I went and had a pap smear recently and am left completely frazzled by the whole appointment.
Since I am low income, I go to my local Planned Parenthood where these procedures are covered by the Take Charge program. I have had all my paps here and they have come back clean. The prior paps were with one doctor and then the clinic got a new one and this is the first time I'd ever had a pap with her.
She went through the procedure and commented that I seemed to be bleeding a lot. I didn't think some blood was odd because I'd spotted before after the smear and no one ever told me it was odd. On top of that I was only a week out from my period and I know that I'm more apt to bleed after intercourse around this time. I always thought it was just because I was so close to my period. I also tend to bleed some of my partner and I have not had sex in awhile, but then it always cleared up and was never enough to be worrisome.
Anyway, she proceeds to look at my cervix and starts to sound confused about what she's seeing. Naturally, I start to get worried and ask what she sees. She says it looks 'strange' and that she 'can't quite describe it'. She has me sit up and then proceeds to try to draw what she saw for me, explaining how a normal cervix is pink and smooth and the tissue around the opening of mine looks different. On the drawing, she represented this with lines, but when she tried to compare it to something she said - no joke - that it looked like hamburger.
I had no clue what to think about this. It sounded awful! This doctor basically just told me my cervix tissue looked like ground meat! I asked her what it could mean or if she thought it might point to something in particular. All she said was 'It could just be a phase in your life, but you should get it looked at by an OBGYN.' Of course, I'm baffled because I thought that's what SHE was, but then I guess she might have just been a physician's assistant or something. Either way. I was troubled by the fact this medical professional could not provide me with any details about my condition. I don't expect she'd diagnose me, but what about using terms like 'inflamed' or 'irritated' or even just 'it looks abnormal'. Any of that would have made me feel better than HAMBURGER. And what doctor (who works in a sexual health/family planning clinic) acts like they've never seen an odd cervix before???
She told me she'd refer me out for a colopscopy within a week, but now I'm terrified about what's going on down there. And, of course, since my elder sibling has had cervical cancer, I'm worried that I do, too and that it's in some late, terrible stage! I haven't experienced anything strange, that I know of. I have had some slight discharge the past month, but nothing smelly or bloody. I want to get the colposcopy for some real answers, but have to wait for financial reasons. My pap results won't be back for two weeks and even then it's a 'if you don't hear anything, that means it's good news'.
I feel like I'm going to go out of my mind. Does anyone have any idea what she might have been talking about? Or was this doctor a complete idiot??
Since I am low income, I go to my local Planned Parenthood where these procedures are covered by the Take Charge program. I have had all my paps here and they have come back clean. The prior paps were with one doctor and then the clinic got a new one and this is the first time I'd ever had a pap with her.
She went through the procedure and commented that I seemed to be bleeding a lot. I didn't think some blood was odd because I'd spotted before after the smear and no one ever told me it was odd. On top of that I was only a week out from my period and I know that I'm more apt to bleed after intercourse around this time. I always thought it was just because I was so close to my period. I also tend to bleed some of my partner and I have not had sex in awhile, but then it always cleared up and was never enough to be worrisome.
Anyway, she proceeds to look at my cervix and starts to sound confused about what she's seeing. Naturally, I start to get worried and ask what she sees. She says it looks 'strange' and that she 'can't quite describe it'. She has me sit up and then proceeds to try to draw what she saw for me, explaining how a normal cervix is pink and smooth and the tissue around the opening of mine looks different. On the drawing, she represented this with lines, but when she tried to compare it to something she said - no joke - that it looked like hamburger.
I had no clue what to think about this. It sounded awful! This doctor basically just told me my cervix tissue looked like ground meat! I asked her what it could mean or if she thought it might point to something in particular. All she said was 'It could just be a phase in your life, but you should get it looked at by an OBGYN.' Of course, I'm baffled because I thought that's what SHE was, but then I guess she might have just been a physician's assistant or something. Either way. I was troubled by the fact this medical professional could not provide me with any details about my condition. I don't expect she'd diagnose me, but what about using terms like 'inflamed' or 'irritated' or even just 'it looks abnormal'. Any of that would have made me feel better than HAMBURGER. And what doctor (who works in a sexual health/family planning clinic) acts like they've never seen an odd cervix before???
She told me she'd refer me out for a colopscopy within a week, but now I'm terrified about what's going on down there. And, of course, since my elder sibling has had cervical cancer, I'm worried that I do, too and that it's in some late, terrible stage! I haven't experienced anything strange, that I know of. I have had some slight discharge the past month, but nothing smelly or bloody. I want to get the colposcopy for some real answers, but have to wait for financial reasons. My pap results won't be back for two weeks and even then it's a 'if you don't hear anything, that means it's good news'.
I feel like I'm going to go out of my mind. Does anyone have any idea what she might have been talking about? Or was this doctor a complete idiot??
Get The Newsletter
Comment