14 Comments
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Joan Lang's avatar

Oh, Andrea. That is just awful, I could feel it myself just reading about it. You are totally right about women’s medical care, and I hope you get good results!

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Andrea Strong's avatar

thank you Joan!

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keara robb's avatar

Honey,that is terrible!!!! Mine was scissor biopsies with no anesthesia. So I totally feel your pain.

I know you will be ok. Stay strong and positive. Lots of love and hugs.

Gaile

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Andrea Strong's avatar

thanks Gaile! x

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Jennifer Covell's avatar

Just awful.

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Andrea Strong's avatar

thanks! xx

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Equilibrist's avatar

I don't know when you had your colposcopy but I need to tell you something urgently, in case they didn't tell you at the time. Often a big glob of what looks like bloody or dead tissue will fall out of your vagina a few days afterward. (One of my friends thought she was having a miscarriage when this happened to her.) Sometimes they casually say "you may notice some discharge that looks like coffee grounds" but it's much more than that. Good news, It is actually nothing that's a product of your body, it's what they use to pack the wound and stop the bleeding (I think).

I've had four colopscopies and they have been the most painful experiences of my life. They've never been well explained to me, and I've never even been offered any lidocaine or any anesthetic. The docs just say "it's a little pinch, but it's quick." No, it's not. I'm sorry you had to go through this.

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Eileen O'Connor's avatar

Jesus. I'm so sorry!!

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Jack P Levin's avatar

Without in any way doubting, diminishing, or denigrating your experience or the treatment of women generally, which I known many examples of, I can tell you that men do have similar experiences. I was once humiliated by a urologist who insisted that until me I was his first patient who couldn't (and wouldn't) bear to have a catheter inserted in his penis as an in-office procedure. They had to knock me out in the hospital for that. I now try to understand and negotiate about pain in advance. That didn't help me much with the bone marrow biopsy. Oh, and did I mention the trans-rectal MRI? The one they had to re-do in real time? That required four post-procedure glasses of red wine. Maybe there's a column in here about dining tips for after the procedure.

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beatriz's avatar

Holy fuck I’m freaking out! I have a colposcopy this Wednesday and I’m not looking forward to this shit. I called ahead and asked for something to numb the pain. Hopefully it works. 🤍

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Amanda Schuster's avatar

I have been through this. It’s amazing that researchers are paid to ultimately define the best way to eat Oreos but they still haven’t made women’s health less barbaric.

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Catherine Hopkinson's avatar

I’m so sorry that happened to you! I’ve had a couple few colposcopies, and they were never that bad, but other friends have had similar pain levels. You’re right, they need to do better about recognizing the potential for serious pain in these procedures. But also, the chocolates line made me lol. 😂

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Sarah Strong's avatar

so visceral, so angry for you (and me, and us)

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Julie Besonen's avatar

Nightmare story and very well told.

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