I have just learned that I have an abnormal pap. I have HPV, low grade and they want to do a colposcopy. I am 13 weeks pregnant and when they want to do the colposcopy I will be 17 weeks. I think that if its low grade why cant i just wait to have it taken care of 6 weeks post pregnancy?? I dont like the idea of having that performed when Im pregnant! Any thoughts?
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Your Dr. isn’t going to do something to harm you are the baby while pregnant. Maybe you can talk to your Dr. about it and tell him how you feel.
You’ll need to be tested before the birth to see if you have any lesions. If you have open lesions, your doctor might want to perform a c-section, but don’t worry until you cross that bridge! It’s going to be ok. Your doc will know best.
If its low risk then why are they doing a colposcopy at all? I thought that is when it was high risk which is cervical cancer. I thought low risk was just genital warts, therefore you wouldn’t need a colposcopy.
This HPV sh!t is starting to piss me off, every bit of research is different and some even conflicting. The nurse in my doctors office told once you have it you have it forever and will forever pass it on. Then you hear that in some women HPV cures on its own…what the hell does that mean. I also read that you can catch it w/out actual intercourse that it could be transmitted orally. If that is the case then couldn’t you conceivably catch it in some other benign fashion?
I’m beginning to wonder if we aren’t becoming victim to some sort of pharmaceutical uproar to sell vaccines and unnecessary tests to charge the insurance companies.
Your gynecologist may also order a colposcopy because your cervix appears abnormal during your pelvic exam and Pap smear, or if you have a history of prenatal DES exposure.
During the colposcopy procedure your gynecologist uses the colposcopy to visually exam the cervix. Colposcopy is a simple and painless procedure that is performed in the gynecologist’s office. The procedure takes about ten or fifteen minutes.
The colposcopy procedure is similar to the Pap smear. You are positioned on the examination table as in a Pap smear, however acetic acid (such as common table vinegar) is placed on the cervix. This causes the cervical cells to fill with water so light will not pass through them.
Another difference that you will notice is that your physician uses a colposcope to view your cervix. A colposcope is a large, electric microscope that is positioned approximately 30 cm from the vagina. A bright light on the end of the colposcope makes it possible for the gynecologist to clearly see the cervix.
During the colposcopy, the gynecologist focuses on the areas of the cervix where light does not pass through. Abnormal cervical changes are seen as white areas, the whiter the area, the worse the cervical dysplasia. Abnormal blood vessel changes are also apparent through the colposcope. Abnormal vascular changes can occur in dysplasia. Typically, worse the vascular changes are the worse the dysplasia.
If your physician is able to view the entire abnormal area through the colposcope, a tissue sample or biopsy is taken from the whitest abnormal areas and sent to the lab for further evaluation.
Cryosurgery or a freezing of the abnormal cells may be performed next and, in some cases, can make this a diagnostic/ treatment procedure in one. If your physician, is unable to view the entire abnormal area, as when the abnormal area extends inside the cervix, another procedure such as a Cone biopsy or LEEP procedure is performed.
the Culposcopy is to make sure you don’t have pre-cancer cells on your cervix. Alot of women get this when they are pregnant. Don’t worry and make sure you talk to your doctor at length, but get it handled and DO NOT WAIT until after the baby is born. If you wait the cells could get worse. You could also have no cancerous cells, but you have to know for sure. and for the record, HPV usually goes away in about 95% of the women who get it, as long as you take care of yourself.
I had HPV and I had pre-cancerous cells that had to be removed (its called displaysia). I don’t have HPV anymore, it just went away. 80% of all women get it at some point in their lives. Just get it handled ok??
It will not affect your pregnancy. The colpo is to make sure you don’t have cancer.
In a colposcopy, all they do is take a teeny snip. It will not make you miscarry.
If it truly worries you, you can refuse it.
I had an abnormal pap test a little over a year ago, and it was low grade HPV as well. I opted NOT to do a colposcopy, and instead I decided on more frequent pap tests, to see if it cleared up on it’s own. I went back 4 months later, and the test was normal again- and the HPV was gone. So, if it’s low-grade, I don’t think there’s any serious harm in waiting. Most times, it’s just something that clears itself up.