ARE you kidding me? Now abnormal pap smear?

Anonymous
Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
edited May 2017 in ILC (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma)

Just got a call from my gyno's nurse who told me I have tested positive for the HPV (which, if you are sexually active, we all are at high risk for--even with one sex. partner). This HPV puts us at higher risk of cervical cancer. I had clear paps for years and years and years. I have to have a punch biopsy on the 24th. Nurse says cells are lowest grade and nothing to get worked up about...but you know how ridiculous that statement is to a b.c. survivor.

Help. PLEASE.  I don't know where to put this, so I'm sticking it here in my ILC lady thread.

Claire

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Comments

  • wallycat
    wallycat Member Posts: 3,227
    edited September 2013

    Sometimes, cells return to normal on their own.  I totally get the freak out and don't blame you.

    Suffice it to say, even IF it were cervical cancer, it is the EASIEST cancer to treat if caught early and it is a slow grower.  My sister had an abnormal pap in her 30s.  She had the LEEP procedure and now is 56 and has never had an issue again...ever.

    Cells can appear abnormal due to infection, and having hPV does not mean you will get cancer, just at higher risk.   Telling you to stay calm is insane, but at the moment, you are doing all you can.

    If you are forced to do LEEP, it is an outpatient procedure.

    Best to you.

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  • toomuch
    toomuch Member Posts: 901
    edited September 2013

    Claire - So sorry that you have this worry. It's not uncommon to have an abnormal PAP smear repeated and then get normal results. It sounds like your doctor is being super cautious and doing the biopsy. Gyns just started doing routine HPV screening which is actually a good thing. The results can guide your doctor to determine if you need more frequent screenings. Out of all the HPV strains, there are only 2 which are known increase a women's risk for cervical cancer. You may want to ask your doctor if you tested positive for one of those strains (16 & 18) or if you had a general screening test which was positive. Sending you positive vibes for negative results.

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  • fredntan
    fredntan Member Posts: 1,821
    edited September 2013

    Hi This is nothing....breath...

    I had this. BTDT



    Found out I had hpv the monday after my first mast. The doc had left message on my phone to call about the pap i had. The stress made or gave the virus chance to start growing. If we had done nothing. This would have caused cervical cancer in years. I think I have had three coposcopys now. Thats where the doc takes her lazer and shaves off bad spot. It didnt hurt. But for first one i took some xanax just in case.



    This is small potatoes.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited September 2013

    Thank you all, I'm really, really depressed over all this. I've read also the relationship between taking tamoxifen and higher incidence of abnormal paps.  I feel like I'm being punished for coming of age in the 70s (yes, multiple partners) and being a baby boomer. We didn't know anything about this crap them.

    I'm so depressed that someone else will be rooting around in my body, poking, prodding, examining.  Another invasive procedure. It was 2 years ago this month I was dx. 18 years ago this month. Later that month we found out his cancer had returned and he died three months later from it. I'm suffering from serious anniversary issues as well. Don't want to get out of bed today.  I feel everything I've tried to do for the past two years to protect myself from cancer is all for naught. I feel very defeated. On top of it my husband isn't being very supportive. He acts like nothing  is wrong. 

    Claire in AZ

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  • momand2kids
    momand2kids Member Posts: 1,508
    edited September 2013

    Clare

    big hugs.  I think you can stay in bed if you want to... I am a big fan of wallowing... I usually get bored with it after a day or so.  I think I had a strange pap smear somewhere in the cancer journey and I can remember being really pissed off... I mean, enough is enough, right?  It does seem to be true that these pap smears, when done again, seem to be normal--but it sounds like whatever can be solved.  Still, you have every right to be down--- I can tell you that my h, during the whole bc thing, never saw it as a problem. He was helpful, but for him, once they told him that I had a 93 per cent chance of it not returning, as far as he was concerned, things were fine (of course he did not have to go through lumpectomy, chemo and radiation)..... I think they just shut down on these kinds of things.  

    So, wallow away--maybe get some ativan.... sounds like this will all be fine ultimately, but that does not mean you don't get to feel this way....

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  • Annette_U
    Annette_U Member Posts: 111
    edited September 2013

    Don't worry too much... I had Cervical cancer 30 years ago. It was treated by a cone biopsy- in hospital proceedure, came back 7 years later and had cryosurgery - in office proceedure. Not had a problem since. Just go evey 4-6 months for a pap and if it gets worse they can use that loop on you. Do not worry too much...really . You can handle this little thing. Cervical cancer is easy to get rid off if found early. Just keep getting those pap tests. Unlike the useless mammos for ILC - paps do work very well!

    Best wishes, chin-up!

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  • gemini4
    gemini4 Member Posts: 532
    edited September 2013

    I'm with everyone else ... Not to minimize your worry, but this isn't one to sweat. You're not being punished for having experimented back in your younger days. You don't have to answe this, but by chance did you have intercourse a day or so before this last pap? The "trauma" can skew the pap results. Just a thought. So very many of us (myself included) have been exposed to HPV. So long as you're getting regular paps, I really do believe there's nothing to worry about.



    Now, the anniversaries that are happening for you ... Those are real. Allow yourself to reflect on them and take in their gravity. In the process, you might find their power may ebb.



    Big hugs --

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited September 2013

    Thanks all...I'm reliving anniversary woes big time this month. Isn't it funny that one year you blow through anniversaries with no thought, the next year you are hyperaware of them? . Cues (autumn light, smells, sounds, etc.) taking their toll.

    I might have had intercourse a few days before the pap..maybe. Can't remember exactly. 

    This week we fly to Michigan for four days to visit another family member just dx with St. IV lung cancer.  The scourge of the 21st c.: freaking cancer. 

    Claire

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited September 2013

    Hang in there!

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited September 2013

    Thank you SpecialK. It's good to have you in my corner...

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited September 2013

    Always!  Also, an FYI - I have seen this happen to a few other ladies of BCO - they were all fine.  So hoping it is nothing, you have had enough.  I also understand the weight of anniversary difficulty - both my dad and brother (only sibling) passed from stage IV cancer, and in between them I lost my mom to a long and difficult degenerative neuromuscular disease, all within seven years.  She passed on her own birthday - so that is always a bittersweet day for me. After all of that my own diagnosis two years after losing my brother was a challenge. Make sure you take care of yourself on the trip to Michigan, I guarantee you it will be tough on you.

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  • dogsandjogs
    dogsandjogs Member Posts: 1,907
    edited September 2013

     I tested positive in the late 60s; right after my husband admitted to multiple affairs! We got divorced, one time I can forgive, but that's it!

    Anyway, I have been fine since then. One ob/gyn told me the virus was dead; another said it doesn't die, but stays with you. Whatever! However,  normal pap smears every year.

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  • suzieq60
    suzieq60 Member Posts: 6,059
    edited October 2013


    Claire - how did the biopsy go? I hope all is well. I just had a pap smear for the first time in years - don't get the result until late next week.


    Sue

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2013


    Hi all, so my gyno did the colscopy and found no displasia, but she still wants to do a leep because of my history and the fact that my cervix is oddly shaped because of a previous long time ago surgery and she wasn't convinced she got a satisfactory sample. So I agreed and will have it next week (the leep). No dysplasia is a good thing, but I agree she's being cautious and I don't mind. Still waiting but feel better about it all.Thanks for all the encouragement, ladies! it helped.

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  • suzieq60
    suzieq60 Member Posts: 6,059
    edited October 2013


    Thanks for the update Claire - fingers crossed.

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  • wallycat
    wallycat Member Posts: 3,227
    edited October 2013


    Agreed, appreciate the feedback!


    My sister had LEEP and said it was not bad...that was over 20 years ago.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2013


    Hi ladies, had the LEEP yesterday and it was a bit painful at times but nothing I couldn't handle. I expected to bleed more and so far so good: no spotting after the initial procedure. My gyno was very reassuring and said that the LEEP procedure was the tx for a less than normal pap like mine, and said I'd have to come back in 6 months for another pap. He was pretty encouraging that this would take care of everything. I appreciate their cautionary approach to my health given my health history and that ILC has a tendency to want to involve female organs if it goes anywhere...


    thanks for caring about me ILCers, hugs


    Claire

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  • suzieq60
    suzieq60 Member Posts: 6,059
    edited October 2013


    Good news Claire - glad you handled the procedure so well.


    My pap smear was normal luckily - after so many years, I was surprised.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2013


    It took my gyno forever to call me with results...I had to remind them...but I just found out that my LEEP procedure showed NO abnormal cells of any kind. Yay!!!!!!

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  • sloyd66
    sloyd66 Member Posts: 202
    edited January 2014

    Hi ladies! Claireinaz, I know the feeling, I have had abnormal paps the past two yrs, I have had two biopsies. Both came back low grade dysplasia. It was from HPV positive, I was told by my dr's this can clear itself in 2yrs, they are just monitoring it, so I go back in 6 months for another pap. My first abnormal pap I to freaked out, because HPV came back positive. And the first person I thought of was the last guy I had sex with, because my main partner 4yrs nothing. But I was told as long as it's caught early you will be find. Also my cousin was good to talk to as she had this for yrs, and finally after leaving the father of her son, she is now cleared. HPV have many types so its now always cancer, but still need to monitor it. Im glad I read these post. Glad everything came out good for you all!

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  • sloyd66
    sloyd66 Member Posts: 202
    edited January 2014

    Yes HPV is a virus that's in everyone's body that just sits and wait for something to activate it. The sad thing is men can't get tested for it, yet they are also carriers.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited January 2014

    Apparently most of us carry it. One gyno told me long ago that we carry it on our skin.  That's okay, but I don't want it getting out of hand.

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  • sduch1
    sduch1 Member Posts: 104
    edited February 2014

    It looks like this is me right now. Normally my drs office sends a card in the mail if everything is ok. Instead, I got a call on Friday that I missed and didn't get until Friday night. I need to call today and I am so scared. 

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  • sduch1
    sduch1 Member Posts: 104
    edited February 2014

    I am just updating this in case anyone looks this up in the future. I called and I tested positive for a strain of HPV. But, it was not one of the strains that is known to be pre-cancerous. Everything else was normal. 

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited February 2014

    I upped my beta carotene intake before the loop biopsy and I think it did the trick.  My gyno was not worried at all. Since then I've done research and these kinds of pap smears can be infection related.  So don't worry, sduch1: I'm guessing that you'll be okay, even if you have to have a procedure to get rid of the bad cells. It took about 20", didn't hurt, and I bled a few drops afterwards and that was it.  Let us know how it goes.

    Claire

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited February 2014

    LEEP procedure, not LOOP!!

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited November 2014

    Imerman Angels is an organization that matches patients, survivors, and caregivers by cancer type for one-on-one
    connections worldwide. They are currently searching for a mentor for one-to-one support of a 52 year old woman who had breast cancer in 2012 and now has human papillomavirus (HPV) -related oral cancer. She is looking for a mentor who had
    both cancer types (breast + HPV related head/neck cancer).

    If you may fit the criteria, and are willing to assist, please visit "Become a Mentor" on the Imerman Angels web site:  http://www.imermanangels.org/give-support/ or call Imerman Angels at 877-274-5529.


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  • Tunegrrl
    Tunegrrl Member Posts: 196
    edited February 2017

    Hey, it's 2017 and i just want to say this old thread has been helpful and reassuring to me.

    Had some abnormal cells in a pap pre-chemo, going back for the six-month follow up on that soon. Just got my rX for Tamoxifen and read today it can cause abnormal pap results,so i'm going to get the pap follow-up first then start the Tamoxifen. Also an eye test. They should really tell people these things.

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  • lrwells50
    lrwells50 Member Posts: 254
    edited May 2017

    Right......

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  • wallycat
    wallycat Member Posts: 3,227
    edited May 2017

    Most docs would recommend a repeat pap at 3 or 6 months because *most* people clear the virus on their own.

    My twin had cervical precancer at the highest stage and they did a LEEP procedure. She was in her 30s and never had a problem since...that has to be nearly 30 years.

    I could stand on a soap-box on the HPV vaccine and boys but will refrain from my rant.

    As an aside, several people I know have had husbands who were dx with oral cancer due to HPV, as well as several famous actors (michael douglas, mathew Mconaughey, etc.) so it is something that should be taken seriously. I'm happy to hear you have a pro-active gyn.


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