hey chickies... i gotta question... its about.. PAPSMERES.. help a bro out

[madbomber31]

long story short... the latest trick (female friend) went to that "special" doctor 2 weeks ago... her papthingy came back with "moderate" change... the doc said thats not good news and they had to retest her or whatever... well, they pulled out chunks of her insides and the doc told her something was definitely not right.. said it could be hpv or another std... said it could be pre-cancerous cells... whatever it was they will not know for a week... they did tell her it has not spread within the cervex... so, how common is this? yes, i know... i need to get tested now... has anything like this happened to you? a friend? etc...

 

[ann]

All I can say is, papsmears arent 100% accurate. In my years, I once had results come back, showing something abnormal. They retested, and it showed nothing wrong. I did worry horribly for those last reuslts to come back..... Its good they retested her, to be 100% sure. I have heard of other peoples test coming back positive also, then on the retest, it showed everything normal. Might ease yours and her mind a little ; thats what came to my mind when I read your post. Good Luck.

 

[OTCbooty]

I agree...just chill until you get more conclusive results.

 

[blondey]

From what i know about 90% approx of the sexually active population have HPV or Human Pavola Virus it is form of herpes - however there are many different kinds of HPV some lead to Cervical Cancer or cancerous cells forming others don't. Half the time a person with HPV won't know and condoms won't prevent you from catching it or giving it.

The abnormal changes your latest trick (what a lovely way to refer to your new sexual partner....)has had show in her papa smear may have been CIN 1 which is low grade, CIN 2 moderate or CIN 3 which is usually invasive cancer.

It sounds like she had a colposcopy which means they do an iodine test to see if there are any abnormal or cancerous cells and also a punch biopsy - neither of which are pleasent. If she has CIN 2 moderate she is best to have an operation to remove the cancer - the good news is when caught early it is pretty much curable. She will then need to have smears every 3 to 6 months until she gets the all clear of any abnormalities.

Give her my email address if she ever needs to chat - I've been through it before and unfortuantly are going through it again 4 years later ([email protected]) It is a very scarey and emotional thing - and she is very lucky if you are going to be there for her to just hug her and let her know you care

 

[Sassy69]

I agree w/ the above - don't panic yet. Sometimes a pap smear will come back w/ "abnormal" cells that can be pre-cancerous or nothing at all - just don't match any of the other tests they do. Something like 10% of women can have these abnormal cells. Basically they run some more specific tests or rerun test to eliminate any false positives. Or they will have you come back after a period of time to retest. If they do determine the cells are precancerous, they will go in and freeze the cells w/ liquid nitrogen and they are killed. ("Cryo treatment"). Not a pleasant procedure, but not a big deal. If its an STD, sometimes they will just prescribe an antibiotic or some treatment and also they often will prescribe somethign for the guy - lots of guys dont' go to a doctor regularly (in the same way as girls end up going to the gynocologist every year or so) and aren't tested as often.

No need to worry until she gets the next round of tests done. Its frustrating when they leave you with that sense of panic, but no reason to panic yet.

 

[KBgrl]

From what i know about 90% approx of the sexually active population have HPV or Human Pavola Virus it is form of herpes - however there are many different kinds of HPV some lead to Cervical Cancer or cancerous cells forming others don't. Half the time a person with HPV won't know and condoms won't prevent you from catching it or giving it.

no way.. 90%?!?!?!? damn!!! why wont a condom prevent it? so there is no way to prevent HPV?? wow thats crazy!!! really??? do tell... more details please. this is very interesting

 

[blondey]

a condom only goes onto part of his you know what - so there is all that other area exposed that you then also touch during the process of having fun. Thats why regular smears are really important. Please don't get me wrong a condom sure helps reduce the risk, but as mentioned above...

On guys - if it does show up it usually pops up as little white bumps or red bumps which they acn then get freezed off (same for females)- it's more dangerous for a female to catch HPV as it is certain strains of HPV that even though all symptoms are gone they can lead to the formation of precancerous and cancerous cells.

 

[blondey]

Madbomber..

If your girlfriend hasn't already, regardless of her results she in my experience would be best to get a referall to specialist in the area of cervical cancer - yes not all smears are accurate - (We have just had a major court battle where I live - as there have been a whole lot of women whoses slides have been misread by some wanker!) So For her own peice of mind and no doubt yours - a specialist can really help as they can explain everything to her and you if necessary and also a secound opinion is always good to have and athird if necessary - if they find she has an std then they will no doubt provide treatment for you too

 

[target]

I was told I could possibly have cancer or an std at age 22, they weren't sure. So being married for 4 years now either way I was horrified. I waited a week after tons of tests.......NOTHING!!!!!!!! No stds, no cancer, nothing, it was a mistake that had me doubting life and my husband. I was told that now days a simple yeast infection can not show outside symptoms and its all up there and since you dont know it can get bad, that was there only explanation which I guess was easier than telling me they had made a hasty g! They have a program called papscan that does extra scanning over a computer this is suppossed to be way more accurate, but after your friend is way violated with tests they'll come up with something. To my shock a close freind was diagnosed with HPV and DR said it was a normal occurence now adays which is horrible because it can lead to cancer, whoever gives you this can end up killing you if you are a female! Besides its pretty gross and I guess a condom can only protect whats covered, the rest of your skin is left exposed. But she didnt have any complications they just spotted them at a papsmear so who knows.........good luck, let us know! Depending on where you live clamidia and gonnorhea have become #1 std and most frequent because of lack of signs!

 

[thebabydoc]

Blondey, Sassy (as usual) almost right on target!!!!

It's a bit late for me so I'll get back to this tomorrow, but
any type of DYSPLASIA requires colposcopy, which is where we look
at the cervix with a telescope/microscope and use vinegar to highlite
the abnormal cells on the cervix (cells containing HPV DNA will turn
white). There are other things we look for in colposcopy but the specifics
are not important here. The results of the biopsies/colposcopy (which should not be
horribly painful) tell us whether we need to treat or just follow closely. Pap results
are seldom False Positive, it's just that many mild abnormalities (1 in 3) will
regress with time and therefore do not require aggressive treatment.

Some facts:

1. About 1 in 3 people carry HPV - Human Papilloma Virus
2. It is usually asymptomatic (no signs, unlike herpes or other STD's).
3. There are some 60+ types of HPV, of which only 3 are known to be highly
aggresive (progress quickly) in causing cervical cancer.
4. Average progression from Low grade to cancer (if it does progress) is 3-7 YEARS
5. False negative results are about 1 in 10 (this means the pap is read as negative
when in reality it is abnormal). This is the reason behind the recommedation that
pap's be performed annually, and more frequently in patients with abnormal or recently
treated pap's.
6. False positive (low grade, high grade, cancer) results are rare... the pathologist must see
an abnormal cell in order to call it abnormal, therefore it really must be present.
7. Some abnormalities, such as Metaplasia, inflammation, ASCUS do not neccessarily
represent precancer.
8. With close follow-up and treatment, cervical cancer is almost universally preventable
regardless of virus type.
9. HPV's which predispose to cervical cancer have not been shown to have ANY
EFFECT on the male, other than that partners of men with previous partners with advanced
cervical disease seem to get dysplasia more frequently (duh?)
10. Although STD testing is important, because of its ubiquitous nature, having HPV or
an abnormal pap DOES NOT MEAN that your partner "gave it" to you.
11. Multiple HPV's can be passed at once, so although the one that causes warts (22) does
not cause cancer, it may be a sign that another, more aggresive type has been transmitted.
Also, HPV is more likely to be transmitted in the presence of other STD's (people with STD's
tend to have multiple infections, for example, Chlamydia AND Gonorrhea because of
their sexual promiscuity or their choice of partners).

Major Risk factors for cervical cancer:
1. Young age at first intercourse
2. Young age at first childbearing
3. Multiple sexual Partners
4. Multiple STD's
5. HIV infection
6. SMOKING

hope this educates and helps,


thebabydoc