I got my colposcopy done about an hour ago. They checked for abnormal cells, and said about 3/4 of my cervix was covered in severe dysplasia. They took 2 biopsy samples with a punch (ouch!) and said I will get a call in about a week with more information about removing all the dysplasia. Now I'm just laying in bed, with a heating pad on my pelvis, trying to sort through everything I just heard. Since I have high risk HPV, does this mean abnormal cells can just keep coming back? And if they remove them, does that mean there's no chance of cancer as long as I continue with pap smears more often? I guess I'm just confused as to what this means for me...
Any insight from people with HPV that have had abnormal pap smears would be great! Thanks so much.
Stacey
Any insight from people with HPV that have had abnormal pap smears would be great! Thanks so much.
Stacey
HPV isn't perfectly understood, so it's hard to answer you 100%; as far as I know, doctors do not yet know if HPV remains in here body indefinitely, ready to flare up if your immune system falters, or if your immune system will clear it up and get rid of it forever.
What has happened is that you were one of the minority whose immune system couldn't keep the HPV from causing severe cell changes (just as a minority of people with the flu get severe pneumonia that requires medical intervention). So long as they keep removing them, you shouldn't get cancer, but frequent cervix scrapings can have side effects, so they would rather not do that any more than they absolutely have to.
That's where your immune system comes in. If you can strengthen your immune system a bit, it can probably use this intervention to rally and defeat the HPV strain. (Actually, there is a good chance it will defeat it anyway, but there are some things you can do to help it do so as quickly as possible.) You may want, if you can afford it, to check your Vitamin B and D levels, since deficiencies in those can affect your immune system's effectiveness. So can stress, so try to arrange things to avoid unnecessary stress, if you can.
You may also wish to consider using latex or polymumble non-latex condoms. There are some studies that show that stubborn HVP infections clear up more quickly if condoms are used. (Again, it is not clear why this is. One theory is that the immune system has trouble dealing with repeated "landings" of new viral "troops" from partners, and as condoms cut down on that drastically, they let the immune system hunt down the virus to a manageable size.) The studies didn't mention if this was for people with multiple partners, or one long-term one, either.
But if all goes well, in six months or less, there will be every sign of your body kicking the virus' metaphoric butt.
Crossing fingers that more experienced folks will also show up to help, and that you feel better soon!