Okay so I am at the doctors office for the results of yet another pap gone bad, but I wasn't worried because last year this had happened and it was mild dysplasia. No big deal I thought, they will just freeze it and when I come back 3 months later it will be cleared up, not a huge biggy just inconvenient. Except my doctor sighed a little... hmmm
So Doc went on to say that I have severe dysplasia and that basically with the picture he drew me (Doc is great because I only had to tell him once that big words don't work with Marines... we need pictures) the abnormal cells had spread to the entire thickness and that it is precancerous... I didn't have it but it is the stage before, he suggested a couple of procedures, I decided on the hysterectomy no sense in taking chances since just 6 months prior I was flagged okay from the last time we did this, and since cancer runs in my family.
He agreed that this was the best since it seemed that this was somewhat fast and that my cervix was not working well....blah blah blah, again with the pictures this is where I fade a little. He did say that "this is something that is not like that" when I referred to the family history, what the heck does that mean.
Now even though I am smiling and have this no big deal tude, and yeah I don't have to have a period (okay I am a little excited about that) the truth is I am a little freaked out, about surgery, this whole dysplasia thing. You see I have to know the why's, not all the time after all I am a firm believer of the TMI theory, which I will explain later.
So I hit up the internet and found the Women's Health Channel, Web MD (which by the way when you type in cervical dysplasia... gives you a whole page of cervical cancer info!) , and a few Medi Journal sites. I went on to read that severe dysplasia is also called carcinom-in-situ or CIN III which literally means "cancer in place" WHAT! It must be treated because it will most often develop into invasive cancer!!!
So I am a little freaked out but comforted in the fact that it doesn't mean you have cancer. YEAH. I was still thinking about Doc's little cryptic statement... I was hoping this was something like genetics, you know, how great would it be to say oh it runs in the family... and blame it on someone else.
Yeah, not so much... Risk factors for this include smoking, early sexual activity, multiple partners, std's ( fyi, I have never had one) including HPV and HIV. WHAT! Smoking and sex causes this condition and you could lose your ability to have children or get cancer! I don't remember that one in the sex ed. Sounds like something your mother would say too get you to stay home on a friday night.
As it turns out researchers found chemicals produced by cigarette smoking in both men and women causes the change in the cervical cells that lead to dysplasia. Sex too early and multiple partners also leads to those changes.... hmmm. Poor Nutrition also decreases the body's ability to fight it and other, goodbye Taco Bell, it was great your beef combo burrito with no beans and xlg Pepsi will be in my heart, memories, and cervix forever. Thanks!
I began smoking and drinking when I was 12 my parents didn't find out till I was 16, I was 13 when I first began having sex, I think they still may not know (well until now) Was it worth it... NO. It still happens today with our children.
So what's the big lesson here, what we did last summer and 20 summers before that will come back to haunt us, in some odd way or another, get checked even if you need to take a valium before hand. And don't forget to annoy your kids with yet another reason to stay straight and narrow.
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