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It's important to get checked - Cervical Screening

It's a global pandemic, but it is still important to get checked

I received my letter about cervical screening and my appointment coincided with Cervical Cancer Awareness week this year. I always write about my experiences and you can read my previous blog, which also has a link to the one before that, here: https://sezblog-sez.blogspot.com/2017/11/get-it-checked-2017.html

The complication at the moment is that we are going through a pandemic. However, there are still services available and a lot of surgeries are still doing the screenings. If your surgery is not screening at the moment you can still get tests done if you think that you have symptoms. It is so important to get an appointment though and go if you get your letter.

This year I didn't have a nurse that almost set fire to me...which was nice (see previous blog as above). What did happen was that it was probably the quickest and easiest appointment I have ever had. 

I made an appointment with my surgery and got one just a week after my phone call. When I turned up I had to speak to the receptionist via an intercom to be let into the surgery, then I had to use hand sanitser on arrival. You also have to wear a mask at all times in the surgery, which is fine by me. 

My appointment was about five minutes late, but they are dealing with a lot at the moment. There was also a student nurse there learning how to use the computer system and observing, which I am quite used to at my surgery as they are a teaching surgery. I was asked to get ready on the gurney and they asked me a series of questions such as 'do you have HIV?' and 'are you pregnant' before the test was done.

Lying on your back you don't see a thing so you just don't worry about it too much. You can feel the speculum, but it doesn't hurt, it is just a weird sensation. This time I did feel the sample being taken, but it really depends on the nurse and their technique, there have been times in the past when I haven't felt a thing.

The whole appointment took about two minutes and then I was out of there. I even had enough time to pop into the shop next door and pick up some essentials that we were lacking at home. The whole thing was just so easy.

So if you have the chance, please, go and get tested. We might be in the middle of a pandemic, but if you get tested and something is wrong it can be caught early enough to do something about it. That is much better than the alternative.