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anyone have a bad pap after a cone biopsy?

overthis
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hi. i am new to this but really wanted to reach out. i am married and have been with my husband for 6 years. i have been getting normal paps since i was 18. this year in jan, i had a bad pap with CIN III (from 0 to 60 in one year). then in feb, a biospy and colposcopy. then in march a leep and then in april a cone. i thought we were done when i had my 3 month follow up last week. my pap came back with "atypical squamous of undetermined significance" that are low level and my gyno referred me to an oncologist who i am seeing on monday. has anyone had anything similar to this? i would love to know...thank you...

Explore topics in this discussion:

Cancer Surgery Pregnancy Cryosurgery Cervical cancer HPV Gardasil Stress

21 replies

flowershoplady

hello, overthis. i'm sorry to hear that you're dealing with dysplasia. you've gone through a lot in the last 6 months. and, it's not all that uncommon to have an ascus pap after a cervical surgery, particularly so soon after the surgeries. it could be due simply to inflammation. hopefully that's the case, and the gynecologic oncologist will do a colposcopy and see that things are healing well, and without other abnormalities. let us know how the appointment goes!

overthis

wow, thank you flowershoplady! i so appreciate your response. i hope that you are correct and will suggest that possibility to the oncologist on monday. i will let you know what happens. thank you again...

flowershoplady

hi, again, overthis. the inflammation would be just one reason for having an ascus pap. and, it wouldn't be uncommon since you've had the pap relatively soon after the last surgery. did you get clear margins when you had the cone biopsy? i'm assuming that the leep hadn't removed enough tissue, and thus you needed a cone. i hope the second surgery was successful, and will hope the abnormal pap is 'just' inflammation! if you've still got an active hpv infection, that too, could result in an ascus pap result. looking forward to hearing how you're doing after your monday doctor's visit!

overthis

hi flowershop lady. not sure if you will get this as its been months since my last post. unfortunately, that pap in july came back showing low level precancerous cells and then i did a colposcopy and a ecc. the ecc came back that the cervical canal was clear. that was good news. still didn't understand how after a leep and cone with clear margins at the end, how a pap could come back bad. now, 3 months later, i just had another pap and the cells are still there. i am going in for a colposcopy and ecc again next week. has anyone had a similar situation?

flowershoplady

overthis, i'm sorry to hear you're still having an abnormal pap. it's not common for this to happen, but, unfortunately, it's not rare either. it's good that you're under the watchful eye of the gynecologic oncologist, and as much as it's not pleasant (ok, it's unpleasant!), it's good to be having the colposcopies and biopsies (including ecc) to determine what's going on to cause the abnormal paps. if you have mild dysplasia (CIN1), they may continue to just watch and wait with the hope (expectation!) that the dysplasia will clear without further medical intervention. you may want to ask if your hpv test is coming out positive still. and i would encourage you to do whatever you can to try to get/keep yourself as healthy as possible, not smoking, eating well (including veggies with DIM), getting plenty of sleep, reducing stress. i know this is frustrating, but hang in there. be good to yourself.

overthis

thanks again flowershop lady for your response. the last pap did test positive for hpv and i think that is the problem. i work out 6 times a week, sleep enough and am trying to reduce stress but this happens to be particularly stressful month for me. what is DIM? you mentioned that with the veggies. also, is the expectation that the hpv test might come out negative? is that even possible? and one last question, my husband and i were planning on trying to get pregnant in january. my oncologist asked us to wait until this is dealt with. do you think another cone might be in my future or can this possibly just go away if we wait it out? sorry in advance for all the questions. you seem really knowledgeable about this and i am appreciative.

flowershoplady

hello again. yes, you eventually want to get that hpv test to be negative! the hpv test indicates positive when the hpv infection is active and will be negative when the infection is no longer active. the longer the hpv infection is active, the more likely that dysplasia/cancer will develop. (of course, most women with hpv have no symptoms nor problems at all!). DIM is found in cruciferous vegetables (kale, bok choy, etc.) or can be taken as supplements, and has been shown to help clear hpv infections. the gyn/oncologist wants you to wait until your cervix is healthy before getting pregnant because that will be best for your health and the health of the pregnancy. dysplasia and hpv are more apt to develop during pregnancy.

ddn82005

Hi Overthis, I freak out at the time of every pap now, let alone to get abnormal ones... I wish you an ALL CLEAR from the Oncologist... They know more what to look for.
I had a cone done in jan - all paps have been clear... I know not the same as you but just wanted to share with you that right away when I got my bad pap at the end of 2007 my Obgyn sent me to an Oncologist right away for him to do the surgery. My obgyn was honest with me that he did not want to take a chance on doing a cone on me, that he hadn't done one in a while and wanted to make sure it all was taken care of.
Here is rooting for you to get your all clear. Please let us know what the oncologist says -

ddn82005

Last year my husband and I were going to start ttc#2 in November and well just as we got to our vacation spot my obgyn called with the bad pap info and said stay on the pill . I will add that I am ttc#2 and we have since April and we are having no luck since me having the cone. I also have developed other issues but I think it might be more related to hormones.

overthis

hi ddn82005. thanks for your response too. i am happy for you that you have had normal paps since your cone. i hope that stays the same for you. and good luck with #2. my gyno mentioned something about mucous on the cervical canal being compromised with the cone and that might affect getting pregnant, but i hope that is not the case for you. as for me, i will have the new biopsies in a week and see, i guess, if i need another cone or if this can somehow wait itself out. in the meantime, the oncologist asked us not to try.

ddn82005

I am glad that you are now going to the oncologist. I hope that this can be resolved for you. I will keep waiting for posts.

trigirl

hi overthis (and everyone else). i am some months behind you in all of this, so these posts have been particularly helpful. i had a cone done about 3 weeks ago and hoping for a good pap this coming january. my fiance and i are getting married in may and want to start trying right away. i have a good friend who had some fertility issues (she finally got pregnant on her 3rd ivf cycle!) but she reccomended something interesting. she said that if you drink cough medicine while you are ovulating, you produce more cervical mucous. not sure if this is true or not, and i normally wouldnt take meds just to take them, but it may be worth looking into.

Curing_CIN3_onmyown

http://www.pap101.com/

Interesting article

flowershoplady

yes, interesting website. just a caution that the information reported is quite old, at least in terms of medical science. using the class system for paps was replaced by the current bethesda system in 2001. and, the information doesn't include all of the research we now know about hpv, including its causative effect for cervical cancer.

sweet222

Hi! i had the 1st pap smear done in may thn the results came and doctor told me to that i have Low-grade dysplasia ..thn she told me to get the biopsy done and thn she did the cryosurgery. Thn again after 5 months she did the 2nd pap smear and got the results and it said that i had high grade Atypical Squamous Cells but she said she wants to do the pap smear again in 4 months to see if it comes out the same b4 she can take any other step, can you please help me or suggest to me what's going on and what can be done next? Thanks
ps.. i am really really nervous.

flowershoplady

sweet222, sorry to hear you're feeling so anxious. i would encourage you to get a copy of your medical records which can help you understand things better....and as many of us say...knowledge is power. pap smear results could be either high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HGSIL/HSIL) or ASCUS (atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance) amongst other possibilities...here's a great website page from the national cancer institute which describes the various pap smear result possibilities: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/detection/Pap-test
The ASCUS results can be from inflammation and/or if your hpv infection is still active. as you probably know, you can have high risk hpv strains or low risk hpv strains, and the hpv test detects whether these viruses are 'active' or not. most women have hpv but most have no problems nor symptoms.

in fact, as you learn more about hpv and dysplasia, you'll see that many doctors will just watch and wait when there's mild dysplasia (CIN1) because so many women will clear that on their own.

i'm glad you found this site....it's a warm and supportive community. don't hesitate to ask questions, share, or even vent!

sweet222

Thank you flowershoplady!! ill definately get the copy of the results from the doctor..ill again tell u which one it is exactly.. thankx once again

Cotena101

Hi everyone. This website has been very helpful. I just had a cone biopsy done on May 22nd. I wasn't told when I should go in for my next Pap so I'm thinking of going in at the end of August. I had my last Gardasil shot in April. My fiance has been understanding of the situation I am in but is not very patient. I only had the cone biopsy done barely 1 week ago and I know I am suppose for wait 3-4 weeks to have intercourse again. He insist we at least shower together but that can lead to other things not done with protection. Was my cone biopsy a complete waste since we sort of had intercourse...even though I had the Gardasil shot done? Sorry for all the details but I am panicking. This is something I do not want to repeat again on my own.

chamomile

Hi Contena, the most important thing after a cone is to allow adequate time for healing. If you do not, you are at risk for very serious complications...such as infection and even re-opening the incision. Tell your bf to keep his friggin pants on!!! I don't mean to sound harsh, but his penis can wait. Your health and healing should be paramount right now. You'll see other threads on this topic, and it is just not worth the risk. I had a cold knife cone and a LEEP cone and both times I was told to wait 6 weeks before intercourse, tampons, or tub baths/swimming. As for the follow up, your doc should want to see you in a few weeks to check on your healing. If you haven't done so, you should call and make sure it is scheduled. I had follow up exams at 6 weeks post-ops, and then paps 3 months later (actually 2 weeks is my first pap after the second cone).

Good luck and please take care of yourself!

Cotena101

Thank you chamomile. It wasn't worth opening up the incision. I began to bleed as if I had my period. 2 days later the blood stopped. Since I moved for the summer I am going to try to make an appointment with a doctor in the new city I'm at. I'll keep you updated with the new info I find out.

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