human papillomavirus (HPV)

[Anonymous]

A 40 year old friend of mine has HPV and recently had an abnormal pap smear. Her OB/gyn had her get a biopsy and recommended immediate surgery that would most likely prevent her from ever having kids (she is single). She went to my OB/Gyn for a second opinion, and he said that the other doctor was being overly agressive and he doesn't know any doctor that would recommend surgery for someone her age who might want to have kids. He instead said that they can monitor things, she can do another pap in the next 4 months, and if things stay the same then they don't need to do anything. In contrast to the other doctor who said that they need to do something right away, he said that any cervical developments would be incredibly slow and that it can take years for anything to develop so just monitoring is fine.

Given the completely different opinions of these 2 doctors, would you seek a third opinion? Anyone have a similar thing happen to them? TIA.

[Anonymous]

If one is wrong, cancer spreads. If the other is wrong, she loses her ability to have children for no good reason. Yes, with stakes like that I would want another opinion.

[Anonymous]

I has abnormal cells due to HPV and my OB/GYN removed the cells with the LEEP procedure. After that, I still had abnormal Paps for about a year and they monitored me - finally I had normal Paps and have never has an issue. Have her ask about the LEEP procedure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If one is wrong, cancer spreads. If the other is wrong, she loses her ability to have children for no good reason. Yes, with stakes like that I would want another opinion.

this.

[Anonymous]

oops - should be "had" not "has".

[Anonymous]

My sister and I both had HPV and both had abnormal paps and cell biopsies. (colposcopy i think.) LEEP was a possible next step depending on the outcome of the biopsies. Both tests came back ok, and our next paps were normal. We both had babies naturally a few years later, no problems conceiving. We were both late 20's/early 30's when this happened, though.

She should probably get a third opinion; if the third doc agrees with the second and they monitor things, it's possible the issue might go away like mine did.

Now if the third doctor agrees with the first... she is 40 and single. She may need to accept that biologically related kids may not be in the cards, and do what is best for her own health, if the third doctor agrees with the first. Unless she has a boyfriend or a plan in place - like having a baby by IVF with a donated egg and donor sperm - she may be kidding herself to think that Mr. Right is going to come along and fertilize her naturally while it's still possible. Not trying to be cruel, just realistic. It's a lot of pressure to put on yourself. I'm 38 and single; had given up on the idea of having kids, then got pregnant unexpectedly. Given that I didn't find "Mr. Right" in my 20's or 30's, I wouldn't put my life at risk on the off-chance that I might meet him in my 40's.

[Anonymous]

i had HPV in my early 30s. I told the doctor that I wanted kids someday, so she just cut away a little bit of my cervix. Knock on wood, I've been normal since.

[Anonymous]

BTW, almost EVERY woman I know has this same issue at least once in her life. pretty much everyone in the universe has HPV, so this is an important issue.

I had an abnormal pap at age 25 and immediately followed up with a colposcopy about 3 weeks later. My options based on the results of the colposcopy were a LEEP or a cone biopsy. I chose the LEEP, mainly b/c I heard it was less painful. We did the LEEP about one month after the abnormal pap smear. Lucky for me, the LEEP results in a sample that can taken for pathology study, whereas the cone biopsy destroys the sample(if I am correct). My LEEP sample showed I had carcinoma in situ - commonly called Stage 0 cancer. If I'd delayed or put it off for a year or so, I could have had a hysterectomy or even died.

Please tell your friend to get a third opinion NOW but don't miss any follow up Paps or other appts. HPV is serious business. People don't think it's a big deal if they don't have the kind that causes visible warts - the thing is, the BAD HPV is the kind that you can't see.

[Anonymous]

16:07 here - I forgot to add that I am now the mom of three kids, so the LEEP didn't interfere with my fertility in any way.

[Anonymous]

Your friend's second opinion is consistent with everything I've ever heard about HPV/cervical cancer. The first seems really unusually aggressive. I'd definitely get a third opinion and do a lot more research. Perhaps her biopsy showed a rare, highly aggressive form of cell changes? Otherwise I don't really understand the first doctor's approach.

[Anonymous]

I had this a good decade ago. I had my cervix frozen (cryotherapy) twice and have had normal paps ever since. It would help to know how they staged her. Was it pre-cancer or something more? I'm kind of confused by her diagnosis. I would get a third opinion.