colposcopy?

RedCherry1109 · November 2014

Has anyone had one done?

I went in to check on the bleeding I had last week and the dr. said I had an abnormal pap smear. So I'm getting it done Tuesday. I'm scared of what the results will be!

Also been put on pelvis rest along with light bed rest. That's going to be hard since I have a 17 month old, 4 year old and a 7 year old.

BookishMomma · November 2014

I have one of the high-risk strains of HPV that comes and goes at different periods in my life, so I've had many colposcopies, including one during my first pregnancy (which resulted in my DS, who is now 3). I didn't experience any complications from the colposcopy or the results. I was not put on bed rest or anything--just went about my normal activities. But at that point I did not yet have a history of loss, either, so I'm not sure if it would be different now. It's good that your doctor is advising you to be extra cautious. I hope yours goes smoothly.

RedCherry1109 · November 2014

Thank you @BookishMomma‌! She did say that she would watch my closely for bleeding or give me something to stop it. It was just a shock to me cause I've never had abnormal pap smear.

chicagojackie · November 2014

Lots of people have abnormal pap smears in pregnancy.

You can have a colposcopy but should not have any biopsy. You need to discuss this with your doctor.

As for pelvic rest the no sex thing is irritating but no big deal ultimately. What do they mean by "light bed rest" for a mom of three? No lifting over x amount of pounds? Can't vaccum? No going up stairs? You need to understand why they said that and what they are trying to treat and what specifically you are OK to do and not do. Do they think your cervix is short? If so what are they doing for that? Are they sure the bleeding is from the abnormality on your cervix?

Good luck!

RedCherry1109 · November 2014

@chicagojackie- she said try not to lift my kids unless I have too. She knows I'm at home by my self so I have to sometimes. She said it take it easy as much as I can. I think she is just being careful.

My cervix is not short, she checked it last week on the ultrasound. She said she was concerned at first that it might be because when she did the exam usually it pop right up/out and mine didn't. She said it could because scar tissue could have pulled it back since I've had 3 C/S.

The bleeding has stopped now but it happened after I had the pap smear but it was a lot of blood, way more than I was comfortable with. It was like I has started my period. That was last Tuesday and it last for 4 days.

My I ask why not to do the boipsy?

BookishMomma · November 2014

chicagojackie said:

Lots of people have abnormal pap smears in pregnancy.
You can have a colposcopy but should not have any biopsy. You need to discuss this with your doctor.
As for pelvic rest the no sex thing is irritating but no big deal ultimately. What do they mean by "light bed rest" for a mom of three? No lifting over x amount of pounds? Can't vaccum? No going up stairs? You need to understand why they said that and what they are trying to treat and what specifically you are OK to do and not do. Do they think your cervix is short? If so what are they doing for that? Are they sure the bleeding is from the abnormality on your cervix?
Good luck!

@chicagojackie makes a good point that I forgot to mention. While I did have a colposcopy during pregnancy, the doctor only did the "scope" part of it--that is, she looked at my cervix through a scope for any abnormalities. She did not take a cervical biopsy when I was pregnant, even though she had taken biopsies at other times when I was not pregnant. When I asked why, she said it was because she did not want to "mess with the cervix" during pregnancy. I realize that's not a very scientific answer, but just wanted to share my experience.

RedCherry1109 · November 2014

BookishMomma said:

chicagojackie said:

Lots of people have abnormal pap smears in pregnancy.
You can have a colposcopy but should not have any biopsy. You need to discuss this with your doctor.
As for pelvic rest the no sex thing is irritating but no big deal ultimately. What do they mean by "light bed rest" for a mom of three? No lifting over x amount of pounds? Can't vaccum? No going up stairs? You need to understand why they said that and what they are trying to treat and what specifically you are OK to do and not do. Do they think your cervix is short? If so what are they doing for that? Are they sure the bleeding is from the abnormality on your cervix?
Good luck!

@chicagojackie makes a good point that I forgot to mention. While I did have a colposcopy during pregnancy, the doctor only did the "scope" part of it--that is, she looked at my cervix through a scope for any abnormalities. She did not take a cervical biopsy when I was pregnant, even though she had taken biopsies at other times when I was not pregnant. When I asked why, she said it was because she did not want to "mess with the cervix" during pregnancy. I realize that's not a very scientific answer, but just wanted to share my experience.

-Quote fail-
Thanks! I'll make sure to bring it up when I go.

chicagojackie · November 2014

You don't want to do anything that would compromise the length/integrity of the cervix. There are some providers who don't perform colpo during pregnancy because--why? What are you going to do? Certainly not biopsy. You need to know how serious this pap result is. If it is low-grade you need to understand why they are doing the procedure (to confirm the pap? to recommend treatment? what?) before you consent to it and understand the implications of any biopsies or further treatment.

Most certainly do not recommend treatment unless there is a high-grade lesion and in that case the whole discussion about whether the mother should continue the pregnancy and risk progression of the lesion in the meantime or treat the lesion and risk losing the pregnancy.

I am not trying to stress you out but you should truly have informed consent about this which includes for what diagnosis they are doing this procedure, what the RISKS of the procedure are, how the results CHANGE what they are going to do DURING your pregnancy, and what the next steps are. BEFORE you're naked and in stirrups.

RedCherry1109 · November 2014

@chicagojackie said:
You don't want to do anything that would compromise the length/integrity of the cervix. There are some providers who don't perform colpo during pregnancy because--why? What are you going to do? Certainly not biopsy. You need to know how serious this pap result is. If it is low-grade you need to understand why they are doing the procedure (to confirm the pap? to recommend treatment? what?) before you consent to it and understand the implications of any biopsies or further treatment.
Most certainly do not recommend treatment unless there is a high-grade lesion and in that case the whole discussion about whether the mother should continue the pregnancy and risk progression of the lesion in the meantime or treat the lesion and risk losing the pregnancy.
I am not trying to stress you out but you should truly have informed consent about this which includes for what diagnosis they are doing this procedure, what the RISKS of the procedure are, how the results CHANGE what they are going to do DURING your pregnancy, and what the next steps are. BEFORE you're naked and in stirrups.

Thank you and will definitely talk to her before we do anything. I do know she said the results came back as high risk for something(can't think of what she said)but she did bring up HPV.

chicagojackie · November 2014

Plenty of women have high risk HPV which is cause for surveillance since it can cause pre-cancerous and cancerous cervical lesions. It is good that you had these tests, particularly if you are over age 30.

However if you don't have a cytological (the other part of the test, the pap test) abnormality you simply have a risk factor (the positive high-risk HPV) and not an "abnormal" or "unhealthy" result.

Good luck!

RedCherry1109 · November 2014

kaylam714 said:
I also had an abnormal pap smear at the beginning of this pregnancy, said to be "low-grade" abnormal. My OB didn't do a darn thing about it and doesn't plan to until after birth. Then we will redo the pap smear and go on with test and treatment as needed from there.
Hope you get some good answers out of your doctor!

Thank you!

RedCherry1109 · November 2014

@chicagojackie‌ - I forgot to mention that she saw a cyst on my cervix too. So does that change it anything? Cause I've been reading up on it and I wasn't going to do it since I didn't want to risk it.

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