Don't Rely On Your PAP Alone

I am very concerned that too many women do not fully understand why they get a PAP test and what it is. Furthermore, I think too many women rely on their PAP results too heavily. My PAP results had always come back good. Even when I had stage 3B Cervical Cancer my PAP results were not showing any great irregularities. This is a fact that scares me! Of course you want a good PAP test and then you want to go home and not think about it for another year. I urge all of to be proactive and understand this test, why you are getting it and what the results actually mean.

If you know something isn't right with your body yet your PAP comes back normal don't just go home and forget about it! There is now another test you can have in addition to the PAP, the HPV test. PAP test can miss pre-cancerous cells as well as cancerous cells, just look at what happened to me. The HPV test is extra sensitive and therefore less likely to miss things the PAP does. I understand that women just want good news so they can go home and be worry free but what good does that do when you should be worried. If my Cervical Cancer had been caught early on I could have avoided so much pain, could have children, not miss out on almost a year of my life etc.... Check out this article if you want to know more: PAP Plus HPV Tests

Keep talking and educating yourself!