Don't Put It Off

Hello all,

Bit of a random post, but one that I think is very important.

This year I am turning 25, which to all girls (well those of us in England at least) means the beginning of the dreaded Smear Test.

I am not the first of my friends to hit the big two five, but I am the first one to have my smear. I think this is shocking, we are so lucky to have the NHS providing us with free health care & even more to have routine screenings thrown in to check up on us. I think it's absurd that people don't go in for them. When I asked my friends why they said it was cause they "dreading it". Well ladies I have to say it is absolutely fine. It's over incredibly quickly (10x fasted than a wax) and really is not as awkward / invasive as you would imagine. I think another thing putting us off is that our mother's generation had it much worse than us. I don't want to go into too much detail, but they had to put up with much more uncomfortable (and cold) instruments than we do. I was in and out in 5 minutes, and only on the actual bed for 2. 

The results for the test come incredibly quickly (I got mine within a week). Hopefully you'll get the all clear, and then won't need to worry about another smear for 3 years. However, some women will get an abnormal result. I was one of these women, I got a letter saying I had mild dyskaryosis.

I was not worried about this as I have a lot of knowledge in this field. This is a really common occurrence and all it means is that there were a few cells which had gone through some mild changes. However the letter came with a pamphlet with a massive word saying cancer (which would have really panicked me if I did not know this). I really think they should rethink sending this out! 

So I had to go into hospital for something called a colposcopy. This is a very simple procedure where they examine your cervix with a big magnifying glass, and depending on what they find they may have to perform a biopsy. This is obviously a little longer than a smear test, but you can watch along on a TV so it's very interesting. I got this appointment within 3 weeks and didn't need a biopsy. Yay! But I do have to have another smear in 6 months.

I hope I have shown that the smear is nothing to worry about. It's not stressful, painful or embarrassing. All the health care professionals I encountered were amazing, incredibly professional, and listened to all my concerns. It is very important to go for your smear as the risk of being exposed to HPV (a virus that can lead to cervical cancer) is incredibly high. So please don't put it off, and just get it over with.

Sorry to bang on about such a serious topic, I promise it will all be shallow and light-heartedness again!

Kat x