Health update

Just wanted to post "thanks" for the inquiries to my health; I'm sorry if my biopsy comment below seemed out of left field. While I am generally pretty open about my health and my body, sometimes I need some time to digest things or just am not ready to share things in depth. I'm sure you understand. Suffice to say that recently I've been dealing with some things health related. I'm doing my best to stay positive and focus on me and what I need at the moment. Like Dave says, I can't take care of others if I am not taking care of myself...)

One of the things I've been dealing with is the biopsy. Like a good patient (see below) I get my exams as needed. In December, I had my annual pap smear at my gynecologist. About a week later they called to say the results came back as abnormal. But not only were the results abnormal, they were concerned because they found abnormal uterine cells in my pap (which occurs vaginally). They scheduled me to come in and have a few procedures done.

While abnormal paps smears are "normal" or semi-common in most cases, mine was not. I had atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance (AGUS) which occurs in less than 1% of the population. From the American Family Physician:

AGUS occurs in approximately 0.18 to 0.74 percent of all cervical smears. Because of the high likelihood that AGUS is associated with significant clinical disease, simply repeating the Papanicolaou smear is not sufficient for the management of AGUS. Unlike women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, a significant percentage of women with AGUS will have more serious lesions, such as high-grade preinvasive squamous disease, adenocarcinoma in situ, adenocarcinoma or invasive cancers from sites other than the cervix. Colposcopic examination is recommended for all women with a cytologic diagnosis of AGUS. Those women with AGUS that is suspicious for adenocarcinoma should undergo cervical conization, even in the absence of detectable abnormalities on colposcopic examination.

What this means (so says my doctor) is that a repeat pap smear wasn't going to do me any good; AGUS is too highly associated with cervical cancer, and not just your typical cervical cancer, but a more difficult to diagnose, rare form of cervical cancer. Yikes. So one of the procedures they did was to obtain a biopsy of cervical tissue to be analyzed.

The results came back okay, but also noted that the sample was inconclusive. What this means is that my doctor wants to proceed with an electronic conization technique (LEEP) where they will gather a larger, deeper sample from all around my cervix. Basically they are going to take a light saber and wave it around my cervix and shear off samples of my cells much deeper. And should they see any cancer, they will remove it.

The main risk to me, or at least the one that concerns me the most (aside from finding cancer) is cervical incompetence for future pregnancies. Apparently the cervix isn't happy to have a light saber waving around in there. Cervical issues during pregnancy can lead to bed rest, incomplete dilation during labor, and even premature labor in the second trimester (thus a miscarriage or stillbirth). I discussed these concerns with my doctor a little and she feels the risk of the abnormal cells outweighs any future potential problems. Basically just one day at a time.

We plan to talk more during a presurgical consult coming up. But for right now, I'll be heading into Magee for a day sometime in February. Emotionally I'm doing okay. I think at most I feel "betrayed" of sorts... with all that I've placed my body through to get pregnant and having a baby, I feel like I've had more people under my hood than the average "motorist". How did this go unchecked? How could this happen?

Take it from me ladies - get your annual pap! And no matter how big a Star Wars fan, forgo the light sabers if you can. But if you do have to undergo this, may the Force be with you!