Cervical Cancer Support Group

I am part of DS but in another support group. Anyway, my 66 year old mother is going through exactly what you're going through. I see you posted this at the beginning of the month with no replies! I do hope you hear from others as well. Have you gotten any other news? My mom just scheduled her LEEP procedure for December 8th, so until then, we will be on pins and needles. I should also add that the colposcopy revealed her pre-cancerous cells are SIN3, the highest level before cancer. Any words of wisdom or comments would be appreciated as well! I wish you the best and you will be in my prayers as well!

Sorry I meant to say CIN3 not SIN3.

Unfortunately this group doesn't seem to be very active :( I am having a LEEP done on December 1st. I got my pap results and my biopsy results from the doctor so I could see them for myself and it doesn't seem to be as bad as I thought it was. I have CIN 2 with the biopsies coming back as normal for the one sample and the other one came back acute and chronic cervicitis and squamous atypia. So they want to be safe and do the LEEP just to make sure there's nothing lurking. I'll keep your mom in my thoughts and prayers. Let me know how she makes out!

PS I also tested positive for HPV so they don't know if that's what's causing the abnormalities and inflammation. Guess I'll find out soon! Did your mom have an HPV test done??

Thanks for your reply! Yes my mother did test positive for HPV. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers for the LEEP on the 1st. Keep me posted! I think everything will be okay!

Praying for Luvmypeanut75 and your mother Dawnee222. I was in your shoes once and not completely out of the woods yet.

I had an abnormal pap and tested positive for HPV. I had heard about it, but really had no clue what it was or how you get it. So, after freaking out I began researching it. I found that this was very very scarily common. One of the hardest thing for me was that I couldn't pinpoit it. I'm 33 and have been in a relationship for 7 years and prior to that was married for 9 years. Who, What, When, Where?? Because it can lay dormat for years I simply couldn't blame it on anyone. The vaccination wasn't available to me in time and while this has been a known disease for a long time, it must not have been one that was introduced as it is today. Soooo..

Because my strain was so low, I had a Colposcopy vs. a LEEP done. It came back as mild to moderate displasya. Waited three weeks then had Cryo Therepy to freeze the abnormal cervical cells. The procedure wasn't too bad really, it was the aftermath that got me. Watery discharge for over a month! It was like I was peeing water ALL DAY long. Crazy... but I knew that the cells were slowy draining out of me and new healthly ones would grow. That keep me positive.

I just had my 3 month re-pap Tuesday. I will know in a week if my treatment worked. Hoping and praying for a normal pap!

You see, this unfortunate but common situation happens to all ages. It just doesn't care how young or old you are. We must stay healthly and fight this crap. Not to mention keep our friends and family educated on what causes HPV. There is a support group for HPV that you may want to join as well. Although I have found that most of the topics in there is regarding the genital wart strain of HPV. But, there are a few others with stories like yours & mine.

Good Luck!

I've had the LEEP & Colposcopy twice.
Had HPV & severe dysplasia (CIN III) & I'm ok now.

1st of all, CIN is not cancer, It's dysplasia (cell mutation, usually caused by the HPV virus) which if left untreated can become cancer but it takes a very long time for that to occur. I only have to be re-tested every 3 years, it's that slow.
CIN I = mild dysplasia, CIN II - moderate, CIN III severe or what they call Cancer in situ or pre-cancer (meaning it has not spread beyond the cervix wall.

HPV is a very common STD. About 50% of women who've ever had sex have or have had it. Usually the body's immune system
gets rid of it but sometimes not. Men obviously can't get cervical cancer but they can contract HPV & spread it to female partners.
There are hundreds of strains of HPV but only a few are known to cause cervical cancer.

I was diagnosed with one of the cancer-causing strains & CIN III.
It only got that bad because I failed to have regularly scheduled pap tests for years.

Anyway, here is my experience:
They had me take 800 mg of Motrin before the procedure & then they did the colposcopy which is nothing more than examining your cervix with a high-powered microscope & putting dye on it to highlight the bad cells.

Next was the LEEP which stands for Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure.
They grounded me by placing a pad on my thigh (to prevent electricution by the laser device), gave me a shot to my cervix but I barely felt it (the cervix has very few nerve endings). Then they used the laser to remove the bad cells highlighted by the dye. Afterwards they cauterized the wound, put some brown stuff on it to aid healing & prevent infection & sent me home. The whole thing took about an hour.
The dr. explained I may have mild cramps for a few days -just take Motrin or Tylenol, some bleeding & brown discharge (the brown anticeptic), not to take baths, use tampons or lift heavy objects & come back in a few weeks to see how it's healed & get a biopsy. The biopsy was to check the margins to ensure that the area around the surgical site contained only normal cells & they'd removed all the bad ones.
In my case, the dysplasia was rather deep, They removed as much as they could & then I had to wait to fully heal, come back & have it all done again. Dr. didn't want to remove too many layers at once because it throws the hormonal cycle too much out of whack.

Anyway, I was awake for the whole procedure both times & I didn't feel much of anything. There was some cramping afterwards (no worse than menstral cramps) & I bled for several weeks as if I was having an extended period. At the end of it I had another pap & HPV test & they came up clean. "Come back in 3 years dr. said".

Hi. I am just wanting to get more info on this/ Cyndi321, since yours came back normal last time(what a blessing!), before you had the procedure, where you bleeding already or having brown discharge? Had you dropped weight rapidly already? Did you have any symptoms at all? Thanks!

i had both the LEEP and colposcopy done. i was unfortunate and had the cancer causing strains CIN III. i was not awake for my LEEP and i am glad. cervical cancer runs in my family and i am glad that i went and got my paps done. for me, after the surgeries my cervix is so much more sensitive. my colposcopy hurt me very badly. i am not sure if anyone else had this where it hurt so bad. i hope you are recovering well. my coloscopy was in january;.