[Julie1981]

Hi I'm 29 years old - two weeks ago I had my very first smear test (pap). I live in England,UK and was first invited to have a smear test when I was 25 and afterwards however I never had one because I'm a real worrier and I was scared of what the results would be.

Today, my worst nightmare has come true. This afternoon I had a phonecall from my GP telling me that he had had a note from the lab saying that my result had found "Borderline Cells" and that within 2-3 weeks I will recieve a letter to go and have a Colposcopy. I have read up and know that Borderline is common, however I am sure it must be bad if they are sending me striaght for the Colposcopy!! Also to make matters worse just yesterday I attended the G.U.M to have a full sexual health screening including an HIV test as it is something I had been worrying about for the past year!! I read today on a website that women with HIV can have abnormal smear results!! I don't get my STD/HIV test results for TWO WEEKS!! I am so very scared. All I have ever wanted is a child of my own and now I'm scared that I wont be able to have one.

Can anybody please please please give me some help/advice/reassurance. Please,please,please,please - thank you so much.

[rosekitten]

Colposcopy is the normal next step. They need a more detailed test in order to properly analyze the cells. Breathe, relax, and try to stay calm. Abnormal paps, are, well, normal, and a colpscopy is the next step in testing. I had an abnormal test about 3 years ago, went in for a colpscopy a couple weeks later as standard procedure. Try to calm down until you get your results, no need to stress yourself out over normal procedure.

[stressed]

I've had an abnormal test once too, but it was nothing serious (had a creme prescribed for a week and that was it). A colposcopy is also normal to have

I was also worrying when that test came back abnormal (even about HIV and looked up info about cells and everything).

Why have you been worrying about HIV the past year? It's unlikely you have it (it doesn't even always show in pap tests) but it might make you feel better if you think that the person is probably healthy and not carrying the virus.