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[Krystal]

Rebekah Vardy wife of Football England Team member  Jamie Vardy has given her support to promoting free NHS Smear Tests to women under 64. Recent statistics released by the NHS have shown that over a third of women have ignored their Smear Test reminders and the medics are alarmed by this rise. It is thought that this is due to people being conscious about their body image and embarrassment at having someone look at their vaginal area. The take up for the NHS Smear Test is at its lowest for 23 years. There was a slight rise in 2009 when Jade Goody of Big Brother fame was very open about having cervical cancer which was terminal.


I have always gone for my smear test when invited to make an appointment and believe it is something we should encourage others to do. When I had time  off work to attend these appointments  some  female colleagues were dismissive of the need for themselves to go as they gave excuses such as "I do not have an active sex life", "there is no history of it in my family", "I am to scared to go", "I cannot be bothered". I was happy to go for this test and even happier to receive the results as being clear. I even went in March  2018 despite having had a CT Scan and being told I had non cancerous fibroids in January 2018. You never know.


Cervical cancer is treatable if caught early enough. It is a silent killer, There are few outward signs. Unlike breast cancer there are no warning lumps. The only way to detect this by having Smear Tests regularly.


Good for you Rebekah Vardy I support you.  Anyone reading this please talk  to others about the value of Smear Tests.


FOFO - the Fear of Finding Out is treatable by going with a friend if needed. The Nurses are there to help.

[CLKD]

I have never missed either.  It's quite uncomfy 4 me - but I don't know when the cut-off is ?   I see it as a form of research too. 

Also, I wonder which age group are missing appts.?  I wonder whether it is specific ........ 

[Dorothy]

It's funny how we are still allowed to smoke and drink a lot and eat too much, even though we are increasing our risk of early death...but don't go for your smear test and oh the horror and condemnation you receive!

I have had one smear test.  Weeks later, I was still unable to walk without pain.  I am so fed up with people telling me 'it's nothing to be embarrassed about' and I shouldn't let 'a few minutes discomfort' put me off.  In my case, it's more like reluctance to have to take a couple of weeks off work (and when you're self-employed, that's no pay for two weeks) because I'm in too much pain to do a very physically demanding job.

Yes, I might die of cervical cancer.  But I am going to die of something at some point.  I don't have any dependents, so no need to stay alive to care for someone else.  Frankly, it's no one else's business whether I have the test or not, and I'm getting a little fed up with people who keep asking me...   

[Poppi]

Dorothy, I absolutely understand your thoughts. I go for my test but am SO pleased that I only have one left to attend. I go because I have this strange belief that bad things happen if I don't do as I'm told (result of a military style upbringing-barbaric) but it's your choice same as everything in life should  be.

Poppi x

[CLKD]

When is the age cut-off?

[NorthArm]

I believe it's 64 in the UK, CLKD.

I've not missed one either - I had some funny symptoms in early ‘89, when I was 22 - and had been having regular smears since I was 18, so went to have another one, early, which came back negative. The funny symptoms continued, so had another done in early ‘90 - came back with CYN 1 (pre cancerous cells) - had a colposcopy, which confirmed it, then laser diathermy in ‘June ‘90....smears again at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months post op - all clear. Was told by my lovely NHS gynae to have yearly smears for at least 10 years and if all remained clear, could drop back to 2 yearly. Which I have done. And will continue to do so (I do not trust the 5 year thing as there's still a chance of false negatives).

We read about that lovely Jade Goody here in Australia, and we had a couple of young women here who died before the age of 28 of cervical cancer - just devastating for them and their families.

Personally, I'm forever grateful that my very first gp insisted on regular Pap smears just after I became sexually active. They've never been uncomfortable for me, and I'm sorry for those ladies that do suffer having them done. For those ladies I advise to see another gp, there is no way you should have that much pain from a pelvic exam...

[CLKD]

Tnx.  I will put a reminder on 2019 Calendar to request in Jan 2020.

[ariadne]

It's funny how we are still allowed to smoke and drink a lot and eat too much, even though we are increasing our risk of early death...but don't go for your smear test and oh the horror and condemnation you receive!

Dorothy, I've had every smear test except the last one, which would have been my final invitation aged 64. The one before that, I found so painful that I cried.  The nurse wasn't very reassuring. She just said well, you may or may not have to have another depending on your age. It wasn't the embarrassment, it was the pain. I couldn't face it again .

Ariadne xx

[CLKD]

I always tell the Nurse it's been painful.  It's that brush thing that feels really strange 

[Dorothy]

Personally, I'm forever grateful that my very first gp insisted on regular Pap smears just after I became sexually active. They've never been uncomfortable for me, and I'm sorry for those ladies that do suffer having them done. For those ladies I advise to see another gp, there is no way you should have that much pain from a pelvic exam...

I think the problem now is that, knowing how agonising it was before, I'm tense before I even go into the room, which of course, makes it even worse.  I have tried a couple of times since, but last time I tried, I was yelling in pain before she'd even got the speculum in properly and she said she couldn't proceed if it was causing me that much pain.  I do find it embarrassing to be acting like such a wimp, but I can't help it.  It's especially hard as I'm usually quite stoical - have had treatments before where the doctors have commented on my ability to tolerate a painful procedure, so it's doubly frustrating that this is so impossible!

[Dorothy]

Yes, she tried the smallest one they had - the last nurse was lovely, did everything she could to make it less painful, so I think if she couldn't get me through it, no one could.