and three, after the cell layers of the cervix they affect. Three was the most severe, the last stage before cervical cancer diagnosis (since it reaches the lower layer), and one merely represents some funky looking cells on the surface layer that may or may not badly influence other cervical cells by offering them smokes and encouraging them to skip school.
The doc suggested cryotherapy, and I’m going in next week. From what he explained, they’re basically freezing the heck out of my entire cervix and letting layers one, two, and three slough off and regrow. (Eww.) Question is … has anyone else had this done? Any stories? I’m understandably nervous and hoping that this procedure will solve my problems, but I’m still not looking forward to it.
Any advice, comments, stories, etc. would be appreciated!
PS - Women, have an annual pap smear! Men, prod thy women into getting an annual pap smear!
My Girlfriend and I started bumpin’ uglies in Dec. and she hasn’t had a Paps. yet. I grew up with two Nurses for parents, so not only do I know how important one is, I also know what it look like. However, I have no idea how to talk to my Girlfriend about this. She is very shy about her body. It took some heavy convinsing that it was ok to talk about her period with me.
Please, tell me how to get it in her head that she needs to go and not make her feel awkward.
Tell her that, if she waits too long, a level one dysplasia diagnosis (which is easily treatable) could turn into cervical cancer - which is mostly diagnosed in YOUNG women between twenty and thirty, who have been sexually active… especially if they start young.
I won’t say it’s not kinda embarassing the first time, but you can always request a female nurse practitioner or doctor. (Especially if you continue to use euphemisms like “bumpin’ uglies”. They’re not uglies. Don’t imply it’s ugly.)
Not to mention all the good birth control requires a doctor visit.
Now get your booty offa my thread, I want an answer to MY questions!
Lovlee,
My sister had this same thing done a few months ago.She told me it was not as painful as she expected and coming from my sister,that’s something.She said she was more ‘sore’ than ‘in pain’.
She did mention that she had a blackish discharge for a bit which she didn’t enjoy much.But other than that, it didn’t seem like a very bad experience.
Can’t add much more than that.
Good luck, I hope everything goes well for you.
I had severe dysplasia (my test the year before had been normal). They shaved the top layers off instead of freezing and, although I was very nervous beforehand, it turned out to be a really simple, relatively pain-free procedure. I had minor cramps for the next couple days and that was it. I was in the doctor’s office a total of 25 minutes, and 20 minutes of that was them prepping.
DAYUIZ, tell her that it’s a lot easier to go in for a little, 5 minute, pain-free test than it is to die of cervical cancer. Actually, don’t do that, it’ll probably scare her, but it’s true. My doctor told me that women who have had sex before they were 17 and have had more than 3 partners in their life are 3 times more likely to get dysplasia than women who haven’t. Almost every woman I know falls into the risk category. I don’t know what you could say to get her in there…but, please try.
Good Luck I know you will be fine. My 30 year old sister had this done when she was 19. She is fine. It isn’t pleasant but then sometimes just being a woman can be a real pain. Good luck to you girlfriend, I’ll be thinking about ya!
Mrs O. is a GYN nurse in a women’s clinic and has had her cervix frozen for colposcopies. (I used to tell her I could do it at home with a pair of binoculars and an ice cube until she hit me with a Lippincott’s Drug Reference.)
Firstly she don’t need any prodding to get a Pap smear. (Trivia question: what’s the full name for ‘Pap’?) She knows what you can find in there and she’s a complete advocate of the procedure.
Secondly she’s told me about her experience and says there’s nothing to be afraid of. Cervical cryotherapy is about as painless as it’s going to get these days and that’s not very painful at all. Her observations pretty much jibe with the other observations here - small amount of discomfort for less than a day and that’s it. Certainly a small physical price to pay for the relative assurance that whatever it is down there probably won’t come back. We both wish you the best of luck and send you plenty of warm nursing fuzzies.
Lovelee: I had this done about 6 years ago. I was diagnosed with level 3 dysplasia at the age of 19. The fist thing I had done was a LEEP procedure. That’s where they cut the cancerous cells off of your cervix. The procedure wasn’t painful because they numbed my cervix first and it wasn’t painful afterwards either… I just bled for about a week.
After this procedure I went in for PAPs every 3 months. The first one came back normal and the second one showed signs of dysplasia again, level 2 this time. The next thing they did was freeze my cervix. I was on my period when they did this. They said I might cramp more than normal because I was on my period but it didn’t affect me any. I’m not sure exactly how they did it though. There was a container with nitro glycerin (looked like a helium tank) with a “nozzle” on the end. They put the nozzle on my cervix and held it there for about 5 minutes or so. It didn’t hurt at all. I was very nervous and my legs were shaking but not from pain. Afterwards I had to wear pads for a few days because the nitro was melting and it felt like I was peeing my pants! I had no pain afterwards… no cramps or anything. It didn’t hurt to move around or walk either. After this procedure I went in every 3 months for a PAP and every single one came back normal and I haven’t had any problems since!!
Be glad that they caught it in you early! It can get worse really fast. I started getting PAPs when I was 17. (that’s when I became sexually active) My PAP came back normal when I was 17 and 18 but a year later at 19, I was already at stage 3. My aunt died of cervical cancer when I was 17 and my mom had a hysterectomy a year after that to prevent her cervical cancer from spreading so cervical cancer is very prominant in my family. I wouldn’t have thought in a million years that a 19 year old could have it but I came pretty damn close.
One more thing… I’m not sure if it was because of the LEEP procedure of because of freezing my cervix but my cervix is weak now. My first child was born a month early because my cervix couldn’t hold her in any longer. When I was pregnant with my 2nd child my OBGYN put a cerclage around my cervix. (A cerclage is a thick piece of nylon type rope that gets wrapped around the cervix to keep it closed.) I delivered my son one week early so the cerclage worked for me. I don’t know if you have children or not but if you get pregnant after you have this procedure done… make sure your doctor is aware you had your cervix frozen and ask if there are any special precautions you should take just to be safe!
Good luck and don’t worry. Everything will be fine!
A frozen cervix? Sounds kinda like something you’d find in the corner store freezer, right next to the rocket pops.
I’ve had the LEEP, and I’ve had cauterization of my cervix, all for stage one. Both have been done twice now, and I still go in for 6 month paps, instead of the standard once a year. Neither were painful, just a bit uncomfortable. The, ummmmm, leakage afterwards is the most annoying part. But there really was no pain at all. I suffered more from trying to wake up from the anaesthetic
From what I’ve read here, seems the procedure is done differently where I live, but still sounds like you shouldn’t have any problems. Good luck, and relax
We wrote a little bit about this before, search here for ‘HPV’
According to webmd.com & a lot of other web sites & local doctors, the cause of this dysplasia is a STD called the human papilloma virus (strains #16 &18). Some docs would say that every case of it is from HPV & other docs would say most…some HPV types cause genital warts & regular warts.
It’s very contagious & almost no one has heard about it. Im surprised your doc did not mention it but its only figured out to cause this dysplasia for about 15 years now.
Complete monogamy is important. You doc should have tested for HPV when you got your weird PAP results. Whats with that?
Rachelle:
Cryo (freezing) uses liquid nitrogen, not nitroglycerin.
I, too, have seen tanks labelled NG, which usually means
nitroglycerin, but in this case means Nitrogen Gas.
LEEP: Loop Electrosurgical Excision Proceedure (yeah, like that explained anything!)
Basically, if you imagine your cervix as a volcano, LEEP
uses a loop of hot wire to remove the ‘cone’ of the volcano.
Cone biopsy: an older procedure that removes a cone-shaped
plug (the entire region surrounding the mouth of the cervix). It’s like a LEEP, but if goes a bit deeper, and is used in more advanced cases
I guess I should also mention LEEP isn’t Laser Ablation,
since I’ve seen patients confuse them - some laser procedures for other parts of the body have names like LEEP.
A Cerclage is a thick nylon suture that encircles the mouth of the cervix. I know Rachelle was just conveying
the principle, but a “rope” would make me nervous.
handy, I don’t know why a doctor wouldn’t mention HPV (mine didn’t, either). I have read that not all dysplasia is caused by it. Also, HPV can be carried for a looooong time, without any symptoms. For instance, a woman could sleep with someone when she’s 17, pick up HPV, then not have any symptoms until she’s 30. I think because of this, it’s a lot harder to track down exactly when she got it. Some people carry it and never have any symptoms. So, although I’ve been monogamous with my husband for years, I still had dysplasia, with no other previous symptoms of anything. Who knows the moment it was set in motion. Men can also carry it without symptoms. For this reason, anyone can get it at anytime, unless they are celibate.
Dysplasia is not always caused by HPV. I never had HPV and I had stage 3 dysplasia. It is true though that HPV is one of the reasons so many women get cervical cancer. If caught early enough HPV can be treated with a cream and you won’t have to go through having you cervix froze or having a LEEP done!
It’s important for every woman to get a PAP at least once a year I can not stress this enough!! There’s nothing to be embarassed about. It takes about 2 minutes and it’s better than the alternative… which is catching an STD and not having it treated right away, passing an STD on to a lover who then spreads it to someone else and so on and so on, having dysplasia that turns into cervical cancer and dying!! I could go on and on!
I had the freezing procedure done and, contrary to the experience of others who have posted, I was surprised at how painful it was. (I’m not trying to be an alarmist, this is just how it was for me.) I thought it would be no big deal, as I am not squeamish about medical procedures and have a pretty high pain threshold. When it actually happened, though, the procedure itself was quite painful, and it was even more painful after it was done. I had driven myself to the doctor’s office, so convinced that this was a really minor thing that it didn’t even occur to me to ask my boyfriend to come along. After it was over I laboriously made my way out to my car and sat there for a good five minutes, releasing all the tears I’d managed to restrain in the doctor’s office, and wondering if I would be able to drive myself home. I did, and it stopped hurting after a few days, but it would have been better if I’d had someone along to help. Perhaps I was extra upset because it was so painful when I hadn’t expected it to be, but I was really wrung out and scared by the time it was over. There’s the discharge thing (it’s blood and dead tissue, which accounts for the unpleasant coloring), but that only lasted a couple days for me. I have had normal paps since then so I’ve never had to have this done again. Maybe the process has improved, since I had it done several years ago, but it can’t hurt for me to caution you that there is a possibility that it may indeed be painful, and, depending on your circumstances, you might take a friend along with you. Hopefully you will feel fine and have minimal pain, but when I did it, I fervently wished I could lay down in the seat and just cope while someone else took me back home.
It’s a necessity regardless, so it’s a good thing even if it is painful. Hope it goes well for you.
I did it, I know I’ve been putting if off for too long, but I try not to think about such things. And I HATE going to the doctor, the office is always full of freakin’ sick people. Children with drippy parts, a regular snotfest! Ick.
As I read this thread, I thought, I’ve been meaning to get a gyno referral, pap test, etc. By the time I got to the end, I knew I had to do it.
But I’ll have you know I was grumbling and wingeing as I looked up the number. I believe my words were, 'G**damn message board, a person just wants to have a little reading with their morning tea and look what bloody happens!"
If I catch some snot related desease you’re going to hear about it. Dr’s offices - Bah!!
I know it isn’t nitro glycerin… I’d really be dead if that’s what they used. It’s been 6 years and I’ve had 2 children since I had this done to me… my memory isn’t what it used to be!!!
elbows3 - good for you for making an appointment! And if you do have some snot related disease… don’t bring it to the board!! :eek: Good luck!
lovelee - Like Cygnus said, I would also recommend having someone there to drive you home. Just because the procedure didn’t hurt me or cause me any discomfort, (except for the leakage) doesn’t mean it will be the same for you. Everyone is different. I would rather have someone there just in case!
I also had this procedure, lovelee. My doctor told me that it varied from woman to woman, but that the pain could be anywhere from practically non-existent to feeling like the worst cramps you’ve ever had with your period. So I knew that I had a wide range of things I might feel and I braced myself to feel like I was having really bad cramps. I wish that was all it felt like. The only way I can describe it is that it felt like he’d grabbed hold of my ovaries with a clamp and was trying to rip them out of my body through my vagina. But the good news is… it lasted about 60 seconds and it was over. Whew!
After that, I had no cramping at all - it was just bad for that short time during the procedure. Then the dripping started - yuck. Ice cold watery dripping. Maxi pads didn’t cut it at night and I had to sleep on towels and get up 2 or 3 times during the night to change them.
However, I have a friend who had this done and she said she didn’t have any dripping whatsoever.
The moral of the story is, we can all tell you what our experiences were, and you’re likely to have one that’s completely different. The good news is, no one here has had any really bad experiences with it. It really is a simple, quick and relatively painless procedure. You’ll do just fine!
