Ugh, this was exactly the same as happened to me! I had low-risk abnormal cells on my pap smear, and they sent me my results saying "signs of wart virus present". I freaked out thinking this meant that I had genital warts, but it turns out they just meant I had HPV of the cervical cancer kind, and they called it 'wart virus' as they thought that's what people normally called HPV. Um, no! We call it HPV, thank you! I found that very annoying as it was unclear and misleading. I'm all for avoiding pointless jargon, but there's nothing wrong with calling an infection by its proper name!!
Even if your paps keep coming up with abnormalities, don't worry too much. As long as you keep getting them at least every two years, your doctor WILL catch anything before it becomes a cause for concern. Cervical cancer is one of the slowest growing cancers out there. Amongst women who get regular paps, chances of dying of cervical cancer are basically zero :)
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Date: 2008-01-18 05:18 am (UTC)Even if your paps keep coming up with abnormalities, don't worry too much. As long as you keep getting them at least every two years, your doctor WILL catch anything before it becomes a cause for concern. Cervical cancer is one of the slowest growing cancers out there. Amongst women who get regular paps, chances of dying of cervical cancer are basically zero :)