This week the health council issued the advice to send a self-test with the invitation for the smear for the population screening. This would lower the barrier for women to be tested for HPV (human papilloma virus), which can cause cervical cancer.
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Some women don’t get tested for a variety of reasons. For example, because they are busy, do not worry or because they do not like having to go to the doctor with their legs wide.
Bianca Bosscha (49) was one of the women. She was not even tested for HPV for fifteen years. “I always thought, ‘Oh, there’s nothing wrong with me, I’ll be fine.’ And I just had a busy life in my thirties. In retrospect, I think very differently about it.”
it was wrong
That changed when she was 45. “I got a weird gut feeling, like something wasn’t right. But I had no complaints, so when I received the invitation for the population screening that year, I first let it go. When I saw that I could request a self-test, I did. I just had a new GP and didn’t want to have a smear done there.”
The result of the self-test was bad: Bianca was found to have PAP3-A2, which means that troubled cells had been found near her cervix. “I had done a lot of preliminary research and knew that PAP3 is not good. When I heard that, the ground dropped beneath my feet.”
Human Papilloma Virus
The HPV virus is a sexually transmitted virus, which you usually don’t notice. Almost everyone is exposed to HPV, but most of the time your body clears it up on its own. If not, HPV can develop into cervical cancer. Through the population screening, women between the ages of 30 and 60 are invited to participate in the study every five years. Many cases of (pre-stages of) cervical cancer are detected in time via a smear. You can have this smear made at the doctor’s office, but it can also be sent via a self-test.
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Therapy
Bianca is then referred to the hospital. “There you undergo a zipper investigation. They first want to know how deep the virus has penetrated the cervix. It was quite deep for me.” As a result, the doctors decided that Bianca needed treatment. “They burn all the cells away. That smells really bad, by the way!”
What a luck
Because the HPV is often persistent and can recur, patients remain under control. “First I had to go every six months and when those results were good I was allowed to stay away longer. In the end I was on the road with it for 3 years.”
Fortunately, Bianca was fine. “I’m on PAP1 now, that’s the best you can score. In retrospect I think: what luck I was! Because I had never been tested and you can go from a PAP2 or PAP3 to cervical cancer.”
Smear test
Bianca was looking for fellow sufferers: women who had experienced or had gone through the same as she. “After the Pap smear, I was extremely nervous, because I had figured out beforehand what could go wrong. I was looking for fellow sufferers! But I couldn’t find anyone except for a horse forum. There were groups with women with cervical cancer, but I was in a completely different stage.” So she decided to start a page on Facebook herself. That was Smear.
“There, women who are waiting for a Pap smear result or who have received a bad result can exchange ideas. We have a lot of support for each other. We have so many stories, fears and beautiful people. Strangely enough, we are still the only ones, which surprises me!” laughs Bianca.
Does it hurt?
What does Bianca think about the Pap smear itself? Was that annoying? “Well…” Bianca begins. “Of course it’s not really pleasant. Once in the hospital I was waiting half naked while the doctors were preparing things, which is of course uncomfortable. But it doesn’t hurt.” She has another tip: “Ask if your doctor uses a plastic duckbill or use the self-test.”
Population Survey
According to Bianca, the population screening is of great importance in detecting the virus and preventing it from getting worse. “Actually, I think it should be expanded to every year and younger ages. Enough young women come into contact with HPV.”
That is why she calls on everyone to get tested. “Don’t be as foolish as I was then. Make time for this! Just do it, even if you haven’t been for a long time. Certainly with such a self-test you no longer have an excuse. It’s such a silent killer, most women, like me, have no complaints at all. There are so many women who are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year. With such a test you are there as quickly as possible.”
It will be Bianca’s turn again next year for the population screening and will be tested immediately. “Now I’m not worried at all, but by then it will be quite exciting again. And yet I’m going to do it. I probably won’t be as lucky as five years ago.”
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