Lynne - Interview 34

Age at interview: 58

Age at diagnosis: 55

Brief Outline:

Lynne was diagnosed with CIN3 in 2006, aged 55, and further abnormalities were found at her second follow-up appointment. She was treated firstly by LLETZ and later had a hysterectomy.

Background:

Lynne is a debt recovery manager. She is engaged and has two adult children Ethnic background / nationality' White British

More about me...

Lynne always attended for cervical screening and had normal results. After a smear test in 2006, however, she had an abnormal result and was referred to a colposcopy clinic. She was diagnosed with CIN3 and treated there and then by LLETZ.

At her second follow-up appointment, further abnormalities were found and Lynne was advised to have a hysterectomy. As she had private health insurance, she decided to be treated privately and was in hospital for two days. She then stayed with a friend for a week, who looked after her and made sure she did not do any lifting or housework. Lynne said, ‘I think I was a bit emotional at the time. But I think that was just the anaesthetic. I’d been sterilised. I didn’t want any children. I’d gone through the menopause…. For me, it wasn’t traumatic at all, no. Somebody my daughter’s age would find it very traumatic I would have thought.’

Lynne said she had ten weeks off work and has been well since then. Shortly after her recovery, she met someone new and, at the time of interview, they were engaged and living together. She praised the staff who had treated her at both hospitals and said that she had received very good care throughout.

Lynne had been with her husband for thirty-five years. When they broke up, she had a few...

I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t, I really couldn’t believe it. And it was just a bit of a shock really. This is why I didn’t really want it to go, video’d or anything. But when I was married for twenty eight years and I was with my husband before that, so we were together for thirty five years when we split up. So I’d only really ever been with him.  

 

And then we split up and I went a bit off the rails, so to speak. Had a few relationships, and I’ve read since then that that could have been the cause. And I also read as well a shock could be the cause and my mum died. And then just after my mum died, I split up with my husband. And then my sister-in-law was killed very tragically, and my mother-in-law died, and it was all like shocks. And I have read that some of these things do cause the CIN3, but whether that’s true or not, I don’t know.

 

…..I’m past that now. I think I was finding my feet. I was thinking, I think it was because I felt so rejected. I wanted to see if I was still attractive to men. And I did go off the rails seriously. No, those days are gone.  

Lynne was very careful the first time she had sex after her hysterectomy. She and her partner had...

It was a bit uncomfortable sometimes, and it still is a bit uncomfortable sometimes in certain ways. But you get to have sex in the position that is comfortable for you. And no, it was at first, the first time was a bit strange. Shall I put it that way? Because, you know, I kept thinking, “Ooh. There’s nothing up there.”

 

My friend said, “What? Does it just go straight up into a big hole?” I said, “No.” And she goes, “Hallo.” I said “No it’s sealed at the top.” I said, “I don’t look any different outside, there’s nothing different outside. It’s exactly the same outside.” And she said, “When you go up there, there’s nothing up there. It’s just the end.” [Laughs].

 

No, I think as long as you’re careful the first time, it’s just like after, if you’ve had children, it’s just like after you’ve had a baby. You’ve got to be a bit careful. I think the doctor tightened things up for me, which was very helpful after having babies. And, yeah, I think sex is, it’s okay. You’ve just got to take your time. Everything’s still all lubricated and nothing dries up, you just carry on as normal.

 

You’ve just got to be patient, and your partner’s got to be patient. And you take it slowly and when you feel you’re ready, then you just go for it.

Lynne was given lots of information and also looked on the internet for more. She watched a video showing what having a hysterectomy involves and found it helpful.

I was on the internet, oh yes. Straight on the internet. It still wasn’t until the other year, like last year maybe it was I realised how serious it was.

 

By looking at information on the internet?

 

More information and people talking about it, and the Jade Goody. That was like, I thought if I hadn’t have gone for that smear, that might have got worse.

 

And did you look for more information about the hysterectomy as well?

 

I did, yes, yes.

 

And did you feel that you found what you needed and also they gave you information?

 

Oh they gave me books. I’ve got, they’re in there but I don’t know if the rustling will, but they gave me books and leaflets and oh I had to have an ECG for the anaesthetic, you know. No, I had books and leaflets, and I’d looked it up on the internet. I watched the video, there’s a video on the internet of a hysterectomy by laparoscopy.

 

You found that on the internet?

 

I found that on the internet, that was brilliant. That was absolutely brilliant. I was fascinated and everyone said, “What are you doing watching that?” I said, “No, it’s really good. You want to watch it, it’s really good. You can see them doing all, with the things and snipping and sealing,” No, it was brilliant.

Lynne was in her fifties when she was diagnosed with CIN3. She had no concerns about having a...

I wasn’t worried because I was through the menopause. I hadn’t had a period since 2002. And this was 2006. I’d been sterilised in ’86, so I wasn’t worried about children or anything like that. So I was quite lucky really.

 

…..I found it wasn’t as traumatic as if somebody who is a lot younger than me would find it, quite traumatic if they’ve not had children. Or they want to do more with their life or something or other. And they want to feel like a woman, if that’s the word. But for me it wasn’t traumatic at all, no. Somebody my daughter’s age would find it very traumatic I would have thought.                               

Lynne said it took twelve weeks to recover fully. She stayed at a friend's house for ten days....

I came out and I went to my friend’s house. My daughter lived here at the time, so that was good. And I went down to my friends for a week and she looked after me and she wouldn’t let me do a thing. Because you wasn’t allowed to do anything. You wasn’t allowed to lift the kettle, make a cup or tea or anything like that. And then I couldn’t drive. I can’t remember how long it was I couldn’t drive for. It was either four or five weeks I couldn’t drive. And then I had ten weeks off work.

 

And I stayed at my friends, and I think I just slept. Most days I had another sleep in the morning, and a sleep in the afternoon. It was quite good.

 

And your friend looked after you for the whole week?

 

The whole week, it was over a week really. It was about ten days really she looked after me. If I’d come back here, I would have tried to do things definitely, I would have tried. I kept trying to do things. I was lifting the kettle I must admit because I was here alone so I thought, well, and doing bits. But most of the time I just laid on the, I stayed in bed or I laid on the settee. My main thing was I couldn’t walk the dog, that was, because I couldn’t do that for six weeks.

 

My daughter was here at the time, so it wasn’t too bad. So I had her and she was quite, and I potted around. She’d get things out and leave them out, and I’d do the potatoes or something like that, and go and have a sit.

 

It wasn’t, when I went back to see the doctor the second time, he was quite shocked because I walked in and he looked, he said, “You look so well.” And I did, I felt really well.