OK… I had my first time ever yearly physical and when the pap test results came back it said “mildly abnormal”. I did some internet research and all I’m finding out is that it is cancer of some type ‘down there’.
I don’t get why this is happening I’m only in my mid 20’s.
I do have a Dr.'s appointment scheduled to talk about the test results and what can be done 
but mean while I don’t know what to do to really help the situation. Any advice would be deeply appreciated. Thanks.
Please stop using the internet. Call your doctor for piece of mind and more information. Hugs to you and try to stay calm.
you had some abnormal cells on you pap… if I am understanding correctly… that does not necessarily mean cancer at all. Further checking will resolve that. That happened to a friend of mine and the follow up was ok… she was 20-something. some time later she had children, everything has been fine.
I hope you get good news and maybe the lab was just being over cautious. They may go ahead and do a little Dusting and Cleaning and take out the funky cells.
Keeping you in my prayers, that all goes well
/Hugs
There is nothing you can do right now apart from not imagining the worst. It is possible that all you need is further tests, so wait until your next appointment, get the full SP, and formulate a plan with your doctor. If you don’t feel that your current doctor is giving you enough information, then find another doctor who suits you better.
I agree, stay off of the internet, you will only find worst-case scenarios! An abnormal Pap result does not = cancer! I’ve had abnormal or inconclusive Paps that simply needed to be repeated or followed up on to obtain a normal result. Keep it out of your mind until you can talk to your doctor.
I have breast cancer, and could not DISAGREE more with those who are telling you to stay off the Internet. Learn as much as you possibly can. Get all kinds of input. Go to your doctor well armed with a list of questions. Listen to other people’s experiences. Find a good forum. For me there was breastcancer.org, which is invaluable. Those ladies are smart and do their research. I’m sure there is something like that for cervical/uterine cancer.
WHEN YOU HAVE A DIAGNOSIS.
(I had both breast and ovarian cancer) You don’t know if you have any sort of cancer. If you find out that you do, THAT is the time to enlist all the support systems.
Have you taken any aspirin?
Again, an abnormal pap does not equal cancer. I loathe that doctors offices give out info like that without any further info, it is enough to scare the crap out of people.
Have a cocktail, or two, and let it go for the moment.
I have a friend who always has abnormal mammo’s and I swear, she works herself into a FRENZY about them. Same scenario every year. I just hand her a cocktail now and tell her she should stop scheduling them for right before the holidays.
Please, do yourself a favor, listen to everyone here who is saying this does not mean cancer.
An abnormal result could mean lots of things- and only a tiny percentage of them lead back to cancer. Could be that they didn’t collect enough cells to get a good reading, or that the sample was stored wrong. A friend of mine had an abnormal reading because there was blood in the sample.
I know it’s hard not to worry when you hear something like this, but please try not to. 
Give your doc a call, get an appointment and have a chat to put your mind at rest.
Take a deep breath, hun.
One “mild dysplasia/ mild abnormal” pap does not equal cervical cancer. Generally, they will test the cells for HPV… again, nothing huge but something they do need to know. HPV has certain strains that have a high predisposition for causing Cervical Cancer so they will want to run those HPV tests. If you’re HPV test comes back negative, which it might, and you are under 25, ask about Gardisil.
A lot of thing can cause abnormal tests, including lab contamination, bad swab, and even having sex within a week before the test.
I’ve had abnormal tests every time except two since I was 19. They are all “mild dysplasia” results. What they mean is that normal cell growth occurs at a certain rate and in a certain pattern, cancerous cells grow rapidly and in an off pattern. “Mildly abnormal/ dysplasia” means they are not quite consistent but just something to keep an eye on, nothing to panic about.
My game plan with my Dr. is this… I have pap tests every 4-6 months to monitor the cell growth. Every 3 abnormals I have a colposcopy which is where they actually scrape cells from the cervix to get a better look. Anything more than the “mild” 1 or 2 level dyplasia they will do LEEP which electrocutes the abnormal cells to kill them (I’ve never needed this yet). If I ever manage to get more than 2 normals in a row, I can go back to my once yearly pap.
My dr. (as well as my Aunt who is an OB, and a nurse friend who has the same problem) was adamant at telling me that “mildly abnormal” is very common and many women have it, but few talk about it. She also talked me down when I feared being able to have children. She said as long as I keep up on my 2-3 paps a year before hand, pregnancy should not be any different for a “mildly abnormal” woman. I’m very open about this because I wish more women had been so with me. I spent months panicked when I first was diagnosed until I confided in my nurse friend and discovered that she too has this issue. If you have any questions please feel free to PM me.
Heck, I’m a horse person, I’m used to being “mildly abnormal” 
I did have cervical dysplasia, severe enough to have a LEEP done (my advice if you need this, don’t just get a local :eek: ). Be so very grateful that you got your PAP, this is what PAPS are FOR!!
This was years and years ago for me ( I was also in my early thirties), and yes it was kind of scary. But I’ve had many many normal paps since, it’s never come back. Wishing you the best!
Please do your research and search the internet to your heart’s content. But, please, do your research correctly and read for content. You are scaring yourself into a frenzy and are only reading and comprehending what your brain is focusing on. This is why it is important to take a friend with you to your doctors visits when you have a stressful appointment.
Write down your questions. Have a friend review them. Research on line. Don’t be afraid of asking questions. You will find answers.
Don’t automatically focus on the scary “CANCER” word. Just because cervical dysplasia can lead to it, it is a very small percentage that does.
Basically, don’t worry about it! I bet you will be fin.
Read here for a good answer to this question:
Thanks
Thank you everyone for being willing to be so open, honest and supportive with me and for all the wonderful advice you’ve all given so far. Especially on such an embarrasing :o and sensitive topic.
I’m coming up w/ questions and I’m going to take my mom w/ me to the Dr.'s. I have an appointment for the late afternoon of the 19th. :eek:
Hopefully I’ll find out more about the results then, I’ll keep you posted. Thank you so much!!!
Let me add my name to the list of women who have had abnormal Paps. And it was NOT cancer. Had one abnormal test, got retested - abnormal again. Had colposcopy (not a big deal) and found the problem areas. I had cryo to zap them (yucky but not horrible) I had another abnormal pap after that and my GYN had to talk me off the bridge after that. Said it often happens, lets wait and see. Paps were normal for several years afterward until I had a hysterectomy for unrelated reasons.
Ad me to somebody who has had an mildly abnormal one. That was 22 years ago. At the time the doctor told me there are many benign things that can cause an abnormal pap smear that are no big deal. He just redid the pap about 4 months after and it was normal and all my others after that have been normal.
As others have said- do the internet research so you know what questions to ask the doctor. Make sure you are in reputable sites.
Remember that people tend to post/blog about the rare awful experiences not normal everyday routine stuff. We don’t tend to write “Hey, I had an abnormal pap. It was no big deal because the next ones have all been normal”. Therefore the horror stories you have probably been reading about are the minority not the norm.
Good luck. Make sure you follow-up and ask your doctors questions but you don’t need to panic.
While we wish the OP the best of luck and sympathize, this is not a ‘disability’, nor horse-related, so the post is being closed.
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