It might just save your life. (NHS Cervical Screening Programme)

Member Name: hypno06

Product:	NHS Cervical Screening Programme
Date:	29/07/09 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A life saver for some

Disadvantages: Not the most enjoyable thing you will ever do.

The first thing on my "to do" list for today was to go for my routine smear test. It may seem like an odd thing to do as a review on dooyoo, but anything that highlights the importance of regular screening, and shows how easy it is to keep up to date with things like this has got to be worth half an hour of my time to write it up.

I had my first smear done at the age of 16. At that time, (the mid 1980s) it was widely recommended that you had your first smear within a year of becoming sexually active, and there was no problem in any of my peers getting a smear test at that young age.

Provided there were no problems, you began a cycle of screening every three years. I believe that this may have then been increased to every 5 years temporarily, but in my NHS area at least, this has been brought back to every three years.

Because I had always been called routinely, I was not even aware that the lower age limit for routine screening had been raised to 25, and I was horrified to learn of this change. Like many, it was the high profile case of Jade Goody that alerted me to this fact, and I have to say that whatever people's views of Jade Goody, the very fact that she has people talking about Cerivical cancer and the screening process, has to be a positive thing, and we have to act on it.

The reason I was horrified in the change of age was twofold - firstly, people are having sex in their mid teens......why is cervical cancer going to wait 10 years before it puts in an appearance? Surely, by encouraging young women to go for routine screening early on, we will be educating them into testing for life, not just for cervical cancer, but for many other things such as STIs etc. Similarly, these women may become mothers several times over in that time - surely if there is a chance that they could have cancer or pre-cancerous cells, it should be addressed pretty damned quickly?

Secondly, although I have never had any sort of abnormal cells detected, a friend of mine did, at the age of 23. These were pre-cancerous, and were easily zapped as they had been discovered early enough during routine smear testing. Had she not been called until the age of 25, then taken a few months to "get round to making an appointment", those pre-cancerous cells could easily have developed into something much more serious.

So, I would add my name to a campaign to bring the age limit back down to 16.

Anyway, on to the actual procedure - no one can pretend that it is an enjoyable experience that they thoroughly look forward to. It is one of those "grin and bear it" moments, but it is brief, and I would prefer a few moments of discomfort now to a long period of chemo later......

Appointments are made with a nurse at your surgery. If you are worried about the procedure, then you can always ask for a double appointment to talk through things before you actually have the test. In my experience, nurses would prefer you to actually get tested, and take up two appointments, than put it off and not ever have a smear because you never felt you could ask your questions.

After checking a few basic details such as name, address and date of birth, you will be asked when your last period was. I think that the reason for asking this is as much to check that you are not pregnant, as anything else, as in the very early stages of pregnancy, nurses are reluctant to do smears, not because there is any link with miscarriage, but because if you do miscarry, you may, quite naturally, look for something to blame for the loss of your baby, and if you have recently had a smear, that may become your "avenue of blame" which they would want to avoid.

You are the asked to lay on the couch, with your clothing suitably removed. Now comes the least dignified thing you will do all day (unless you are due to give birth or have your piles investigated)......bringing your knees up, and then letting them flop to the side, and the nurse will put in a "thing" to open up the cervix. She will then use a long swab to take a sample of cells. It is uncomfortable but should not be painful. The more you relax and just let it happen, the less likely you are to experience pain, but if you do find it painful, then please mention this to the nurse while you are there.

That's it - job done. Time to get dressed and get on with your day.

Occasionally, you may find that this leads to a bit of "spotting", and personally I feel quite uncomfortable and a bit nauseous for several hours afterwards, but I would not ever dream of missing such an appointment.

Results normally come through in about 6-8 weeks and you will get a letter saying all is well and you will be called again in 3 years time.

Occasionally, you will be recalled simply because they didn't get enough cells from the sample they took. There is nothing to be concerned about if this is the case, it is just the hassle factor of going back for a further test.

Even more occasionally, you may be referred for further testing because you have been found to have abnormal cells. If this happens, then speak to your GP straight away and go to the next stage. You are, of course, unlikely to be found with abnormal cells, but that is the whole reason behind testing, to catch those who do have them and give them the best possible chance of successful treatment.

There is a vaccine out now for one form of cervical cancer, and this is being given to all girls over the age of 13. The danger is that people who have had this vaccine may think that they don't need to be tested in the future. However, the vaccine is for only one strain, so the need for regular screening is as prevalent for that generation as for any other......if you are a mother to a teenage daughter, please make sure she is aware of this.

So, there we are - a necessary item on my "to do" list, one that I can easily put off.....but one that I will not ignore, beause it might just save my life.

Summary: Don't put it off.