Hi
I finished rads 2 weeks ago and plucked up the courage to have my overdue smear test. Guess what- came back abnormal. I am about to go into melt down. I was feeling so good last week and ready to take control of my life back again.
Can there be a link or is it a coincidence?
ring the support line up and ask, but I seem to remember reading that they did a study on false negatives smear results after radiation. From my memory on women that had not had radiation the false negative was 3% and for women that had radiation in the last six months it was 30% false negative.
perahps people on here that have had radiation will be along to tell you if they were given advice on smear test results
Hmm, interesting. . .
Like marmitelover I delayed having a smear test whilst I had chemo/rads and need to book myself in. Now I’m wondering if I’ll get the same result. My oncologist suggested that it was better to wait until chemo was finished but she didn’t say anything about rads.
Nymeria
Mine’s long over due, after all you never get cancer do you?
I think i’ll make an appointment…
rememer , way before I got Bc, I had a run of smear tests that were abnormal, I had to go for repeats every month, for about 6 months, well it turned out to be hormonal changes.
sure yours will be down to the battering our bodies take with xrt xx
take care
hi
I had nurmerous abnormal smear tests prior to dx.My onc did not see the point in me having a smear test, but i had it done anyway and it was negative.When I had the abnormal smears they told me not to worry unduly as it is quite common and does not indicate cancer.They normally do a colopscopy if they are corncerned and can tell if there are any problems.I had this done 3 or 4 times and they just said they needed to keep an eye on things, but were not too concerned.
I was told that if they thought there was a problem it would be dealt with by laser treatment.Apparently it is quick and painless(my friend had the treament done and has had negative results since).
Hope you get this sorted quickly and try not to worry too much.
Linda x
I had one done between getting my DX and having my op at Christmas but it couldn’t be processed (some problem at the lab!). My onc told me to wait until I’d finished active treatment before going to have it done again. Seeing as I finished rads on Tuesday I guess I’d better make an appointment…
Jane xxx
I wouldn’t get worried about an abnormal smear tests just yet. It could mean anything, like a false positive or just a few cells that aren’t right. I had an abnormal smear quite recently. I had to have another one in six months and that came back normal. About 18 years ago I had the same thing happen but that time the second one came back abnormal too. I had a colposcopy which involved putting a camera up to exam the cervix. It turned out to be a pre-malignent lesion which they removed there and then and although I had to have 6 monthly smears for five years afterwards, I’ve never had anymore trouble. Lots of abnormal smears turn out to be nothing to worrisome.
Thanks everyone for your replies. I spoke to my GP who is arranging for a quick colposcopy. She confirmed as did the BCC helpline that having rads for BC does not affect smear test results. She was very understanding.
To all of you who need to book your smear please do so first thing Monday and I will be asking again if you have done so at the end of the week!!
Best wishes x
I followed this with interest my 3 years will be up in October Ive got a week & day left of rads now & wanted to get my smear done soon after to get it out the way Im bit confused now if to get one or leave it a while ?
Mekala x
I’m a good girl. Booked for Wednesday.
Just off to polish my halo.
Jane xxx
Admires Alto’s shiny halo and looks forward to her own being shiny when she makes an appointment later today! 
I had a smear (results normal) just before diagnosis, so am already feeling smug.
Aargh - would you believe it?
Got a letter today - sample couldn’t be processed - AGAIN!! Got to wait three months and do it all over again - it’ll be nine months late by then. The nurse was so careful to get a decent sample this time as well.
B*gger.
Jane xxx
hi i had a smear in august, which would of been my last one becqause i had a complete hysterectomy feb 2010, but my smear came back inadiquite, so another one 31st jan.
Try not to panic. Tamoxifen messes up smear results too. I ended up seeing a gynaecologist privately and had to use some pessary form of treatment for about a week before she managed to get good enough sample from the smear. It was clear!
Twinky68
Hi lollypop, did your GP or nurse note any drugs or chemo on the form they sent off with your smear? As Twinky says, they can mess up the results… I had one during chemo which thankfully was normal, but my lot did send a note with it to be on the safe side.
As a smear taker nurse, an insufficient or abnormal smear, for what ever reason should not be repeated monthly but needs a period of 3 months for the cells to regrow and therefor get an accurate result. So dont worry
I should have had my regular smear in Oct last year. I had only just finished chemo and was in the middle of rads. GP said wait 3 months after chemo, wasn’t concerned about the rads. So I had my smear on Monday and await the results…
Was told an interesting thing by the nurse. Now I am over 50, I will only get called every 5 years for smear as my likelihood of Cervical cancer is reducing while my likelihood of breast cancer is increasing!!! Excellent news!
Wandyx
I recently had a smear a year earlier than scheduled - I just went in and asked my doctor for a full gyne MOT after finding a small bump on my cervix.
Im still on chemo but the smear results were negative thank God. They are hopefully going to look further into the small bump, she said it looks like a little mouth ulcer…just another thing to worry about.