Why Annual Pap Smears are a Must
- 32-year-old mom Sarah Feighan from Manchester, England wound up facing advanced stage cervical cancer in 2018an entire five years following what turned out to be a false negative pap smear test.
- When the security worker’s lawyer demanded results from the 2013 exam, she said many pre-cancerous cells had indeed been found, which is a lesson for many women out there to understand that false negative tests, or human error, is possible.
- It is important to know that the most common cause of cervical cancer is the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which is a common sexually transmitted virus. The virus also contributes to many head and neck cancers, along with anal cancer, and cancers of the vulva and vagina.
When her lawyer demanded results from the 2013 exam, she said many pre-cancerous cells had indeed been found.
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As far as the legal argument went, Sarah said “there might not have been significant changes between 2013 and 2016 because I only started to experience symptoms around 2017, with pain and bleeding.”Related: Star Sportscaster Erin Andrews, 43, Beat Cervical Cancer: What Are the Symptoms?
Therefore, the civil claim was considered “arguable.”
Sarah insisted that had she known there was something “to worry about,” she would have gone for another pap the following year. Now, she is left “unable to urinate naturally” and is left using a catheter for the rest of her life.
"The main reason I'm speaking out is not so I can gain from it but so others can be aware mistakes do happen and sometimes they are catastrophic,” the newfound advocate said.
Sex After A Gynecological Cancer’It's a Journey’
"I just want women to know that this can happen to you when you're young, so go and get the smears when they're offered, and do what you can, maybe through your own GP, to make sure the results are correct.”
HPV and Cervical Cancer
It is important to know that the most common cause of cervical cancer is the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which is a common sexually transmitted virus. The virus also contributes to many head and neck cancers, along with anal cancer, and cancers of the vulva and vagina.
"The vast majority of humans in the U.S., both men and women, will eventually get infected with human papillomavirus," Dr. Allen Ho, a head and neck surgeon at Cedars-Sinai, told SurvivorNet in a previous interview.
"The important thing to know about HPV is that there are many different strains, and only a couple of them tend to be more cancer-inducing,” Dr. Ho continued.
“Probably less than 1% of the population who get infected happen to have the cancer-causing virus that somehow their immune system fails to clear, and over 15 to 20 years [it] develops from a viral infection into a tumor, and a cancer."
HPV and Cancer Risk: The Basics
The HPV vaccine, which was recently approved in the U.S. for people up to age 45, though it's recommended that children get it before they become sexually active, can prevent a lot of these cancers.
Related: I'm Not a Teenage Girl: Should I Still Get the HPV Vaccine?
Gardasil 9 (Human Papillomavirus 9-valent Vaccine, Recombinant) protects against nine strains of HPV including the strains most likely to cause cancer and genital warts. But it can't provide protection if a person has already been exposed to HPV. That's why doctors recommend it for children as young as 9.
Contributing by SurvivorNet staff.
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