Hello everyone,

I am very careful with my health and recently went to do tests (blood and swab in the vagina) everything came back all good and negative.
But recently, I found out my smear test showed that I caught a viral infection.
Also to add, that mum received the letter... anyway, I gotta go back to my doctor, and am freaking out...do I have cancer? Wtf is that about  Can I still work?
Thanks

Your mum should not be opening your post, so when you've sorted out the rest it's time for a firm chat about boundaries (and possibly also the law, since doing so is illegal).

It sounds like HPV, which they should have told you? It's extremely common among sexually active people and you've probably had it for some time - it doesn't mean you have cancer, just that you may be at a slightly higher risk of changes to the cells in your cervix which they might want to have a look at. It won't affect you working for now at least and your doctor will explain it all far better than we can in terms of having sex following any further test they might want to do .

Well I can't claim to have had one, but I just did a quick search on here for 'colposcopy' and plenty of people have! I'm sure some of them will see this, but in the meantime maybe do the same and have a look through the threads - there's likely to be some useful stuff in there about work and so on to make you feel a bit better .

Cardi, you need to educate yourself and calm down.

About 80 percent of the population carries one form of human papillomavirus or the other. It's transmitted sexually, but by skin-to-skin contact, so condoms only reduce the risk slightly. Some of the strains cause neoplasms (which can develop into cancer), others cause genital warts.

If you have any irregular cervical cells, the first stage to a neoplasm, you'll go for a colposcopy where they take a closer look at your cervix and will probably take some biopsies. Nine times out of 10, everything will be OK, and they'll just do another colposcopy and/or get you in for smears every 6 or 12 months. It can take a few years for your body to clear the virus, and it's easy to catch it again, but it doesn't mean anything bad will happen. And if does, as said, often mild laser treatment will get rid of it.

If you're under 25, you might want to ask your GP or a GUM clinic about having the HPV vaccine if you were too old to have it at school. If you're 25-45, you might want to consider buying it privately.

Hi ladies,

The gynaecologist rang and said that following my colposcopy I need to speak and take an appointment with a doctor!! They left me a voice mail so I gotta call tomorrow to find out more...
I am feeling very stressed and unwell, what could it be? Do I have cancer?
Do you girls have more information? I’m worried about my health and work...

You need to speak to the Dr, only they can advise.

Hi ladies,

The gynaecologist rang and said that following my colposcopy I need to speak and take an appointment with a doctor!! They left me a voice mail so I gotta call tomorrow to find out more...
I am feeling very stressed and unwell, what could it be? Do I have cancer?
Do you girls have more information? I’m worried about my health and work...

The letter says you have a viral infection. Visuses don't cause cancer. The letter would have said "abnormal cells" if it was a cancer type investigation.

If your mum is overbearing she may have conditioned you to live in a fear response. 

The letter says you have a viral infection. Visuses don't cause cancer. The letter would have said "abnormal cells" if it was a cancer type investigation.

If your mum is overbearing she may have conditioned you to live in a fear response.

Human papillomavirus does cause cervical cancer, also some penile, vulval and head and neck (especially throat) cancers.

I'm wondering if it was the OP's first ever smear, in which case she could have had HPV for years. Also, different NHS trusts screen differently. In Hertfordshire, everyone just got cytology (at least until I moved last year), but in Lancashire they test for HPV first and only do the cytology (to look for irregular cells) if they detect the virus, though they don't say (or test for) which specific strain(s) you have: there are 20+ and only a few are tumourigenic.

If you just have a few irregular cells they normally just watch and wait to see if your immune system will get rid of them itself. Anything more advanced they would probably suggest laser therapy.

Sorry to hear that, but try and be positive: they've caught it and you're being treated.

If you're under 30, I would definitely get the HPV vaccine (Gardasil rather than Cervarix, as it protects against more strains). If you're 31-45, I'd strongly recommend it.

As for working, if you have alternatives I would consider them. You may find you have some irregular bleeding, especially if you need treatment after the biopsy.