Cervical Cancer? Women Still Get That? Part 3

As you can imagine, I was reeling with my diagnosis. When I got off the phone with my doctor, all I could do was sit there and hear the news over and over again…I was literally stunned. Should I be scared? Sad? Happy? Ok? Strong? Embarrassed? Well, at that moment, I was all of them…and none of them. I first had to be with the news before I could figure out what to do next.

I chose to be sad and scared at first. I called my mother, I called my boyfriend, and I called my closest friends. After speaking to all of them, I was able to be really sad and scared. So, I cried. I cried for about half and hour, and then I was, for lack of a better word, relieved.

The news was “pre-cancerous” and I’m a healthy young woman. There’s no way that I’m going down yet…and definitely not to cancer. So, what’s the next step?

Unfortunately, I was no longer with my prior company and no longer carried any insurance–this was one of my biggest challenges.  I knew it was going to cost a bit of money to get treated and to have the testing/lab work done to be healthy…and when I called my doctor’s office, they were more than willing to work with me to have it be affordable…at least the procedures at any rate.

3 weeks later I went in for a colposcopy biopsy.  My boyfriend had to work and couldn’t be there with me this day and so I went in, scared out of my bones about the procedure.  The nurse and my doctor were simply fabulous and made it really easy for me to relax and even have some fun with it.  It was, to say the least, uncomfortable and only really painful when I cramped up.  For more info on a colposcopy http://www.webmd.com/cancer/cervical-cancer/colposcopy-and-cervical-biopsy.

I was then to wait.  I had to wait for my test results to get back on the biopsy and for my doctor to get back from vacation…a grueling 3 weeks!  In the meantime I had to heal.  This was, by far, the most annoying and depressing part of the procedure.  It took a full 2 weeks before I could get back to my normal exercise and active routine…(oh, and no sex for 3 weeks!).  It was also apparent that I would need a LEEP procedure…that was scheduled 5 weeks out from the date of the colposcopy and would be much more invasive.