first colposcopy!

[andyrea.livejournal.com]

just wanted to write this in case it would be helpful for anyone with a colposcopy coming up.

Well, it's finally over. For one reason or another my first colposcopy appointment kept getting delayed but today i finally went in to have it done. I was soooooo nervous beforehand. Seriously. for some reason i'm super squeamish about pap smears and the like and considering this was supposed to take longer, yeah. i was a nervous wreck. It didn't help that after I had checked in and met with the nurse's assistant, i had to wait 30 min. in the room mulling over the situation in my head. I took a valium and advil beforehand to make everything a bit easier :).

First the doctor came in and went over all of my previous test results. All negative except for high risk hpv. She explained the procedure and discussed the various follow up scenarios regarding the outcome of the tissue samples she'd take. Let me just say that my doc was amazing. she was so enthusiastic and knowledgeable, it made the whole thing easier.

She told me to lie down and in went the speculum. I HATE this part. speculums are always so uncomfortable for me. After that was in she started complimenting my "amazing muscles" which just made me laugh and helped to distract me a bit. She then put some solution (vinegar i believe?) on my cervix to highlight the abnormal cells. The vinegar was not too fun. It stung more than I was expecting. I then had to wait for a minute and a half for the vinegar to do it's job. She didn't really walk me through the rest of what she was doing but I know she took some tissue samples off the parts of my cervix that had turned white. This wasn't nearly as bad as i was expecting. She then put some solution on where the tissue samples had come from to stop the bleeding. Apparently something like what men use if they get cuts while shaving. Everything went faster than i thought it would and although it was very uncomfortable, in hindsight the whole procedure wasn't that bad.

after the speculum and everything was out she drew a picture of where the spots on my cervix had been. I was a little sore at this point but nothing too terrible. She gave me a pad for any bleeding and discharge (yay) and that was that. oh and i got my first gardasil shot! might as well be protected against strains i don't have. I'm so glad it's over!

Comments

[humofyourvoice.livejournal.com]

Good for you for being so brave and getting through all of that! I hope the gardasil treats you well! :)

[andyrea.livejournal.com]

thanks! yeah i'm super excited to finally have that shot :)

[tyrsalvia.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting your experience with this. Tests like this can be so scary, and it's great that others can hear what it was like for you to help them get through their own.

[andyrea.livejournal.com]

:) i always appreciate reading experiences so i thought i'd return the favor

[marionravenwood.livejournal.com]

She then put some solution (vinegar i believe?) on my cervix to highlight the abnormal cells.

Yes, it was most likely vinegar. It can also be used to detect oral cancer. In countries without access to labs acetic acid visualization (http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=acetic+acid+visualization&btnG=Google+Search) is sometimes used for cervical cancer screening instead of pap smears.

[http://users.livejournal.com/__roflcopter/]

thank you for posting this!

I'm getting the gardasil shot this month XD

[anon-musings.livejournal.com]

I am so glad you posted this because I have a colposcopy scheduled in 4 hours and I'm freaking out a little! Reading about your experience makes me feel a lot better about things and I'm glad it went well for you. I'm a little concerned that the biopsy (if one is needed) will hurt but what I've read indicates that it's nothing more than a pinch which may cause a crampy sensation. Did you find this to be true?

[andyrea.livejournal.com]

i wouldn't even describe it as a pinch really...i mean i could kind of feel it but not really..it was over super quick. good luck!!!!!!!!!!!

[andyrea.livejournal.com]

how did it go??

[simasue.livejournal.com]

I feel so much better after reading this because I have to have the same thing done. I've been so worried about it and wondering what the procedure will be like, but hearing your experience eases my mind a bit. Thanks so much!

[andyrea.livejournal.com]

good!!! i'm so glad it helped. you'll be fine i promise!! and once it's done, you'll feel so proud of yourself:)