Lucy - Interview 37

Age at interview: 31

Age at diagnosis: 25

Brief Outline:

Lucy was diagnosed with CIN3 in 2005, aged 25, and treated by LLETZ. She was happy with the care she was given and has had no problems since then.

Background:

Lucy is a health visitor and lives with her partner Ethnic background / nationality' White British

More about me...

Lucy was diagnosed with CIN3 in 2004, aged 25, and treated by LLETZ. She was happy with the care she’d been given but would have liked more information, particularly about HPV and websites recommended by health professionals on CIN3.

Lucy said she’d always attended for routine cervical screening and now has annual smear tests under her GP. She has had no problems since treatment and encourages other women to attend for smear tests.

Lucy was shocked to hear that HPV had caused her CIN3. She felt embarrassed and blamed herself...

CIN3, yes and HPV, which in my case is what had caused, we think, CIN to develop, which was a bit of a shock really because nobody likes to think they’ve picked up a virus along the way. And, you know, you don’t know where it’s come from and you wonder, “Will my partner blame me? Or have I got it from him?” And it’s a difficult thing. That’s something that I don’t really think about a lot because you feel dirty and you feel that it’s something that nobody wants to think about.

...I felt embarrassed because of the HPV. And I did feel a little bit, not as if people were judging me, but I do feel that it was entirely my fault. And I think that I could’ve prevented what I had by being a bit more careful when I was younger. But I think events go on and you can’t change the past and can’t blame myself really. Yes I can but, and I think you have to think that people don’t judge you. And that the healthcare professionals, they don’t look and think, well this was caused by that, therefore you know that lady’s different to somebody else.