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Babies: 3 - 6 Months
HPV ?
So at my 6wk check up, my pap smear came back abnormal. Last week I had to have a colpyscopy (?) done. Well, my co worker told me she had to have the same thing done last year and said her test come back negative but that she had been exposed to HPV. What does this mean? I mean do you not either have it or not? My Dr seems to think I am fine and that everything will come back negative. He said that this thing tends to happen right after you give birth, so I wasn't really worried until she mentioned this! Now I am freakin out!!
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Re: HPV ?
Abnormal paps can mean so many different things. Don't jump on the HPV bandwagon yet- though the rates are very high, it doesn't mean you are one of those exposed.
Just hang in there until the doc calls you- hopefully that will be soon. I'd take your doc's reassurance way more seriously than your co-worker's story.
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Typically when a pap comes back abnormal they auto test for HPV (at least the high risk strains). There are many levels of abnormal, I would ask your Dr. what level the colpo/pap came back at. If it was ASCUS you really don't need to worry.
I wouldnt get too concerned, an abnormal pap can happen just based on timing of sex, your period or the way the dr. took the sample. Did you have a history of abnormal paps? I ask that because it's weird that they rushed to the colpo if you didn't have a history.
I've had 2 colpos and a LEEP and have HPV but my mom and grandmother both had cervical cancer before they were 28 so I think it's more genetic than HPV related. I've got a ton of experience with all this so let me know if you have questions.
Francesca Pearl is here! Josephine Hope is almost 3!
Thanks Snoopyluv!
This is the first one that has ever came back negative and that is why he said he wanted to go ahead and do the colpo. He said that he could be from just giving birth and the cervix being inflammed?? I just did not understand how you could have been in contact with HPV but not have it?? Does that makes sense to you??
HPV can clear up on it's own and in most cases your immune system fights it off. I don't test positive for it every time, it's strange the way the body works.
I think that was very shady of your doctor to do the colpo after only one abnormal pap. Standard procedure is after 2 abnormal paps in a one year period you get a colpo, your first step should have been a second pap. THe doctors can get a lot of insurance reimbursement for the colposcopies, that's why they push them, but still shady IMO. Did they take samples from you? If they did, I'm sorry, it's most unpleasant.
Your cervix goes through a lot of changes after pregnancy and birth, I really wouldn't be concerned. Having an abnormal pap does not automatically mean HPV. It's just that the cells on your cervix are abnormally shaped, which like I said before could be from a host of things. They typically automatically test for HPV because that gives the GYN a better idea of how to track your progress. I have to have 2 paps a year and generally 1 colpo each year because of how high risk I am. Usually during the colpo they don't take a sample I just get a pap because things look normal but just come back weird on the pap. It's a mess but I have done so much research on it I'm fine with them continually checking me.
I'm glad everything sounds fine but if this happens again just ask for a repeat pap instead of the colpo first.
Francesca Pearl is here! Josephine Hope is almost 3!
I kno that, but MM made me get them bc its "supposed to" prevent cervical cancer is what we were told... I really wish we would have gotten a second opinion... i called to get my medical records and they wont let me have them without paying for them.