Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, I didn’t know whether it was better suited for here or for General Questions, but I’m kind of freaking out. Please move it if it’s necessary, and if so, I’m sorry again.
I had a pap test done about a month ago (I get one every year) and got a message on my message service saying to call the doctor. When I did, a secretary answered and said that I needed to get another test done in six months. When I asked why, she said she didn’t know, but she said that the nurse didn’t seem worried about it.
What is a good reason to need another pap test done in six months? Am I right in being totally paralysed with fear?
It’s not unusual to have a bad pap smear - or to need to have a follow up test in 6 months. This page has a lot of good information about it.
I’ve had to have several “follow-ups” and even a cervical biopsy (ow!) and all I have are cervical cells that are more active than “normal”. And I still get a call back every 2 or 3 years.
Having an “abnormal” test doesn’t mean you’re sick - it just means that you need to be retested. There might have been a contamination of the slide or it wasn’t sealed properly. If the next test is abnormal, your doctor will be able to compare the tests and see if there is a problem. If there is, they can start treatment, if necessary.
Your doctor is doing the right thing in retesting you. If you are still concerned, call the office and talk to her about it.
rinni, calm down. If your doctor didn’t tell you to come in IMMEDIATELY, then there’s clearly no immediacy to whatever they found. The strong likelihood is that they found a mild form of “dysplasia”, which merely means a change in the cells of your cervix, and they want to retest in 6 months to see if, or how, they continue to change.
I would recommend, however, that you call back and insist on speaking with the doctor (though he or she may need to return your phone call at a later time) and ask them to be specific about what they found. They’re your results and you have the right to know them and not be brushed off.
I am really hoping for a problem with the slide. Six months seems like a long time to have to wait for something like this, if it’s serious. They didn’t even say it was abnormal… she just really sounded like she had no idea but that nobody seemed very worried about it.
Also if it helps, I’m 23 years old and have been getting tested yearly since I was 16. I’ve been on the Pill the whole time since then, and it’s been the same one all along. I haven’t really had anything like this happen to me before, where I’ve been worried about the possibility of something serious, so it hit me kind of hard.
Ahh, DeVena, I was Googling it up a few minutes ago and I found something mentioning cervical biopsy… just reading it made me tense up! Ack! It sucks that you had to have that done! But it’s comforting to know that you can get a callback without having a problem. Thanks.
Yes, that is a good way of looking at it. It can’t be TOO bad if they don’t want me in there right away. I will make an attempt to get a more specific answer, too.
This happens to my mom all the time. What it probably is is that your pap was a teensy bit “abnormal” – if they see any questionable cells, they wanna keep an eye on it no matter how minorly questionable they are. So they’re gonna test you again in 6 months just to make sure all is well. And it probably will be
Seems like I read that almost all women will have at least one weird pap in their lifetime.
Another tuppence worth. They are just being properly careful - with ANY reason to worry, there would not be 6 months before another test. Try not to worry.
When a pap comes back abnormal, there are three options for followup. They can have you come back in six months for another smear, come back in three months for another smear, or come back in RIGHT NOW for further testing, depending on how serious the abnormality is. Since they’ve got you at the very low end of the urgency scale, you’re almost certainly fine. If they were the least bit concerned, you’d be coming back in sooner, trust me.
I’ve only been getting smears for nine years, and three or four of them have come back with results that needed a six month follow-up. The follow-ups have always been perfectly normal. This kind of stuff can be caused by tons of different things, ranging from bacterial vaginitis to a bad sample to a faulty slide to human error reading the slide.
First, let me tell you the cervical biopsy isn’t THAT bad. Yeah, ouch, but not OMG OWWWWW bad.
I had full-blown cancer. Ultimately, the doc removed part of my uterus. But my pap tests are still freaky, and this all happened 15 years ago. The doc told me there are 5 levels of bad pap results, ranging from just a little off normal to the you-have-2-months-to-live. I was a 4 on that scale, hence the surgery. Almost always, an abnormal test just indicates a couple of odd cells on the cervix.
The biggest pain was that I had to have 3-month checkups for about 5 years, post-cancer. I’ve been all-clear now for almost 10 years, and it really turned out to be not a big deal. My point is, don’t freak out yet. And don’t let anyone scare you about a potential biopsy.
I also recommend bubble-gum to keep your mind off matters, if it does come to a biopsy. It worked for me, blowing the biggest bubbles I could, instead of paying attention to what the doc was doing.
I’ve had six-month callbacks on pap smears many times. Turns out I have some cells from inside the uterus that grow out onto the outside of my cervix. And depending on the lab that’s interpreting the pap, it’s either been a cause for alarm or nothing to worry about.
A few years ago I had a great young GYN who did a colposcopy on me (just looking at the cervix under magnification, not painful, just uncomfortable) and figured out what it was, and apparently since then it’s not been a concern since I’ve never had a callback again.
So don’t freak out. It’s not at all unusual, and the odds are hugely in your favor that it will turn out to be absolutely nothing.
rinni, I’ve been there, done that, started the thread to rant about it (sorry, I don’t have time to find that thread at the moment, but I got lots of helpful advice and information.) Needless to say, the dopers have been a great source of reassurance and help. So I’ll repeat the most important thing–don’t panic! Abnormal pap smears are incredibly common (which I find incredibly frustrating!) and can mean there’s no problem at all. Hang in there and let us know how it goes!
I had to have a colposcopy done earlier this year - along with a boatload of other women at my doctor’s practice. Seems that the lab made a few mistakes (cross-contam?) as all of us tested clean (my cervix ended up pretty sore from the colposcopy, but I haven’t had any children, that might be why.) I was very very worried for a while.
Try not to worry too much, it’s likely nothing - but when it comes to your health, it’s best to err on the side of caution.
I think every woman has gone through this at least once in their life. I have, twice actually, and the biopsy really isn’t painful. I agree, if the doc is telling you to come in in 6 months, it’s likely nothung to worry about
I have had a call back in 6 months twice and I am only 27.
Easiest way to alleviate your stress is call the nurse or the doctor. The girl scheduling the appointments doesnt have a clue. She is trained to do her job not the Dr’s.
Its fine though. Monday call in and get the results of your test and go on with your day.
