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19th January 2016
10:03am GMT
I went in for my appointment and was a bit nervous, but I was accompanied by a lovely nurse who explained the whole thing. She answered all my questions and made me feel at ease.
This procedure was a bit more intense than the last. They applied an anaesthetic by injection and they looked at the area with a camera and dye. They could identify that I had an area of precancerous cells but it was very small.
The doctor was very reassuring, saying that they would just take another small sample of my cervix to test to see if I needed to have the LEITZ procedure done at a later stage. A LEITZ procedure removes all the abnormal cells from the cervix using a wire loop with an electric current. The doctor said I would get another letter with the results. The appointment only took about 20 minutes.
About two weeks later, I got the letter with the results, and they told me that I would need to come back to have the LEITZ procedure. I was disappointed when I got this news because I presumed the worst, but then I started being positive and was glad that they said it was a small area and a precautionary treatment.
The LEITZ treatment sounds awful but actually it didn’t feel much difference from the last procedure at all. They give you an anesthetic and an adrenalin injection before they start. This was the only uncomfortable part of it but it was over quickly. After that, you can’t feel anything! They told me about the follow-up treatment and gave me a leaflet with all the FAQs you could think of. They also gave me a phone number in case I had any other questions.
Now, everything is fine and I just need to go for another smear test in February to make sure it all still looks healthy
The whole process from start to finish was so easy. I didn’t have to pay for anything and I was able to call a nurse about a week after to ask her a couple of questions and she was very understanding."
So if you're aged 25 to 60, go ahead and book your appointment. And if you're embarrassed, just remember that the doctor has seen it all before!
CervicalCheck will send you a letter when you are due a smear and you can also go on CervicalCheck.ie to check the date yourself.
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