Refusing PAP smears - Page 2

[lilyka]

I just wanted to clarify. you aren't refusing pap smears all together. Just the frequent footrest miles and opting ot have it done every now and then instead of every year.

[Greaseball]

Yes, that's right! I should have specified that.

Also, has it been established that they are safe during pregnancy, seeing as how they irritate the cervix and all?

[daylily]

I'm pretty sure PAPS are safe during pregnancy, but I think it's outrageous that because you have medicaid you must get an STD test. WTF??? Is this the gov't's way of saying that low income women sleep around? I think it's discrimination, and it's YOUR body. You have the right to decide what tests not to have. What on earth would they do if you refused it? Hold you down and force it on you? They couldn't do that!

[merpk]

I don't think either of my OB/GYNs has ever done a PAP smear on me during a pregnancy.

My history of miscarriages may play into that, though ...

- Amy

[Greaseball]

Yes, I think that some people have the perception that low-income women sleep around.

One time when I was 17 I went to get a pap, pills and a chlamydia test, because I found out an ex had it. So they tell me that I have to be tested for all STD's, and I say no, I just want to be tested for the one I might have. So they say that because I refused their tests, they would not provide services to me until I agreed to do them all. No paps, no birth control, and no tests for only one STD. So I'm 17, homeless, and with no income, and I can't get health services because I won't do it their way.

Luckily, my old high school nurse agreed to see me at the school, even though I was no longer a student. (I continued to go there until I was 20!)

[dfoy]

Paps are life-savers.

My dh's 1st wife died of cervical cancer at age 29. Hadn't had a pap in 3 years.

When I was 25 I had an abnormal pap. Had precancerous cells removed with laser surgery. Would have turned to cancer eventually if I had not been proactive.

I was not at risk for STDs and neither was my dh's 1st wife. That is not the only risk factor for cervical cancer.

The other thing to think of is this: even if you think you are not at risk now for STDs, you can aquire different STDs (herpes being one) that lay in dormancy for years. Maybe it was from a sexual partner that you thought you were monogamous with. Maybe you both were monogamous but he got the STD from a previous relationship and passed it unknowingly on to you. Just because one aquires an STD doesn't mean they are promiscuous.

[Alenushka]

I think PAP is a must and is a life saver. When I worked in oncology unit I saw quiet a few cases ofwomen with really bad cervical cancer which could have been prevented. 75-90% of people in US have HPV. Some have strin which have been connected to cancer. It is possibale to have dormant HPV even after being in 10-15 of monogomous relationship. It could be contracted fomr a previous partner or a current partner who has an asymptomatic HPV. If you can , switch you doctor. I have never had a PAP which hurt (I had the same 2 OBs for the past 10 years) Please, please find a good pain free docotr and take care of yourself.
I had an abnormal PAP and abnormal ceel and I had to be treated. 3 month after birth. I shudder to think what would have happened if I missed my PAP, pre canceorus cells and left my son wihout mom

[Alenushka]

Originally posted by Greaseball
Yes, I think that some people have the perception that low-income women sleep around.

One time when I was 17 I went to get a pap, pills and a chlamydia test, because I found out an ex had it. So they tell me that I have to be tested for all STD's, and I say no, I just want to be tested for the one I might have. So they say that because I refused their tests, they would not provide services to me until I agreed to do them all. No paps, no birth control, and no tests for only one STD. So I'm 17, homeless, and with no income, and I can't get health services because I won't do it their way.

Luckily, my old high school nurse agreed to see me at the school, even though I was no longer a student. (I continued to go there until I was 20!)

While I agree some people think that poor people sleep around and foreigner do not know how to take care of their health, in this case there was a good reason for this clinik to test you for everything. Ofthen people have more than one STD. If you have oe the risk is higher for another. This why if a partner diagnosed with one, it behooves the other partner to get tested for eveything elce in case the other partners test were falce positive. I do not really understand the stigam attached to STD and why people get so offende about testing. STD has nothing with sleeping around. One can have one partner b efaithful and get something. 1 in 4 american has or had an STD. I look at PAP smear and STD chek as something like my dental check up. STD, cold etc all caused by germs who do not discriminate between poor and rich, citizens and green card holders

[Greaseball]

What I don't understand is sometimes I've been refused an STD test for something that it would have been a good idea to test for. Like when I was pg, an old ex contacted me and said he had herpes and he had known all along that he had it when we were together. We never had unprotected sex, but I figured I'd get tested anyway. But when I told my ob group about it, they said there was no test for herpes and there was nothing they could do. I never got any sores or anything so they told me not to worry.

Then I do some more research and I find out there are all kinds of tests for herpes that can be done on a person who does not have sores.

No matter what, I believe consumers have the right to choose their own treatments. If I decide, for example, to immunize myself against Hep B but not against Hep A, that should be no one's business but my own.

The stigma about testing at the County Health Dept, at least where I used to live, is that if you test positive they put your name on a list which is available to the general public. They have an almost militant approach to wiping out disease at all costs. Just like with immunization campaigns.

Anyway...I just got "Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom" and they say that a pap should never cause pain and that if it does, it's the doctor and not you. I will definitely find another doctor!

[MamaMae]

Oh, please get your PAPs, and often!

I had no "abnormal" gyn history, nor was I at risk, but at a routine exam a few years ago, we discovered cervical cancer. It was already invasive...and I had had a normal PAP just 12 months earlier! It CAN spread very fast, as it did with me. Luckily, after several surgeries and treatments, it receded, but didn't go completely away. It kept coming back, and I saw hysterectomy in my future. So we got pregnant with DS, and it's been clear ever since! The wonders of pregnancy hormones!

Lesson learned? Get a PAP! I get them now every 6 months by my midwife. She's much more gentle with them than many doctors I've been to.

[Els' 3 Ones]

I go every few years. I do firmly believe that a healthy, functioning immune system is hard at work all the time fighting back things we are not aware of - cancer being one of them.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has heard that a pap done while pregnant is not reliable..............I had 3 different providers with my 3 pregs and all said that yet I hear of women getting them "routinely" as part of the ob care. ? ¿ ?

[New Moon]

Okay, looked it up in "Understanding diagnostic tests in the childbearing year" by Anne Frye. You are right, pregnancy (especially the 1st pg) causes changes in the cervix that make it difficult to assess for cancer. Okay here goes..."Squamous metaplasia (cell transformations) commonly occurs during adolescence, the 1st pg, after the 1st birth, but can occur throughout life. During pg , especially the 1st, the transformation zone (on the cervix)...increases in size and may develop atypical epitheleum (cells). These atypical cells usually slough off at delivery, but sometimes remain or recur." page 269. Then, on page 280, "A postitive (PAP) test during pregnancy is more difficult to interpret because of the changes that pregnancy naturally causes in the cervical tissues. First a repeat test should be performed. If this also comes back positive then (treatment should be sought)." So what she's saying is yes, it may be difficult, but you still should do it. It also says there should be no blood involved, so be sure to wait until bleeding has stopped for a postpartum PAP. I had an abnormal PAP during my postpartum with my 1st kid, but then it went back to normal after a bit. I cant remember if I was still bleeding, though. Hmmm.... Anyway, hope that helps. All this talk about PAPs reminds me I need to get one! Luckily I know lots of midwives =)
Blessings
New Moon