<p>It’s pap smea. Ok, all dads are going to run away now.</p>
<p>Our D1’s pediatrician suggested for her to see a gynecologist at her last checkup. My own doctor (the one that delivered D1) had retired, so I thought it was a good time to find a doctor both of us would like. We decided to go to the one her pediatrician suggested. We both disliked the gynecologist because she was so cold.</p>
<p>Two days ago, D1 got a call from the doctor to let her know the test result was back (you know it’s not good if they call). She called the office back right away. The receptionist told her the result was positive and she should come back to the office to get a biopsy. My daughter was hysterical when she called me. I called the office to try to get further information. They refused because she’s over 18. I asked them to have a doctor call my daughter back to let her know exactly what the lab report said. They never did.</p>
<p>I called my retired ob-gyn to get his opinion. He requested to have the lab report faxed to him. The result read ASC-US (atypical squamous cells with uncertain significance). He said if he had received such a report he would have just asked his patient to come back in three months to do another pap smear, not to do biopsy right away. He said the abnormality could have caused by an infection or HPV that would have cleared up by themselves. He said since she’s already had HPV vaccine and does not lead a high risk life there was no reason to assume the worst. I was still not too convinced. He said, “I delivered her, do you think I would let anything happen to her?”</p>
<p>My D1 was scared because some doctor was too cavalier in giving out the worst case scenario. I wonder if any parent out there had similar experience with their test result, and what was the outcome? Obviously we are not going to stop worrying until she gets her next result.</p>
<p>I know that there are a couple of doctors on cc who will give you the straight scoop on what you should do next.</p>
<p>In the meantime, I would definitely look for another gyn. No point in dealing with someone you don’t like, who doesn’t have a good system for asking someone to come back in for follow-up care.</p>
<p>It’s called “defensive medicine”, whereby the doctor has to simultaneously protect the patient from disease and him/herself from lawyers. Lots of very unnecessary procedures and very expensive, but in our system, the legal profession decides what is best (for themselves).</p>
<p>I’ve had the positive pap smear and a biopsy while pregnant with my first son! Yes, I was freaked out. The biopsy came back fine and I’ve had clear pap ever since. I don’t know if this helps but I hope she can calm down.</p>
<p>Now I will share that my sister had a similar situation while engaged to her husband. For some reason her biopsy seemed more intense (was done several years before mine and maybe technology improved in the meantime.) It was outpatient but at the hospital. My mom and I were in the waiting room and the doctor (with horrible bedside manners) came out to report to mom that everything went fine. He said “We see a lot of this kind of thing with young girsl who have had MULTIPLE SEX PARTNERS” (I added caps for emphasis She was not that busy.) Can you imagine anyone saying that to your mom?! We never mentioned a word of what he said till recently, about 20 years later. That was funny!</p>
<p>Physician here- good for you to have checked with your old OB/GYN for a second opinion. Don’t panic, get a new physician with better rapport (can your old OB help in recommending any group?). Abnormal pap smears do happen, especially uncertain ones- pathologists can’t call them fine but a repeat one will probably be fine, if not, you proceed from there. Sorry, not sure of timing, not my specialty, but don’t worry. Medicine is still an inexact science.</p>
<p>I would run not walk to find a new doctor. You might also want to let your pediatrician know that you were not happy with the doctor he recommended.</p>
<p>I hope I can help you relax. I got the identical results as your daughter from a pap smear last summer; my gyn was very reassuring that, upon retesting, everything is normally negative with this test result. (As I remember she indicated that this is the best possible ‘positive’ result you can get and is usually innocuous.) She retested me in about 3 months and that is exactly was happened - negative. She was very reassuring and, as a result, I never even worried about it. </p>
<p>For reasons I won’t discuss here, I have not had sexual intercourse for some time, and before that only with my spouse of 20 years, who I would stake my life has never fooled around. So, its not always from (at least recent) sexual activity.</p>
<p>When I was your daughter’s age I did have to go through the whole biopsy and then cyrotherapy (freeze off some of the skin on the cervix), but even back then I didn’t think it was bad. At that point I was worried sick like your daughter. If she would eventually have to go through this treatment as some point in her life, I wouldn’t greatly fear it.</p>
<p>All that said, I agree that you should find a doctor that you can have much more confidence in their patient skills. I LOVE my doctor; very matter of fact, knows her stuff, and always is able to put things in the proper perspective for me. These things can be too stressful as it is, let’s not add to it.</p>
<p>Am sorry you’re having to go through this. I know how emotionally traumatic teen girls can be with this stuff, especially if it’s the first time anything has ever been unusual at a routine physical for them. Hang in there; she will reach a comfort zone with whatever choice you guys make.</p>
<p>At the start of my sophomore year of college I had an abnormal pap smear for my first one. I was referred to a gynecologist, who did a biopsy, which all came back normal. We never really knew why the first one came back positive (there was no reason for an abnormal result to have happened in my personal life…), but it definitely terrified me for a month or so. The biopsy itself was easy, in the doctor’s office, just a bit more painful than the pap smear was. The only thing that I wish was that my mom had been with me for the biopsy- I could have used a hand to hold(she was off with my siblings, so it wasn’t her fault!).</p>
<p>I want to thank everyone for the support and good advice. PMs I have received were greatly appreciated it.</p>
<p>I called the pediatrician’s office to let them know the referral was bad. They were appreciative of the information, and they further reassured me there is no harm to wait to get a second pap.</p>
<p>I am a big believer of getting a second opinion. I’ve had some caring doctors. But it just strikes me that younger doctors have become a lot more clinical, going by the book, and try to generate maximum revenue. This may be a harsh opinion based on our recent bad experience with a group of doctors. I wonder if these doctors, burdened with huge students loans, over worked (they see 20+ patients a day), have just forgotten their patients are people with feelings.</p>
<p>A good thing came out of this - my daughter thanked me for being there for her, not jump to judge her(possible HPV), and she couldn’t imagine girls having to go through this by themselves.</p>
<p>The first time anyone gets an abnormal result on a screening test – whether it’s a Pap smear, a mammogram, a blood test, or something else – is always a difficult experience. It sounds as though your daughter has learned a lot. The next time it happens (and it seems to happen sometime to most of us), she will be better able to cope.</p>
<p>I think that these things are so routine for health professionals that they often don’t realize how disturbing they are for patients, especially patients who have never had an abnormal test result before. At our age, we parents are mostly used to it. (I, for example, have had abnormal Pap smears on two occasions, many years apart, abnormal mammograms that required follow-up twice, and a weird blood test result that my physician said probably meant I had ovarian cancer – none of which amounted to anything of importance.) But it’s a tough thing for a young person.</p>
<p>I had the same positive pap test result as your daughter. Doc did a second pap to confirm. He did an in-office colposcopy, which was slightly uncomfortable but no biggie at all. Then I went for paps every three (?) or six (?) months for a year or so, and all was well.</p>
<p>Getting pap tests has dramatically reduced the incidence of cervical cancer. Your daughter has been taught well by you to take care of herself.</p>
<p>oldfort, one of my Ds has been through this and I know how frightening it can be for them. An ASCUS result is the most common of the abnormal pap results and it indicates a mild abnormality. It can often be caused by infection or inflammation of the cervix. A repeat of the pap is advised. Some doctors will recommend it immediately, but most, from all the stories I heard when it happened to my D (and also from our physician), will advise you to wait 3-6 months. There is no immediate risk with this type of result but it’s important to follow up as recommended by your doctor, and to continue to get regular paps. A colposcopy may be indicated if the second pap shows another abnormal result. There are many online sites that have useful information on this topic - this is one that helped when it happened to our family.</p>
<p>oldfort - the gyn probably wants to do a colposcopy which is no big deal. They basically use a high powered microscope to look at the cervix. This give a really good view and look at any abnormal cells. Sometimes a Nurse Practioner is trained to do the procedure as well.
They then rinse the cervix with vinegar which turns abnormal cells white. They may also apply a stain as abnormal cells will not absorb the stain.
They can then take biopsies of the abnormal areas.
The colposcopy is quick and non-invasive.
It’s always better to be safe than sorry.</p>
<p>BTW - among physicians there is generally no correlation between personality and competency. Personally, I go for competent.</p>
<p>Teach your daughter how to communicate with her physician. How and what questions to ask, how to get by the receptionist etc. These are skills that are not intuitive and require a degree of assertiveness.
Good Luck</p>
<p>I have had the same. I retested again. Its a $35.00 test and worth doing again. Especially with another lab. A whole group of my girlfriends all got positive paps. Since we all did not have the same BF, we concluded it must be the lab. Most of use got cleared on the second test or the retest 3 month later. Long story short 2 years later there was a newspaper article about a lab that had faulty tests and training.</p>