Oh boy, I have to let you in a guilty secret of mine. I had to share it with my OB on my first appointment this pregnancy. Because I’ve had so many babies in a short period of time – let’s see, 4 babies in under 6 years and pregnant with number 5. So after each baby my OB gives me a pap test at my 6 week check up. And I don’t mind my OB giving me the test since he’s seen everything anyway. My test results always come back fine and then I fall pregnant before my next pap smear is due. It has been convenient. But after Elodie the result said there were too many pregnancy cells so I needed to wait 3 months and have it redone. And I received a reminder in the mail. And then I received another reminder and stuck it on the side of the fridge. And I knew I had to do it. And then I got pregnant. So I need to wait until I’ve had this baby for my next pap test.
edited to add this great comment from Maryanne today:
Being a woman and a GP I thought I would add my 2 cents worth!
Personally I’m not that keen to have a pap done, but do it regularly as I know what a brilliant life saving test.
From a professional perspective, I regularly remind and encourage women to have their paps done. I think it’s great to remember a few things.
It’s usually a quick procedure and often thinking about it is worse than having it done.
It is truly lifesaving – a pap is not looking for cervical cancer it is looking for early changes that may become cancer if left untreated over time. Get a pap, find the pre-cancerous cells, treat them and you don’t get cancer. Don’t get a pap, you may miss the opportunity to treat a pre-cancerous change and unfortunately it may progress to something so much more compliated to treat. I know a pap isn’t great but the alternative is so much worse.
Finally I thought you may be interested to know I do 3-5 paps a week and I only work 2 days! Over my doctoring lifetime I have done thousands. It is part of my every day. I am never embarassed when I do a pap even though I know those who come to see me sometimes feel uncomfortable. Whether you have had time for “personal grooming” or not(!) get your pap done!! You will feeling so much better when you have done it rather than worrying about it. And don’t worry about what the doctor thinks!!! We have done them so any times before!
Im a regular pap tester
Also didnt realise you were having another baby! Congrats xx
Oh goodness me, I’ve been ignoring the reminder note for months now….I suppose I should go!!…
Never my favourite appointment but do it regularly, can’t be too careful with a houseful of children I’m not ready to leave yet. Mind you, with a houseful of children the personal grooming maybe isn’t what it used to be…!
Sandra x
Thank you thank you thank you! I read the title of the post and remembered I was overdue (also from being pregnant just before I was due) and got up and rang the doctor. Then I read the whole post and with those statistics I’m so glad I did.
After watching one of my Sisterhood (a special close group) friends pass away slowly over a period of three years from Cervical cancer my girlfriends and I are pedantic about having our pap smears done and woe betide ANYONE who lets slip they are not up to date with their tests. You (anyone reading this, not just you Corrie) owe it to your kids to have the test done! I have mine on or around my boys’ birthday as I feel I owe them to be here for them. BTW my friend’s progressed to stage 4 BECAUSE she hadn’t had pap smears for SEVERAL years!!! PLEASE DON’T OUT IT OFF ANY LONGER THAN NECESSARY. I would rather offend someone by nagging them to be tested than care for them in palliative care again.
Mine are up to date. I don’t like doing it but I know it is important. When you youngest has an even number birthday I book myself in.
I WAS not a regular pap tester, mostly due my mother never having one and putting the fear into me that you only needed them if you were a flusey!! So for over a decade I did not go there. After having my first daughter I knew I needed to be a positive role model for her. So two down then another baby came. Just waiting for my next now – test that is. The stats are scary, and its not great anticipating them but as you say, once done – no worries! Love the personal grooming bit!! It’s great to feel like a yummy mummy if you can manage to do so!
And here I am in the waiting room at my Gynae for a pap test as I type this!
I wasn’t a regular pap tester, hate them didn’t have one for maybe 7 or so years, finally went at the beginning of last year and got abnormal results in very early stages thankfully, it was able to show that i have the cervical cancer strand but can lay dormant forever and I’ve had the vaccine. I had to be retested after 6 months and it came back normal. I now have to have them yearly but now i will, its a few minutes discomfort for the sake of my life!
I’ve thought for a long time that gynaecologists/OBs, beauticians and dentists should co-locate, so you could have a seamless treatment – first the beautician, then the gynae, then dentist. With childcare facs too for those that need.
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Regular as clock work!!I’m the one nagging mum to have her’s done every 2 years!
We are recommended to get a pap yearly here in the US – and we can’t have any birth control without one
So I get my pap every year.
Mines overdue, but I’ve got the same reason as you for waiting!
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Being a woman and a GP I thought I would add my 2 cents worth!
Personally I’m not that keen to have a pap done, but do it regularly as I know what a brilliant life saving test.
From a professional perspective, I regularly remind and encourage women to have their paps done. I think it’s great to remember a few things.
It’s usually a quick procedure and often thinking about it is worse than having it done.
It is truly lifesaving – a pap is not looking for cervical cancer it is looking for early changes that may become cancer if left untreated over time. Get a pap, find the pre-cancerous cells, treat them and you don’t get cancer. Don’t get a pap, you may miss the opportunity to treat a pre-cancerous change and unfortunately it may progress to something so much more compliated to treat. I know a pap isn’t great but the alternative is so much worse.
Finally I thought you may be interested to know I do 3-5 paps a week and I only work 2 days! Over my doctoring lifetime I have done thousands. It is part of my every day. I am never embarassed when I do a pap even though I know those who come to see me sometimes feel uncomfortable. Whether you have had time for “personal grooming” or not(!) get your pap done!! You will feeling so much better when you have done it rather than worrying about it. And don’t worry about what the doctor thinks!!! We have done them so any times before!
Im like you, always remembering when I get pregnant. Im not over due until March but it’ll have to wait until we welcome our 4th bundle of joy in August
Thanks for the timely reminder since its my sons 2nd birthday today and so I must be due then for my pap smear!! I do get them done regularly but had forgotten this time!!
Eu faço meus exames sempre em fevereiro,este ano meu médico saiu de férias está marcado para 05 de março.É apavorante saber desses números.Tenho muito medo da mamografia minha irmã teve câncer de mama alguns anos atrás, e foi o que chamam de intervalo .Apessoa faz o exame,dá resultado negativo e de repente aparece com um caroço.Ela está curada,em nome de Jesus.Faz ultra sonografia a cada 6 meses,pois o seu caso foi muito abrasivo.Ela está ótima agora,na época (tem 2 filhas)Ellen tinha 16 e sthefany 2 anos.Foi difícil…Beijos e DEUS ABENÇOE . sua linda família
I hate to break it to you – but being preggers is not an excuse! I had to have one when I was 12 weeks pregnant with my third (I have a similar story with three kids close together and managed to avoid it for a while). So, if you’re really worried, you can get it done.
I am so glad to have found you and your post. I am the proud Mum of 6, and I have not had a pap in over a year, perhaps yr. and half. No excuses, my youngest is 4. I am groomed though, so I really should call the Doc. Congrats on your pregnancy, love babies myself too! Thanx again, new follower
I always have a pap test. I think it should be every year. Although we are against the ‘new’ cervical cancer injection. There is no evidence that you will be protected against a cancer that may or may not affect the young girls in 20 or so years time. It has caused death and other serious illnesses to some girls who’ve had it. Why would you risk your daughter being that statistic…I’m just sayn. Don’t trust the big pharmaceutical companies.
I have a date with an internal ultrasound machine soon, must look my best then as well
Like your page, I’m a new follower.
Overdue! And overdue for mammogram and ultrasound too! I’m now onto it!
I had cervical cancer in my late 20’s, it was only found because my doctor at the time insisted I have a smear test, it only takes a few minutes and yes, it can be uncomfortable and at times inconvenient, but it is also inconvenient to die.
very important post and much appreciated! It’s so important to get tested… I’m 37 weeks pregnant with my first baby at the moment and my doctor did a pap test during my 6th month as it was safe to do it then. I’m sure things are conducted differently in different countries (I’m originally from the US, but now live in Italy). I didn’t realise that pregnancy could maybe interfere with a clear reading… I defintely think it’s important to go once a year (and admit that it had been 3 years since my last one!) I’ll definitely be arranging another one this autumn.
I don’d have a cervix anymore so don’t need to have the test anymore, but when I did, I had to have them every 12 months due to abnormal cells so I used to make it a New Year thing…easy to remember…a New Year, a new test. With iphones these days its easy to put the reminders in the phone. I will be encouraging my girls to do this. I will be reminding and nagging my daughters…
Hi – I am a Nurse trained to do pap’s. I decided to train to give patients more options, and (hopefully) take away some of the fear/embarrasment factor.
So far I have seen quite a few first timers – it is amazing how many girls don’t even know they should have a pap once they are 18, or have been sexually active for two years (which means they could be even younger).
So good idea to mention it to the teens as well.
Oh, and I never remember a cervix personally!! So there is no need to worry about that aspect of it either.
Great post. My cousin, only in her 20’s is currently undergoing treatment after receiving a bad result on her pap test. I’m so glad she’ll be around for a bit longer thanks to this important test.
I had my first pap test when I was in graduate school. I live in the United States and in order for me to get birth control I had to have one done. I expressed my first time concerns of what the doctor might be doing down there. It was the best experience that I have ever had at the doctor’s office. She was funny; she let me know everything she was doing and why. I left the office with warm fuzzies.
Since I am under the age of 25, I do not have to have a test done every year. After getting pregnant, I had to have another pap test done because I went to a new office. That was a rememberable appointment because the doctor was really rough. I refuse to have her my doctor every again. There are plenty of other doctors who I would rather have preform the test on me.
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Thanks for the reminders. I was so good about doing it every year when I was younger. Sadly I haven’t been since my daughter was born and yeah…she’s four now.
WAY overdue!! I always kept on with this, and when I had my last baby my doctor didn’t do one at my 6 week check after delivery. So I’m a little over 2 years. I guess my excuse is it takes me 2 months to get into my family doctor so I book the appointment and HELLO comes Aunt-Flo…
My sister had cervical cancer picked up in a PAP test, she was 26 & trying ot get pregnant, then had to wait 2 years to be all clear.
I have no issues with PAP smear (is smear too gross now??) with a GP or OB, but here’s a tip – after a few babies, ask your doctor how your cervix looks, mine pulls faces with her lips to tell me exacly what my first born did – big babies!!
I had to take 4 little children with me to a PAP test one as my father-in-law forgot i had asked him to babysit. It was fine, the doctor just asked them to stay behind the curtain, they couldn’t care less. So you could say from a very young age, they are clued in, whether they want to be or not!! Love Posie
My daughters beautiful kinder teacher lived in a small town when she was growing up and knew the dr as a family friend, was embarrassed to get a test so never went. At 45 she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She was treated and went into remission. Now 2yrs later the cancer has returned and spread into her uterus…and so sadly, is inoperable…it brings me to tears writing this but it reminds me how important it is to have regular tests. Even sadder is this could possibly have been prevented and a beautiful person would not be so ill.
You might be surprised to hear that our program is excessive, harmful and inefficient and now more than a decade behind the evidence. We have one of the highest referral rates in the world thanks to serious over-screening. Over-screening means the risk of a false positive goes way up – there is no additional benefit with 2 yearly screening over 3 yearly, but risk goes up and only marginal benefits over 5 yearly. The problem: Pap testing is unreliable and this cancer has always been rare and was in natural decline before testing started – it affected 15 in 100,000 before testing started and is now 9 in 100,000, but we know natural decline has played a part there too…so over-screening and a rare cancer is a bad combination.
Over-treatment and excess biopsies (especially cone biopsies and laser treatments) can damage the cervix leading to cervical stenosis, infertility, cervical incompetence, high risk pregnancy requiring cervical cerclage, premature babies, c-sections etc
Lifetime risk of cc is 0.65%, take out false negatives and consider natural decline and fewer than 0.45% can possibly be helped by pap tests, BUT our lifetime risk for referral is a whopping 77%, almost all are false positives. It has always shocked me the misinformation that is provided to women and that there is virtually no scrutiny of this program – IMO, there is no respect for our legal right to make an informed decision about testing.
Finland has the lowest rates of cc in the world and refer the fewest women – they offer 7 pap tests, 5 yearly from 30 to 60. The Dutch have the same program, but will shortly move to a 5 hrHPV primary triage testing program offered at 30,35,40,50 and 60 and only those positive and at risk from this cancer will be offered a 5 yearly pap test. (most will clear the infection over a year or so – it is only the rare cases that progress to invasive cervical cancer)
By age 40 only 5% of women are HPV positive. Those HPV negative can follow the HPV program or even test themselves using the Delphi Screener, the self-sample HPV device…and if HPV negative and monogamous or no longer sexually active, you can forget all testing and revisit the subject if your risk profile changes. The Delphi Screener is also about to be launched in Italy and Singapore and several other countries as well.
The Dutch program will further reduce pap testing, over-treatment and is more likely to prevent these rare cancers, including those currently missed by our program. (50% of adenocarcinoma and 25% of squamous cell)
A review of our program is only now starting and the Report is not due until 2014 and then further delay waiting for the Govt to change our program – the delay is inexcusable.
Also, we should not be pap testing women under 30 and definitely not under 25 – this group produce the most false positives and note the following from:
“Cervical cancer screening” in Australian Doctor July 2006 by Assoc Prof Margaret Davy and Dr Shorne – “No country has shown a reduction in the incidence of or the mortality from cervical cancer in women under 30, irrespective of cervical screening. Many countries do not perform cervical screening in women under 30″…
Over-treatment is HIGHLY lucrative for the medical profession (including labs, pathologists, specialists etc) and with NO independent scrutiny of our program there is no pressure to put women first and make changes.
I’d urge all women to do some reading and make an informed decision about testing.
Our GP’s also receive target payments for pap testing which IMO, creates a potential conflict of interest.
See: PIP scheme and Financial Incentives Legislation (target – currently set at 65%) also, Dr Joel Sherman’s Medical Privacy forum under women’s privacy concerns parts 1 to 7 – in the side bar you’ll find the facts…see research by Dr Angela Raffle.
A few references:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/start-pap-tests-later-say-doctors-20091120-iqyo.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020163909.htm
(On the Delphi Screener)
http://www.delphi-bioscience.com/Delphi-Screener/Paginas/default.aspx