Pap Smear Anxiety

JLM-AWP

It's been a while since I've posted on H/A, but my girlfriend is freaking out a little bit right now, so I figure I could pull on some others' experiences to calm her mind a bit.

She just got a call from the doctor, who left a message asking her to call back on Monday to speak with a nurse "at her earliest convenience." She had the test done on Monday (5 days ago), and typically doesn't get results back for 3 weeks or so (apparently you can call in to a hotline and they read your results to you). She opted out of an STD test since we have been together for nearly 2 years now, and I don't think anything will be popping up.

I can only gather so much from Google on this, and I was wondering if anyone had any similar experiences with their significant other (or if you're a girl) with getting a call back from your doctor. Basically, I'm trying to interpret, in my head, the severity of the possible issue based on the message left and the abnormally short time since her test was done. Would a doctor leave a message like that and leave you hanging for 2 days until you can call back if something is seriously wrong? It just seems mean to me.

Any insight would be helpful. I'm just trying to ease her mind at this point, and I have little ability to calm her down with the limited knowledge I have about the subject.

Edit: Oh no! My avatar died!

The Cat

Doctors are evil that way. But yeah, they don't usually call unless they've spotted an abnormality. Don't panic; this doesn't necessarily mean Teh Cancer. Benign growths happen too, or they might have simply stuffed up the test and need to try again.

If I were your GF, I'd give them a serve for calling like that and not making her a weekend appointment. To be fair though, they're not allowed to just give out medical info about a patient over the phone. Its a privacy issue.

bone daddy

Every time I've had a test result that's needed follow-up treatment, the message has been "We need you to call back and schedule an appointment," not "Oh, hey, call us back at your earliest convenience." Granted, none of those docs were gynos, but it's held true across multiple offices.

My guess would be, given the discrepancy between when results should be coming back for this test and when they called and the relatively non-emergency-suggesting phrasing, that the sample or the paperwork got fucked up somehow.

DeShadowC

Yeah considering its only been a few days, and its supposed to take a few weeks, I'd assume they messed up and probably need to redo the test, or have osmething signed fixed etc.

bone daddy

Oh, and re: medical privacy. Some doctor's offices will ask you to sign or let you file a limited release of information agreement with them so that they can leave more detailed messages on your machine. If this is really screwing with her, she may want to consider asking them about it.

Susan Delgado

Depending on the office, the lab, the staff's workload for the day, etc. it's possible to have results the same day.
I'm a girl that's had more paps and tests than I care to and I've worked for a group of family physicians for a couple years, so just from my own personal experience there's a number of things that could be going on.

How old is your girlfriend? Has she had pap smears annually for several years? Have they always been negative? You said she opted not to be screened for STDs this year, but has she ever been tested for HPV? Do the women in her family have a strong history of cervical/uterine/ovarian/breast cancer?

As a woman, it's hard not to worry when even the smallest things happen with our bodies, but it won't do her any good to stress over the weekend. Is it possible that there is something wrong? Absolutely. Is worrying and stressing going to magically change the result over the weekend. Nope...and it's no good making yourself worried sick over something you can't change, or at this point, control.

Is it possible that there's just a small problem with the sample, the paperwork, the insurance, etc. You betcha, and it's more likely that that's what they need to get in touch with her about.

Be supportive and understanding and reassuring and if you can, maybe be there with her when she calls the office back, just in case it is something important.

Rubick

I had a call back once on an abnormal pap. There are numerous things that could be wrong, and just because there is a problem doesn't mean it is a major one.

In my case, there was an abnormality called mild dysplasia. Basically, a collection of cells that shouldn't be there. It wasn't cancer, but it was something that could have turned into it left untreated. First thing was a biopsy (which is basically like taking a hole punch to your vagina, but doesn't hurt like it sounds like). That determine exactly what they're dealing with, and then the doc decides treatment from there. For me, I had an outpatient procedure called cryosurgery where they went into my vagina with this ray-gun looking thing, and froze the cells in my cervix that was causing the issue. This took about a half hour, and wasn't very painful (it felt like period cramps when they were doing it). I went back for a follow-up pap a few months later, and I have had normal pap smears ever since. Neither the biopsy nor the cryosurgery were very painful, but they weren't like getting a massage either. I was back at work the next day for the biopsy and I took a day off for the cryosurgery, but I didn't really need to. I could have gone back the next day.

It's a freaky thing to get a callback from your doctor, I was really freaked out when the nurse called and told me what was going on. There's no telling what they want to talk to her about, but odds are that even if it's an abnormal pap, it's probably something that can be fixed with little issues. If she's been getting her exams yearly as needed, if there is something there, it's most likely caught early enough to deal with it. Just hang out with her today, relax and realize there's nothing you can do until you find out what the deal is on Monday.

JLM-AWP

Rubick wrote: »

I had a call back once on an abnormal pap. There are numerous things that could be wrong, and just because there is a problem doesn't mean it is a major one.

In my case, there was an abnormality called mild dysplasia. Basically, a collection of cells that shouldn't be there. It wasn't cancer, but it was something that could have turned into it left untreated. First thing was a biopsy (which is basically like taking a hole punch to your vagina, but doesn't hurt like it sounds like). That determine exactly what they're dealing with, and then the doc decides treatment from there. For me, I had an outpatient procedure called cryosurgery where they went into my vagina with this ray-gun looking thing, and froze the cells in my cervix that was causing the issue. This took about a half hour, and wasn't very painful (it felt like period cramps when they were doing it). I went back for a follow-up pap a few months later, and I have had normal pap smears ever since. Neither the biopsy nor the cryosurgery were very painful, but they weren't like getting a massage either. I was back at work the next day for the biopsy and I took a day off for the cryosurgery, but I didn't really need to. I could have gone back the next day.

It's a freaky thing to get a callback from your doctor, I was really freaked out when the nurse called and told me what was going on. There's no telling what they want to talk to her about, but odds are that even if it's an abnormal pap, it's probably something that can be fixed with little issues. If she's been getting her exams yearly as needed, if there is something there, it's most likely caught early enough to deal with it. Just hang out with her today, relax and realize there's nothing you can do until you find out what the deal is on Monday.

Thank you for chiming in with a personal experience, which is what seems to be lacking in websites for this sort of thing.

She got the official results last night, and it seems there is an abnormality. She's pretty upset, as one could understand. She wants nothing more than to have kids (she's 26, I'm about to turn 25), and seeing her worry about that not being a possible reality really gets to me.

We've been dating for roughly 20 months now, and I've been back and forth on whether or when I am willing to commit to marriage, because she has voiced (on numerous occasions) that she is ready to settle and have a family. Thinking about not being able to have kids with her has really torn me up on the inside for the last few days, and I am pretty clear in what I want now. You never really know what you have until it is taken away from you, or at least could be. If everything turns out OK, I'm going to take our relationship to the next level because, well, I can't think of anything else I'd want to do at this point. Funny how times of crisis can make you think about things in a whole new way.

Anywho, she's getting the follow-up exam on Wed. of next week. I will definitely share this post with her, since commercials and TV generally scare the crap out of you in order to sell Gardasil, but don't offer any realistic data regarding HPV vs. cervical cancer. I'm trying my best to be as supportive as possible. She's not wanting to talk much about it, unless it's on her terms, so I've been silent about it unless she brings it up...in which case I'm all ears. I wish there was more I could do to fix the problem, but I think that's the extent of my abilities right now. And it sux.

Rubick

Try your best not to freak out over possibilities of things like having kids in the future, cancer, and all the like. Just because there is an abnormality DOES NOT mean it is something as serious as that. It's hard to do (I called my mom up in tears after the nurse called me and told me there was an abnormality) and is a scary time, and every time I get a pap now I always have that in the back of my mind, but odds are it's something that can be taken care of. Also, I had an aunt who did develop cervical cancer (so it is in my family history) - she had an operation and got it taken care of. She is fine today in that area.

And I did go get the Gardasil vaccine (at 25 yrs old, a year or so after I had this scare). Women can take it up to 26 years of age, it's a series of three shots over six months. It eased my mind a bit, since I had had the abnormal pap before. If you or your girlfriend want to know anything else about the biopsy and outpatient surgery I went through, feel free to PM or post. You're doing the best you can by just letting her know you'll be there for her and will support her in whatever she goes through.

VThornheart

Aye, my friend: Rubick is right that it doesn't necessarily mean that she can never have children (whatever it is, short of actually missing the physical organs required). It may be less likely, or even far less likely... or it may require unusual procedures or even medical treatment to make it happen, but in many cases it can still happen.

If it helps... what do you and her think of adoption? I'm not sure if the thought's crossed your mind yet... but options like that are always available to those who want to be good parents and raise some kids in a loving and nurturing home, and through unfortunate circumstance aren't able to have one in the traditional sense of the word.

radroadkill

In my personal experience, every single female friend and family member I have has been called back at least once about an abnormality, and each and every time it's not been something drastic or something that might prevent them from having kids; some of these friends are mothers and some are not.

Most of them simply had to have another pap smear done and have come back with the retests done with no problems. One had a minor condition that she actually just got taken care of, but it wasn't anything life threatening or that affected her having kids.

This past year I got my first call back for the same reason, and I was a little nervous too, but I'm under the impression this is something normal from all I've heard. My doctor sinply prescribed me some antibiotics to take and wants me to reschedule in 3 months. (Actually, I should be doing that soon.) I've had the Gardasil shots so I'm assuming this won't be anything HPV related.

I've been told by a few people that sometimes tests can come back abnormal depending on how soon after your cycle the pap is done; in my case and three others I've asked about we've all gotten them done a few days after that cycle ended, so you may want to ask her that.

The other three were ones that ended up having no problems with the followup; I won't take my word or theirs are medical expertise on the issue, but it seems to be a possibility. Maybe someone else knows more about that than we do.

Getting a call like this seems to be pretty typical, from what I've gathered and experienced.

JLM-AWP

radroadkill wrote: »

In my personal experience, every single female friend and family member I have has been called back at least once about an abnormality, and each and every time it's not been something drastic or something that might prevent them from having kids; some of these friends are mothers and some are not.

Most of them simply had to have another pap smear done and have come back with the retests done with no problems. One had a minor condition that she actually just got taken care of, but it wasn't anything life threatening or that affected her having kids.

This past year I got my first call back for the same reason, and I was a little nervous too, but I'm under the impression this is something normal from all I've heard. My doctor sinply prescribed me some antibiotics to take and wants me to reschedule in 3 months. (Actually, I should be doing that soon.) I've had the Gardasil shots so I'm assuming this won't be anything HPV related.

I've been told by a few people that sometimes tests can come back abnormal depending on how soon after your cycle the pap is done; in my case and three others I've asked about we've all gotten them done a few days after that cycle ended, so you may want to ask her that.

The other three were ones that ended up having no problems with the followup; I won't take my word or theirs are medical expertise on the issue, but it seems to be a possibility. Maybe someone else knows more about that than we do.

Getting a call like this seems to be pretty typical, from what I've gathered and experienced.

Yeah, she actually had her period right before (like, a day) the test. She has taken that into consideration, and he next visit will be right in the middle of her cycle. In addition, we were pretty sexually active around that time (hey, it's Spring, so sue me :P), which I've heard can also affect the test. We have agreed to not be intimate until her next test is done, so that should eliminate that variable.

Again, I really appreciate the advice everyone. I am a 24-year-old that is pretty worldly, for the most part, and I consider myself pretty mature for my age, but this thing is throwing me for a loop. The first thing I thought when she told me everything was "This is so.....adult." It's scary, but I know I'm up to the challenge.

I am taking her to a Cubs game tomorrow, then out on Thursday night as well to take her mind off of things. The saga continues!