Sarah - Interview 08

Age at interview: 37

Age at diagnosis: 24

Brief Outline: Sarah was diagnosed with CIN3 at the age of 24 and again, a few years later, at around the age of 28. She has been clear for over seven yeas and said she finds it difficult to remember all the details of her experience now.

Background: Sarah is a single HR payroll manager and teacher Ethnic background / nationality' White British

More about me...

Sarah spent some time in Australia and had her first screening test there, at the age of 18. Back in the UK, she had a screening test at her local surgery when she was 24. The results showed abnormal cells and she was told that she had CIN1. Sarah was given another smear test six months later and results showed that the CIN1 had progressed to CIN3.

 

Sarah was referred to a colposcopy clinic and treated but, because it was some time ago, she couldn’t remember the name of the treatment. Following treatment, she had regular follow-up appointments, which included cervical screening and, in one of these tests, CIN1 was found again. Sarah was given more treatment and has now been clear for over seven years.

 

Throughout this time, Sarah felt that she was given all the information and support she needed and that, now, there was a lot that she could not remember about the experience. She said that she gets on with her life and attends regularly for cervical screening every three years. She is in favour of the HPV vaccine available to younger girls and felt that cervical screening in England should start before the age of 25.

It's important to talk about how you feel. It's okay to feel emotional and tearful.

Talk about it first and foremost. Have a cry about it because it is your right to feel that, “Oh my God I’m a victim of this or that; I don’t understand what’s happening with my body.” Get emotional, get it all out. Speak to people, speak to your family about it so that they have some understanding. If you get given some leaflets don’t just put them on the side and, “Oh that’s never going to happen to me.” Read them. If you can’t tolerate reading them, get your family to read them to you.

Sarah's doctor was very good and referred her for treatment quickly when abnormalities were found...

Subsequently went to hospital, colposcopy clinic. And that kind of misnomer thing where they either freeze it or burn it, or whichever way it is around, I don’t know. But a bit unpleasant, and it obviously got some… there was lots of treatment and things. I don’t know exactly what it was called, medications and what not and after a while I seemed to be fine.

But then obviously they like to review the smears after that because of the abnormalities that had occurred, and subsequently the same thing happened, a little bit later, a couple of years later.

But this time, yet again it did go very, very fast. And my doctor was so concerned that I’d actually booked a trip to Australia. I was going away for sort of six weeks and she was aware of that. And when the results came back, I remember it was the Thursday of the week. I was flying on something like the Sunday or early the Monday morning.

So she must’ve got the results, and actually when I got home on the Thursday evening, there was a hand delivered note through my door, saying that she’d booked me into the colposcopy clinic at [hospital name] to go on Saturday. That’s obviously the concern that she had. Throughout all of this I can’t say that I felt ill physically.

So for the last seven years pretty much you’ve been fine?

I have been fine. They did keep reviewing it which obviously, and I was sort of, “Can I have six monthly smears?” Not that I love that, legs up in stirrups business but, that sort of scrape, but I didn’t want the same situation to myself happening. And I wanted to know how my body was reacting, also to that treatment and whether it was fighting everything, and what cells were going to develop again. So, yes, touch lots and lots of wood, no nothing has happened since.