Cervical check - polyps but no referral

greencatkin

Hi there,

I had a smear test today. The doctor looked shocked when he examined me - he said I had 2 coffee bean sized polyps on my cervix.

I was really thrown and upset. He refused to give me a referral regarding the polyps, saying I would have to wait until the results of the smear come back from cervical check.

Be had a go at me asking when my last smear was - it was whenever I last got called by cervical check - I have never missed one.

Should I have got a referral re the polyps? Should I see another doctor or do I just wait it out?

Thanks in advance for your replies

As it says below the vast majority of cervical polyps are harmless and nothing to be overly concerned about

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24436-cervical-polyp

However I would want them removed and tested, but there is no huge urgency in this.

I’ve just been through a gynae episode myself. I’m well past menopause at age 62, and before proposed treatment for MS they saw an unusual appearance of my cervix on MRI. I had my entire colon removed in 2016, have a stoma and radically changed interior anatomy 🤣 but they hadn’t taken this into account when they did a hysteroscopy, the simple procedure you will likely be sent for.

It is normally very straightforward and pretty painless after when done under general anaesthetic. because of my changed anatomy they proceeded in the “wrong direction”, managed to puncture my uterus and cause peritoneal which responded well to antibiotic treatment. Because of the stress I developed peptic ulceration in my stomach/duodenum and am recovering from that now. This is a remarkably rare complication because gynaecologists see very few women who have had entire colon removed.

I predict you will be fine, but you are entitled to seek a second opinion if you want (and pay for it of course). I got a second from the excellent Mr Waseem Kamran in the Beacon who explained everything extremely well.

Nowadays the traditional PAP smear is usually replaced by a HPV test, which checks if you have one of the few carcinogenic variants of the Human Papilloma Viruses. Even then malignancy is usually slow to develop and progress and most women fight off the virus harmlessly. I have one of those variants, and will keep an eye on it. If positive a PAP smear can be done to check for any cervical cell changes that precede any malignancy, and these can be treated. Even if locally invasive it can be very effectively treated.

Polyps form quite often in any mucosal tissues without any such thing as a change towards malignancy, the exception being in the colon, where they an very much be precancerous, and easy to remove during a scope.

Wishing you luck OP, and I suggest you can sleep easy the way your doctor is presently handling it.

greencatkin

Oh my goodness! Get well soon, it sounds like you've been through the mill.

Thanks for replying.