An Early Birthday Gift

My birthday is still a couple of days from today, but last night I received an early present. A great, early birthday gift.

Remember my ASCUS scare from last year? My OB-GYN and I have been closely monitoring it for a year now and I went back for another check up just last week. I received a call from BNH hospital last night. My test results came back. It's NORMAL :)

Thank you Lord!

I told mom right away because she’s been worried sick. Mom, you can stop worrying now. Everything’s going to be a-ok :)

My doctor told me from the start that the abnormal cells will eventually clear up on their own, but it all happened faster than I expected. I think it’s because of two things: Cervarix and mom’s prayers. Cervarix is an HPV vaccine that mom, Angel and I have been taking. It’s comes in three doses which are taken in a span of seven months. I already have the first two; the last one will be in October.

More than medicine and science, I also believe that prayers really help. A LOT! So thank you mom for your prayers. Prayers not just for me, but for our whole family as well. My mom has also been tirelessly praying for another apo so hopefully that prayer will be answered soon. Right, mom?

Girl Talk

This one is for the ladies.

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Let's talk about women's health, shall we?

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If you read the Credit Card Scam entry, then you must be wondering what we were doing in the hospital last Saturday. I've been seeing an OB-GYN regularly for the past couple of weeks for two things: 1) because we're trying to have a baby, and 2) because of my ASCUS pap smear result

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ASCUS stands for Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance. It's the most common type of abnormal pap smear. My doctor said that it's not cancer, but I need to undergo a series of tests to determine if the abnormal cells are caused by HPV (Human Papillomavirus), which can potentially cause cervical cancer.

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When we found out about the ASCUS pap smear result, the doctor gave me three options: 1) have another pap smear after four months to see if the test will yield the same result; 2) submit the remaining tissue from my previous pap smear for HPV DNA testing and see the results in two weeks; 3) undergo a procedure called colposcopy on that same day. With option 3, we can determine right away if the abnormal cells were indeed caused by HPV.

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Now, my choice would depend on my level of anxiety. Can I keep it cool and wait for another four months? Or do I want to see the results right away so I can save myself from worrying? Since the OB-GYN told me that ASCUS is not exactly life threatening, I went for option 2.

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After two weeks, we went back to BNH hospital. The result: positive for HPV. So our next step was to undergo colposcopy. It's a 20-minute procedure where she will use a camera to look for abnormal areas in my cervix. If she finds any abnormal areas, she will take tissue samples for biopsy. The procedure will have to wait for another week because I had my period that day.

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So last Saturday, I had my colposcopy. I'm not going to describe the procedure here, but if you want to know more about it, just google it. All I can say is, it wasn't painful, but it was very, very uncomfortable. Sorta kinda like having mild dysmenorrhea. My OB-GYN found some abnormal areas which are viral in nature. Nothing serious and nothing to worry about. It should go away by itself, but I should get regular pap smears every six months.

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I will be seeing her again this coming Saturday for the biopsy results.

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When I told my sister Angel about this, she was alarmed because she just attended a seminar about women's health and the picture that they painted was not a pretty one. Turns out, the whole ASCUS scenario back home is more serious because some of them were not caught early on. Like I mentioned before, HPV can potentially lead to cervical cancer. Luckily, this type of cancer progresses gradually therefore it's preventable and treatable if caught in its early stages.

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I would really recommend -- no, I strongly encourage my gal pals out there to visit your gynecologist regularly. I've already told my bestfriends Pat, Ria and Fides to see one. A pap smear may not be the most comfortable thing in the world, but what's a couple minutes of discomfort when your entire life depends on it?

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In my case, I'm glad we were able to detect it right away so my mom and my sister can stop worrying. Oh, and yes, I still have many more years of shopping bliss to come :) ...now it's Richard's turn to worry.