This post has been created to provide an additional forum for discussion, and is a continuation of the old Blogcritics’ Unnecessary Pap Smears discussion. The original Blogcritics Unnecessary Pap Smears discussion had more than 10,000 comments, but the comments were deleted following changes to the Blogcritics’ site.
Fortunately, the comments from Blogcritics have since been recovered and are preserved here: http://unnecessarypapsmears.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/over-10000-lost-comments-on-unnecessary-pap-smears-find-a-home/ This post also provides a ‘part three’ continuation of the ‘part two’ discussion forum that exists on this site: https://forwomenseyesonly.com/2013/09/22/discussion-forum/
Thank you Alex for suggesting the addition of an open forum devoted to discussion on this blog.
forwomenseyesonly 
Nothing today I just had that 1 small spot size of a dime, 2nd day very tiny blood spot and nothing since, I am not going for a pap smear or blood work up that sounds like it is a waste of time. I haven’t gone for a pap or mamogram since I was in my 30’s, it is my body not the Drs. I think its a propoganda scaring women into get unessary pap test.
Hi ladies,
I sometimes venture into enemy held territory to keep a watchful eye on going’s on, and their take on matters , and sorry to report that the vast majority of women must be as dum as mud . That petition that’s been mentioned a couple of days ago here that had reached 90,000 has now exceeded 150,000 , and the comments on Twitter are just insane , women saying that they had cervical abnormalities at 21 years old and If it hadn’t been detected and treated they would have died , others saying that it should be available from age 18 and done on a yearly basis ? I would love to ask them on what scientific studies are there conclusions based upon , but I think you would find their answers would be well my mom says or my friend says or the nurse says or the girl I work with says , I really despair sometimes as I mentioned earlier they really must be as dum as mud.
Hugs Jules x.
Hi Jules,
There have been a number of these petitions over the years and when they come to debate it they will trot out the same response as they have in all the others: that the new HPV test can detect further in advance than the old test and that screening more frequently and earlier than this causes ever more harm, but the girlies just won’t understand it. There will be another petition in a couple of years time when they bring about another change. They’ve been brainwashed by decades of propaganda about the test and the medical profession would prefer that the truth about all those LLETZ procedures was kept hidden from the public.
I’ve only just noticed that I’ve spelt dumb wrong ,
I must be as dumb as mud
XX.
Hi ladies,
Just calmed down from my last rant, put my feet up turned the television on and sod me a report on the bloody news going on about cc awareness week , I give up telly off , music on , crossword at the ready , now where’s that bottle.
Hugs Jules x.
I completely sympathise Jules. I’ve decided to stop engaging on social media around this topic for my own wellbeing. Women have been thoroughly brainwashed and nothing can make them shift their perspective. I can just imagine the twitter conversations now and they turn nasty very quickly. It truly is a cult-like mentality. It’s complete hysteria and I’m really trying to shift my own perspective from one of anger to one of sympathy that they are all so fearful and uninformed/misinformed. Mind you, it’s not easy because their hysteria has a direct impact on other women like us who want informed choice and to be able to have a GP appointment without pressure and coercion!
I only watch streaming channels and catch-up TV now so luckily I’m out of the loop! 😅
Fed up of these tacky soaps and ill-informed z-listers banging on about screening! 😕😴
Morning everyone,
So this week is Cervical Cancer Hysteria Week (errr I mean awareness week). Has anyone else noticed that social media twitter especially is swarming with women saying they have just had this done or about to get it done. Worryingly even men are posting about the importance of having a smear test. The mind just boggles, one poor deluded sheep is even posting on Twitter that if you know the symptoms book a smear test. I didnt have the heart to tell her that if you must have this humiliating, degrading and completely pointless test then you wont be having “symptoms” in the first place. Honestly the mind boggles…… (Rant over )
Jess
Some consolation is that in spite of these pathetic events, the uptake continues to fall year on year, so they clearly don’t work, at least not more than a week after the event. Some will book tests to appease friends and be one of the office clique, and then not show up when the hysteria dies down. It is the same self-righteous blind zealots who speak up for this again and again and it is re-assuring their number gets smaller and smaller each year. If they were hitting their targets and getting their full cash incentives we wouldn’t be getting any of these events at all. They are a sign that they are desperate and losing control over the herd.
Seeing men getting involved in this debate really boils my blood.
What right have they got to get involved when scientists are busy trying to devise painless and non-intrusive methods to “screen” for prostate cancer?
They can all bu**er off 🤬
Hi ladies,
It all seems to be kicking off in wales, there’s now over one million votes on that petition and they have stopped venting their anger out on sites such as Twitter and Facebook and have turned on the health services like rabid dogs , NHS wales have been left trying to defend their decision saying that the hpv test is better than the old cytology test and the five year gap is perfectly ok for this type of screening but admit what they should of done is to of made the change in a more informed way to the public , this could not have come at a more inappropriate time with it being awareness week, and some urging people to go for screening
and these other morons telling them not to bother for another two years, I’m finding it absolutely hysterical, and can’t wait to see the reaction of the sheep when they try to do this in England, and the best thing is that this is all their own doing scaring the hell out of women for decades, and using underhand tactics for compliance and conformity, as they say karma will always find a way of coming back and biting you on the ass for wrongdoing.
Hugs Jules x.
Couldn’t agree more with you, Jules. It is entirely of their own making. They’ve brainwashed and scaremongered for decades and now they want to change something they get this huge backlash. If they had told women the truth from the start, the women would have started a petition to get the new test brought in sooner! It is utter madness and just shows how little the women really understand this test, and how ridiculous their argument is that these women attend through informed choice. Come to think of it, I didn’t think there were even 1 million women of screening age living in Wales…? Who are these people?
There’s also a lot of backlash against Jo’s Trust on twitter where they have tried to explain the change in interval between testing in Wales. JT tweeted something about the ‘confusion’ arising from the change and most of the responses are to the effect of ‘I’m not confused, but outraged. How many more women will die?!” and “You have blood on your hands for this” and of course all of the people who “would have been dead” if not for a screening before 25, or if they had gone longer without one. They have no idea how confused they truly are.
I hope they now realise just how damaging all these years of propaganda and brainwashing have been to women. They caused this hysteria with their slogans equating a missed smear test with certain death, and blaming those who have the disease of getting it because of failing to get a test. They should realise the harm this has caused to women. They’ve scaremongered to get money and donations from terrified women. Whole business is disgusting.
Very well said Jules, I am really hoping that Public Health/NHS England adopt this approach. While I have opted out I just want to view they hysteria when this is announced.
Jess
Popcorn at the ready 🍿 🤣
On another note, I am shocked how ill-informed and utterly hysterical these women are 😬
They remind me of the kind of women who would have reported their neighbours for witchcraft in the 17th century.
Hi All,
I read about this site in the “30 years of PAP” rape book I read over christmas. Im Michelle and I am now in my 50s and was bullied into having this tests first at 18, then again at 21 and again at 24. The first was when I went on the pill at 18 everything was fine then when I went back to get the next three months worth I was conned into going to a well woman clinic. I had my children at 26 and 28 and afterwards my hubby had the snip and I have rarely been to a GP since as I know I will just get pressured into having a smear test that I dont want. The nurse “GG” the lady in the book refers to really did strike a chord with me. I am glad I found this site as it makes me feel normal that I wont go for a smear.
Kind regards,
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
Welcome to this site and I’m very impressed with your choice of Christmas reading. You couldn’t have made a better choice!
It is totally normal not to want to have cervical screening, but what has given rise to websites such as this is the propaganda and brainwashing which accompanies this test. That our health service is keeping honest statistics from women, plying them with bias, intimidation and outright lies is shameful and unacceptable. Women are treated like cattle rather than informed adults who have every right to make up their own minds. I consider the vast majority of women who go for screening to have not made an informed decision to do so. They are the ones who have not read anything other than advertising slogans. Those of us who have opted out are the informed ones who have worked out the truth. Glad you enjoyed the book and hope you enjoy more of this site.
Welcome Michelle, I found this site a couple of months ago and its very empowering. I have never had a smear test despite being coerced both passively and aggresively into having it done. I have now formally opted out of cervical screening an hoping I have seen the last of those awful invites and cheap paper leaflets.
Jess
Hi Michelle p,
You are most welcome here ,and the same goes for any other women who wish to know the truth.
Hugs Jules x.
Yes Michelle P welcome! So glad u found your way to this amazing site, the site and the women here, on it, have been a support to myself for many years now, and to others too! It’s so positive, in the past few months, how many newcomers have found their way here, that’s yet more deserting the cervical screening programme, never to return!!! X
There was a male gynecologist on are news channel today. He said the cc was the “second most diagnosed cancer in woman.” He was promoted if the government vaccine and saying it could “prevent abnormal Pap smears”. He didn’t say cc cancer he said abnormal Pap smears. He said that cc is preventable and all woman were at risk especially over 30.
Sorry I mint to say he said second most common cancer in woman.
‘The second most common cancer in women’. Worldwide, perhaps, but not in the USA. It’s not even the second most common gyn cancer in the USA.
When they use the term ‘in women’ (or ‘in men’) they’re only focusing on our reproductive system – body parts which are exclusive to one gender. Neatly ignoring all the other cancers which occur in both men and women, making their pet disease look far more of a threat than it is.
And it’s also extremely manipulative to use worldwide figures or compare women from developed countries to those in the third world. Sure, their CC rates are indeed much higher but when you look at the all-cause mortality it’s clear that that CC is NOT a ‘leading cause of death’ for women in the third world, nor is the rate of CC higher over there purely due to a lack of screening.
My question when it’s brought up about how much CC there is in the undeveloped world, especially extremely poor countries is who is doing all of these autopsies? It seems a bit suspicious when there are not enough doctors, nurses,nor infrastructure to even come close to meeting the basic medical needs of their populations.
Yes I can’t believe all these doctors coming on the news channels trying to scare woman that they missed cancer screening during the pandemic. I new it was false I couldn’t believe his audacity. There is fear in the mead community that woman are not coming in for screenings.
Also what’s with this chant hat the HPV vaccine prevents abnormal Pap smears. This is so misleading. Abnormal paps don’t always mean it’s cancer. I see the manipulation.
I’ve just received a summons for breast screening. I’m in the UK. This is about my 4th and previously you got given a ready made appointment at some nearby facility to attend. They must have had so many no-shows, because this one leaves you to make your own appointment. That should see the uptake drop a bit. Interesting to see how soon the reminder comes.
Hi Adawells, I had this just after my 50th birthday a couple of years back. They took the liberty of making me an appointment at a time that was totally inconvenient (not that I would have gone anyway). I never bothered attending the appointment as I wasn’t interested and a few minutes after the time of the appointment my mobile started ringing like crazy from a withheld number. After about 30 minutes it stopped and I eventually listened to the voice message of an irate radiographer almost demanding that I answer her calls and hot foot down to the mobile breast screening unit. Like cervical screening I had a few chasing letters that went straight in the bin.
Woah Michelle you were unlucky there! I didn’t think they pushed as much for mammograms! I got my 1st summons in 2015, and felt obliged to cancel so it could go to someone who wanted/ needed it,,luckily I wasn’t given any hassle on the phone, I said cancel and I’m not interested in re booking! I formally opted out right after and haven’t been bothered since
Hi Kat Rehman, It was the radioographer herself that called me. I think she was more annoyed that I hadn’t turned up and she was waiting for me that triggered her call. She was quite stroppy with me so I think I had a lucky escape! I had a breast exam when I had my first two smears and also by the midwife after I had both my kids and I find them just as bad as a smear.
Michelle,
I’m interested to see what happens this time around. I’ve always kept my mobile number a secret from my GP, but since we’ve had to download that blessed NHS App for COVID, they’ve now got my mobile number and have texted me before about some minor issue. Definitely a change of action from the breast screening organisation. Previously, a pre-arranged appointment has been made for me and I’ve always phoned to cancel. It frees up the appointment for some other misguided woman and stops any follow up letters, but now this is different. As there is no appointment to cancel I wonder what happens next. Will keep you posted.
What happens if you don’t show for an appointment you didn’t make?
I had that in the summer, but they rang me up after a couple of weeks to make the appointment.
I had cancelled the previous appointment given me as it was only a 2 year interval since previous recalls and I wasn’t having it. Then I didn’t make an appointment myself later so I had about a 4 1/2 year interval which was fine by me.
I was assuming they were trying to keep their numbers within the next time threshold for their statistics, but it may be a new system for everyone?
Hi ladies,
I hate the old cliche “I told you so”, but you just knew it was going to happen, upon hearing that Wales had followed Scotland
In the change to five yearly testing women in Norwich are starting to organise a petition to try and stop the three year tests changing to five yearly in England , even though up to now there haven’t been any announcements it looks like the screening services are going to be in for a rough ride, and I will relish every moment.
Hugs Jules x.
Just what is it that’s wrong with these silly fools that they just can’t see common sense? With less than two thirds bothering with the programme, you’d think some of them would have tried to infiltrate some sense into them. I hope that if it kicks off there will be some serious questioning about the brainwashing that’s been going on all these years and some serious attempts to educate these nutters.
Hi ladies,
As you know a couple of weeks ago I registered with a new Surgery after being struck off by the last one at the end of last year. I handed my new patient registration forms in and in the box that said “what was the date of your last smear” I put in “Informed Dissenter”. I am off work today and tomorrow and just had a called from the new surgery. “Hi Jessica , its new surgery here just onboarding you to our system, and I have read your form and for your last smear you say you are an informed desserter can you explain what that means please”?
“errr I am not an informed desserter”, “well on your form it says you are”, “well I am not an informed desserter but I AM an informed dissenter”….
“Well anyway can you explain what you mean please”? “Yes it means I have never had a smear test, and more importantly will never be having one as I have opted out, and trying to coerce me into having one is regarded as harassment and wont be tolerated, furthermore I will report you to your superiors for harassment”
“What???? you’ve never had a smear test? Its very important we need to get you booked in ASAP”. “Firstly congratulations on getting a degree in life sciences, you clearly seem to be very highlight qualified for a receptionist, but what part of the word no don’t you understand? Like I said I will never put myself through this humiliating, degrading, and completely pointless test”
“OK firstly I done have a medical degree but I understand what you are saying, maybe I can get one of the nurses to call you and explain cervical screening, its really nothing to worry about and all women have them, you should have come in last week when it was cervical cancer awareness week and you could have had a walk in appointment”. “Dont bloody bother, and if you don’t mind I am busy”
“well if you insist, but i’ll get one of the nurses to give you a call sometime, they are really lovely you know and do this every day” (I am thinking do they harass women every day or do cervical screening everyday)
Sorry for my terrible punctuation, but hopefully you the idea of how this new place works. I look forward to her calling me as long as I am not jet lagged, I will think nothing of giving her a piece of my mind!!
Kind regards,
Jess
They claim to be so informed, so right and knowing all about it, but they are utterly clueless that women have any rights over their own bodies, and any say in the matter at all. The same people are shocked when you tell them that bullying and coercion are endemic in the programme. I’m afraid that is receptionists and nurses all over. I doubt the GP would have the time to stand there arguing about it, especially if you confronted them with questions about their incentive payments. They probably know how pointless the test is. but only want the payments. Doubt they’ve seen a case of cervical cancer in years. You can actually check your GP surgery’s screening uptake on the KPI indexes. (Key Performance Indexes).
sorry I meant indicators. You used to be able to look up each GP surgery and see what their uptake actually was. I can’t seem to find it now. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-screening-programmes-kpi-reports-2020-to-2021#full-publication-update-history
Made a wordpress account as Facebook is being dumb and not connecting. This is still Jacqueline tho.
It definetely is both nurses, doctors, and receptionists. My last experience, it was the receptionist that decided i was due for a pap smear in october of 2020 without even consent from me. To boot, i didn’t even want the pap, declined the colosophy, and smh. Then i got letters that my doctor was trying to reach me.. alll to bully me about a screening test! That’s not right, at all.
This is ridiculous.
You are entitled – by law – to decline any medical treatment or procedure provided you are a competent adult and competency is presumed unless they are told otherwise.
This needs to stop. Threaten to report them to the GMC unless they accept your refusal. They need reminding of their legal obligations.
Go nuclear!!!
Btw… my husband was snipped after our 2nd son was born, so no to being on any kind of pills birth control or hormonal pills. And I demaded my patient file when I left that office and the receptionists gave it to me,which I was surprised ,I figured I would have to fight for those papers in court, but they are now all shredded then I burned the shredded pieces in my outdoor bbq grilled. And I reported this Dr to my health Ins company and to the local medical board, I highly doubt anything will be done, were are these Drs morales ? And NO I dont have or had any exposures to sexually transmitted infections, I cant believe she assumed I am some kind of I dont know what to call it, sexually active with other men since my husband was disabled,I never was unfaithful to my husband till the end and I am still faithful after his passing. 😡
Hi jess,
I think it’s time to have a little fun, when the nurse calls ask her questions that she couldn’t possibly know the answers to,
Lifetime risk of cc ( 0.63)
Accuracy of hr hpv testing (71%
False positive percentages
False negative percentages
The over treatment percentages
The spontaneous regression of cin 1, cin2, cin3. (99.1)(95)(88) respectively
And then while her brain is still smouldering, ask her if it’s normal for the practice to act illegally by pressuring women who have made an informed decision to opt out, and if this is her idea of respecting a patient’s decision. And then finish her with a ku de gras by telling her she can help with some information and that you would like to know about the surgery complainants procedure.
Hugs Jules x.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cancer-screening-informed-consent
Good idea. Refer her to this guide for GP surgeries, which she should have read. Informed dissent is 3.4 in the guide. You could also say that the incenrive payments scheme is a conflict of interest and ask them how much money they are making in forcing women to screen. We should all have a right to know that our GPs are on commission to force sceeening.
Thanks for your comments Ladies.
I am half looking forward to a possible call from a nurse half dreading it. While I am happy to say “I am NOT having this test” I am not sure if I am confident enough to go through the stats, facts and figures in a way that sounds like I am not reading it off of a screen. Personally I wish they would just push off and leave me alone. I have been harrassed for this since I was 18 and have always just said a firm NO. I tend to think its a bit like getting rid of religous groups that knock on your door recruiting, the more you argue with them they more they persist as they like to attack your view and facts with theirs so I just so NO and walk away or slam the door in their face.
Jess.
Stats? Don’t worry.
Simply say your vagina deserves more than a test with 50% efficacy.
Your pussy cat shouldn’t be disturbed for the equivalent of a coin toss.
Blimey Jess, how did you get away with not getting smeared? I got practically forced into having my first smear back in 1988 as a chubby shy 18 year old who had gone on the pill three months before. I have never felt more pressured into getting anything done as much as I was into having this.
Hi ladies,
Professor Peter sasieni has spoken to the mail on Sunday who is the head of medical trials at Kings college London about the public backlash over the time change in screening times, and that this same proposal was supposed to be introduced in England before the end of 2022 but that may now be postponed until a major awareness campaign has taken place to reassure women that the new proposal is in their best interest.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha good luck with that Pete,
Myself and Annette will be sitting at the by line drinking chianti and eating marshmallows watching it all unfold and trying our hardest not to pee ourselves laughing.
Hugs Jules x.
Hi Jules (and everyone else), This is music to my ears. Que mass hysteria! Do you have a link to the article in the Daily Fail ? I am feeling down today and need a good laugh reading it
Jess
Want to see pap scrape freaks commit suicide en mass?
Begin insisting that 80 year olds should have them every 6 months and that teens are mostly immune from hpv and thus don’t require screening.
Then we’ll really see what it’s all about.
You know Not that- but i bet if we all got together and created a movement that these exams are pointless, with the proof of the numbers and all, maybe more people will believe us. i thought of starting a movement like this in the US, As well as informing people about consent.
Hi sunflowergal 22
I’m afraid that this has been proposed by numerous women before and has never been successful because of the way women have been programmed from a very early age to comply with medical recommendations and pressure from family ,peers and unscrupulous practitioners, until the medical profession actually come clean about the decades of misinformation and accuracy of testing things will sadly continue
Hi jess,
Sorry I’ve been searching but I can’t seem to find that article to forward it, I must have gone through hundreds yesterday and only remember that this article was on the daily fail website, probably 2-3 days after the Welsh announcement sorry again but from now on I will keep track of sources.
Hugs Jules x.
https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2022-01-11/senedd-petition-fast-tracked-as-millions-voice-concerns-over-smear-test-changes
It looks like they’re trying very hard to nip this in the bud. I’m sure I saw it too, but can’t find it anywhere now. They are going to rush through the Welsh petition to try and convince these silly women they’ve made a big mistake, and probably stop it sparking off petitions elsewhere. Did I catch somewhere that they’d planned to bring it in in England at the end of this year?
As someone who lives in Wales, it really makes me angry that a large proportion of those signing don’t even live here!! I hope the Welsh Government hold firm and do not reverse their decision. I bet Cervical Screening England are watching events very closely!
That’s what I thought. Far too many for Welsh population. I hope the Welsh govt stands up to these stupid petitions and stops anymore of them. I actually wonder if private individuals are actually behind them and not The Daily Fail, or private healthcare companies seeking to get rich on picking up the terrorised well…?
Hi Ada,
Yes the article I read
(And now can’t bloody find ) said that all countries of the uk were to use the new five year proposals by the end of 2022 , but I don’t know if this will happen now because of all the commotion by the
Screenaholics.
Hugs Jules .
Hi all,
I have a bit of a dilemma. One of my daughter’s friends who is nearly a year older than my daughter has just received her first invitation letter for cervical screening. Her mum sadly died suddenly when she was a teenager and her and my dau have always been close and she tends to regard me a bit of a surrogate mum, she got in with life after she lost her mum and is really level headed.
She was asking me about cervical screening yesterday and I said I had stopped going when I was her age and that it can lead to a lot of false positives. I didn’t go as far as saying I am anti screening but made sure I explained that I don’t go myself. She says she would like to get it done “just to be sure” and asked if I would go with her when she makes her appt. Ladies help!!! Really not sure what to do here. Its against my standards to support this test but I want to help my Dau’s friend.
sorry I should add its Michelle Perkins here posting the above. I got a bit finger happy and submitted the post before entering my usual name
That’s a tough one. If she’s bound and determined to have this done even after you informed her of the potential harms, I would go with her. It may be that after the procedure, once she experiences firsthand how invasive and uncomfortable it is, she’ll have a different perspective. Perhaps what you told her will click and she’ll take a closer look at the harms vs. benefits. She’s lucky to have you as a surrogate mom.
Hi Michelle,
If this girl looks up to you for guidance, it would be best if you told her it’s her decision to make and suggest that she needs to read up on the subject before she decides, tell her to read about the pro’s and cons of the test, she could read the propaganda leaflets that they supply in favour of the test , and you could probably guess which source of information I would suggest in opposition to the test, (fweo) either way it should be her decision and say that you would support the choice she makes (and hopefully she makes the right one) .
Hi Jules and Judy, Thanks for your replies. I showed her this site and also read through the propaganda leaflet that they sent with her invitiation letter ( they get more and more tacky printed on crap quality paper that looks like its been done on a home printer). She has booked the appointment for Monday 14th February at 9am which is the first appointment of the day. I said that Drs have a habit of running late and the last thing you want to be doing before an appointment like that is stressing in a packed waiting room stressing out while they are running late. The appointment is with “The Nurse” who we understand is female. My daughters friend has asked if I can go in with her when the smear is taken and not just sit in the waiting room. I am not sure who is more nervous about this now me or her
Hi Michelle,
I forgot to mention that she could always self test for hr hpv she could get reassurance from this test without having all the abuse tacked on, the test is as accurate as clinic sampling and this is what I will undertake when the time comes, it’s only a swab so she would miss out the speculum and the stranger part,
Hugs jules x.
Hi ladies,
It has been announced on the news tonight by the health secretary that healthcare workers will no longer face getting fired for not having the COVID vaccine, in the following interviews of staff after the announcement a nurse said that 70,000 workers were prepared to lose their jobs because it was a matter of principle and that it went against all that they are taught on bodily autonomy and free choice , it’s a shame that they only think this applies when it’s them , and not to the patients they harass on a regular basis.
Hugs Jules x.
Jules I saw this too and am actually relieved about the u turn! However one feels about the vaccine, and people who choose not to have it, I always thought of the vaccine (or indeed any other treatment) was made compulsory the floodgates would open and more would be made compulsory, including smears for women! I think it was Demos who called for that a few years back!!
Good morning Ladies,
I hope everyone is well. I was looking through the Daily Fail website yesterday and this came up in my news feed:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10464317/Smear-tests-one-day-tell-women-ovarian-breast-cancer-experts-say.html
While I am not overly interested in the claim that they can use this test to detect other cancers, it does state further down that they are planning to change the interval between screening to 5 years in the UK by the end of 2022. Que mass hysteria!
Also on youtube there is a video rather worryingly filmed in the UK where a 38 year old lady was forced to have a smear test as part of IVF egg collection:
I would have blown my top if this had been forced on me.
Kind regards,
Jess
They’ve tried this before (quelle surprise) and it didn’t work, so I’m not sure if this is the Daily Mail running an outdated story or scientists pushing their luck once again.
A screening programme for ovarian cancer has recently been ruled out, despite the researchers saying early results were “promising”.
Grasping at straws spring to mind. They just won’t give up, will they?!
This shist has come up in the States a couple years ago.
Why the excitement? Another reason to get in our pants and get paid too.
Same cells circulate in our blood.
Same cells also are filtered out in our urine.
But a vagina in the stirrups is worth two at home.
Honestly what is with testing virgins!!!!!!!!!!! Really if we never had sex, there is no need to test for these things. If we had sex, okay we are more at risk, but at that point it should be a choice.
Hi ladies! Just had an alert from They work for you, cervical screening, about amoung other things yearly check ups to spot gynae cancers and it seems on 14 feb this year yet another campaign is to be launched help us to help you, raising awareness of the benefits of screening groan! Bloody Valentine’s Day! A new best timed pathway for gynae cancers will be announced shortly, can’t wait!
Ye Gods, can’t they just leave us alone on Val Day? 😦
Well that sure strips romance and sex out of it.
Or.
They want to see your “heart” on Valentines Day.
And, your heart puts them in heat.
It isno doubt an attempt to involve men in screening and to probably present an inappropriate, sexualised campaign 😡
PHE had previously said that all their campaigns would be targeted at females as the decision to undergo screening is a woman’s choice!
For goodness sake this is getting out of hand now. If I want to get screened will get screened (I don’t so I opted out but still get harrassed) Who is “They work for you” it sounds interesting, do you have a link Kat Rehman ?
Hi AQ,
I think you may be right by trying to influence your nearest and dearest to “persuade”you it would be beneficial for you to take the test . Imagine your other half ringing up and saying he’s picking you up on valentines night and taking you somewhere special and then arriving with a lovely bunch of flowers and a short drive later pulling up on the clinic car park and giving you a pre booked appointment card , after the argument I’m afraid I would be looking for another other half.
Hugs Jules x.
Jules,
The concept of a romantic partner taking one out for a romantic time on Valentines Day, taking the person to a clinic for a medicalized rape, then hoping for a “hot time” afterward is amusingly absurd. Yes, the stop at the clinic would quickly get me looking for a new partner.
When will they get the notion of consent down pat? I’ve seen an explanation which would work in this setting as explained in a book written for middle school students, so it could be understood by 9-12 year old children. This seems too hard for medical professionals with advanced degrees though. Grown women don’t seem to understand the safety concepts that children can – it’s a blind spot when it comes to any medical setting.
https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/85/resources/6139
There is a briefing sheet for the campaign but you need to be signed up to download it.
They haven’t learned a thing have they? Can remember years ago Dr Margaret McCartney raised this issue of smear tests being presented as part of every woman’s lifestyle – haircut, cinema tickets, cervical screening. Remember that advertisement? They seemed to have stopped doing that for a while due to criticism, but it seems like they’ve reinstated it. We’ll just have to be prepared with the facts and waiting for them on social media.
Hi ladies,
Another awareness campaign less than a month after the last one, Jesus they really are clinging on to desperation,
On the flip side a couple of women’s forums yesterday said that some hrt treatments could be made available without seeing a doctor and a prescription in the near future, a little bit of give and take, they give out shit and expect us to take it .
Hugs Jules x.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/feb/02/plans-to-make-vaginal-hrt-tablets-available-in-the-uk-over-the-counter-medicine-hormone-replacement-therapy
Seems it’s only the vaginal pessaries which are going over the counter to the over 50s with vaginal dryness, and pharmacists will have training and a checklist of questions to ask in front of everyone else waiting in the shop.
Been through that.
Whenever I needed anti-fungal vagina cream, I’d be questioned by the pharmacist in front of the other customers over the state of my vagina.
I would always make a complaint about the grilling, stating that women aren’t stupid, and we can usually figure out if we have diabetes symptoms and see a doctor if necessary!
I said to a pharmacist once, ‘Are you worried I’m going to stick the cream up my nose instead of my vagina? Because you’re treating me like a 3-year-old!’
I just got a confused look back from him.
Got around that by buying the foot anti-fungal cream instead! Most of them have the same concentration and ingredients, and grabbing it off the shelf and paying for it at the counter just gets you a bored look with no grilling. No one cares about the state of your feet, it’s just a vagina which is special…. :-p
The amount of control anyone in the medical profession want over our vaginas is way out-of-touch with modern society. I’d expect this type of crap back in the 60’s, NOT in the 2020’s!
Jess can’t find the link but try typing they work for you cervical screening alerts?! I’m signed up to receive automatic alerts whenever more nonsense comes along
Try https://www.theyw
ork foryou.com
TheyWorkForYou
I’m useless at postinato links sorry, !
OMG Ozphoenix I would have loved to have seen the look on the Pharmacists face when you asked him if he was worried you would put the cream in the wrong hole, would also loved to have been in the que behind you as I would have wet myself laughing. Why is it that put someone in a white coat and straight away they think they can patronise you and talk down to you.
Thanks for the link Kat Rehman, I will check it out.
Jess
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2022-01-26.112498.h&s=cervical+cancer
It is in the Written Answer from Maria Caulfield 1/2/22
https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/85-cervical-screening-campaign/overview
PHE (which doesn’t exist anymore 🙄) campaign overview
Oh dear – it runs until the 14th March. 😦
https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/85/resources/6139
There is a briefing sheet for the campaign but you need to be signed up to download it.
I signed up and downloaded the campaign document. Its a word document. The level of coercion/persuasion they are going to use is huge. I for one will complain to Ofcom about any advertisement I see on mainstream TV as feel this is innapropriate coersion.
Jess
I am so annoyed at my new insurance right now, trying to order new birth control with NURX through my new insurance- all i get is CANCELED. SMH. And i thought of calling but they probably would say oh nurx isn’t a doctor’s office. Well the prescriptions are written by real doctors. whatever. more 435 for me!
Jess, it’s the same old depressing language… raise awareness (why?? We already have smears forced on us every time we breathe! Encourage us to book for them… we would if we wanted to go wouldn’t we? And FFS HOW is a smear empowering? Answers on a postcard pls….now I’m off to find the vomit bucket 🪣!!
They never stop banging on with their unhinged campaigns do they!
I’ve said it before. It’s like being stalked by Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction!
Has somebody somewhere really said that having a cervical smear is empowering??? Thats crazy, whats empowering about going to an appointment that has been practically forced on you, only to have the person you have the appointment with to usually be at least 20 minutes late, be forced to undress from the waist down or totally and put a surgical gown on, lay on a bed that forces your legs open, and have an hideously embarrassing/degrading/painful procedure carried out. There are some very strange people about
You are empowered to be humiliated, to sexually arouse the doctor, yo receive a 50% effective test, etc.
I think it’s more empowering to say no and put your foot down to something unwanted being imposed on you.
Well exactly. Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not advocating for you to attend. My husband insisted he go along. That was a good idea.
There was one nurse practitioner who admitted the test was a waste of time. She was the most educational and helpful.
Otherwise, having hubby there was my safety net, and something to distract the doctor from his own pants.
I’ve said this before. But a reminder. Google Jeffrey Abrams MD and Naga Thota MD. I knew the latter. Each are doing 20 years prison time. It would be good for you to know what their MO was. If you’re going to go, then having your husband or significant other, especially if that person is educated and knows what to watch for, would be a very good idea.
Otherwise my response was meant to be sarcasm. Something I hope you shove in the National Health’s or your pushy nurse’s face. Let the phone screener digest that.
Because we know what empowerment really means.
Hi ladies,
Does anyone else find their attempts a little pitiful, I’m tempted to write a letter to them suggesting that they hold an
awareness campaign about the awareness campaign so that more people are made aware of the awareness campaign and become more aware. Ha ha ha
sorry ladies having a daft day today.
Hugs Jules x.
You’ve got to. Please.
Do tell us their response.
Hi cat&mouse,
They would probably say they are aware of it.
I think it is pitiful. No matter how many campaigns they do, the numbers fall steadily, year on year. The campaigns don’t work, and there’s research out there looking at the effectiveness of these campaigns showing they don’t work, but still they go on, as if people haven’t heard of the test. I know some GP surgeries have run special pink screening awareness weeks and claimed they’ve had an increase in people getting tested, but once the yearly figures are in they are less than the previous year. Seems to me that these awareness weeks get people in earlier, who would have screened anyway. They just turned up earlier. Once the campaign is over, no-one bothers, and probably get less than before.
Ada well do I remember that campaign oh and the crying chid, my mummy misses her smear test, now I miss my mummy! Vomitable
There is a poster sailing a bit close to the wind on that one – picture of young woman reading with a baby on her knee “I’m doing it for our future”
“I’m doing it for peace of mind” is fine if you are coming from the angle of having weighed up the facts rather than been frightened into not knowing what you want to do.
“I’m doing it for me” is fair enough if you are in possession of the facts.
Yeah. I’m telling you and your program to F*** Off.
I’m doing it for me.
Hi ladies,
Working with figures everyday at work , I can usually pick up at a glance if something is amiss, with all the pro screen sites full of sheep moaning how it was almost impossible to get a test and the charity’s whining that tens of thousands of women have missed their tests because of Covid, I can’t see it being at all possible that the overall average has only decreased by 2% , so I wondered if they have been cooking the books a little . If the posters here were to go onto their surgery website it’s possible to access a section called GP performance this reveals the total number of eligible women against the actual attendance and then gives a percentage ours stand at
73.5 percent , and I wondered if you could do the same , just so we could keep a vigil on them, because we all know how trustworthy they are don’t we.
Hugs Jules x.
Some of the comments on here are really interesting I cant believe the government nonsense that on valentines day that are going to run a campaign that will get husbands/partners/boyfriends to encourage women (or people with a cervix) to for screening, personally I think it will have the opposite effect. My husband says that the idea of me having that test makes him feel physically sick and work colleauges dont tell their parters that have been screened for the same reason.
If I see this advert on TV i am going to complain to the advertising standards association:
https://www.asa.org.uk/
Jess,
TAKE YOUR HUSBAND WITH YOU.
Let him ask questions. Have him look over doctor’s shoulder. Let him ask to see your cervix.
Good for his education.
Distracts the doctor from fun.
Can you get a Delphi Screener?
Hi ladies,
The attitude the take with our menfolk would be to tell them if you even dare to mention this again you are gonna have less chance than them of ever seeing it again end of,I think they would get the message.
Hugs Jules x.
It was eye opening for my husband.
It empowered him to eventually find me the Trovagene test. I have no better advocate.
If it weren’t for him I’d have been victimized a number of times.
Hi Michelle and yes, the articles trying to push uptake up mentions, empowering women , helping them feel empowered to attend their smear, and some sheep have even said they found it empowering! I guess it takes all sorts lol
Ugh the empowerment narrative. Yes, how empowering to be misled, coerced and fed half truths which lead you to undertake an intrusive procedure that most women genuinely dread, along with all its potential harms. I’ve even seen conversations on social media aimed at women who have experienced sexual violence, encouraging them to have screening to ‘take their power back’ and ‘not let their abusers win’. It’s hideous.
Gem, do you think that most women genuinely dread getting smeared? There are some on Twitter that would get smeared every day if it stopped them getting cancer! I have read what Cat&mouse posted further up and I am genuinely concerned that Drs get a kick out of this. I have only had a male Dr once for a smear test and although there was a female nurse in the room I still felt very vulnerable and uncomfortable. My Hubby supports me fully in my decisions not get screened and each time an invite arrives I ask him to bin it (they are easy to spot as they have a Darlington post code.
Hi ladies,
To be honest ladies I think they are now at a total loss as to how to raise their performance figures, by trying to utilise your other half in influencing your decision is just another futile attempt by them because they just don’t know what else to do,
and as for their new new phrase
empowering, wtf is that all about
most women would phrase it as demeaning , distressing, uncomfortable, painful , embarrassing surely this is the complete opposite to the empowering term they are so fond of using at the minute , but not to worry I’m sure as usual it will fail miserably again the numbers for screening will keep declining and then they will try to find another angle for persuading us , when what should have been done was to devise a more acceptable and accurate test decades ago, has anybody heard of the phrase stop flogging a dead horse.
Hugs Jules x.
That’s a good question Michelle. It’s true and perhaps a bit presumptuous of me to say what I said. ‘Many women’ would have been more appropriate. There are, after all, so many ‘it’s nothing, just do it’ tweets/posts etc. floating around. And yes, I’ve also seen the tweets from women wanting to be tested every six months from the age of 16, lest they be overtaken by rampaging ‘abnormal’ cervical cells. I think it’s definitely fair to say that there are women who see it as ‘no big deal’ and who don’t find the process itself difficult and are therefore very evangelical about it (verging on bullying other women sometimes), albeit without any understanding of balancing risks and benefits.
Hi Gem, I agree with what you said initially that most women dread this sort of test and its only the minority such as us on here that are brave enough to stand up and say NO! The type that you get on Twitter are also a minority in saying that its nothing and they would go every day if it meant them getting cancer, they also don’t read the facts that this test is inaccurate, false positives etc. These “influencers” are helping the NHS coerce women that dont want this test into thinking that the must have this test.
I remember that Friday afternoon when I was practically forced into having a smear test for the first time, i felt much more pressured into getting it done than I did “going all the way” with my first proper boyfriend a few weeks before.
Michelle, Yeah, a few years ago, I had an experience with an (unexpected) male resident whose “line” to get into my vagina was coercive – to the point that I left without expecting to get the prescriptions for my diabetes and thyroid condition renewed. I NEVER had anyone so pushy to “go all the way” throughout high school or college or early working years.
As coercion is a type of force, we have a word to describe using force to penetrate someone’s vagina. It’s got to stop in the medical setting.
It’s either Delphi or don’t screen!
Ugh Michelle. Really sorry to hear that you had that experience. Very similar to mine in terms of the level of coercion. Nothing like that should ever happen.
Just checked out that odious help us help you campaign some more and found this, cervical screening takes only a few minutes and you only “have to go” ( my speech marks, but u get the idea) every 3-5 years! We HAVE to go? Really? It’s nearly 22 years now since my last smear 🎉🎉
Hi ladies,
I hope everyone is ready for a whole month of campaigning by the screening brigade , which by the way starts tomorrow , I have been trying to think of a way to avoid this garbage , not buying newspapers, watching telly , leaving the radio off , but I think the only way to totally miss it all is to go to the nearest hospital and ask them to put me in an induced coma for a month so I miss it all but could they be trusted not to smear me while I were lying there defenceless , I guess not, so it looks like we will have to grin and bare it for now and look for obvious errors they make and make a point of noting this to their devoted followers.
Hugs Jules x.
Hi All,
This is a long post so my apologies. I mentioned a couple of weeks back that my daughter’s friend Hannah had asked me to go with her for her first smear and she had booked it for 8:30 on Feb 14th. So this morning I picked her up so we got to the surgery in good time. We were both a bit nervous as we drove to the surgery, but got parked up and checked in, and there were those awful cervical screening campaigning posters on the notice boards. Everything was fine up until this point until she got shown where to go to wait for the nurse, I went to follow her but the receptionist shouted at me (and I mean shouted like a strict teacher) that I had to sit in the waiting room as I wasn’t allowed in with her. Hannah said to the receptionist that she wanted me in the room with her and it said in the booklet she was sent she could have someone in with her, but the receptionist said she couldn’t because of covid. So we left without having the test and decided to stop for a Costa on the way home. While we were in there the nurse rang her mobile and asked why she walked out. When she said the Nurse was horrified and said if we could get back there within 10 mins she would do it there and then and if she wanted me in the room then it was perfectly OK with her. So back in we go only to be glared at by the receptionist. After what seemed like an age we got called in. Hannah got the usual grilling about date of last period, what contraception she is using, how many partners etc. The nurse then gave her a gown and asked her to undress totally and put it on and she had her weight and height measured.
A breast check followed and I she looked as embarrassed as I felt when I had my first smear over 30 years ago. It was then time to “just hop up on the couch” I thought stirrups were a thing of the past but they weren’t here and she had to lay in that degrading position legs apart feet in stirrups while the nurse did the smear. She said it hurt like mad but the nurse told her just to hold on for a minute and it would be over, when she asked if she had used some KY Jelly to help get the speculum in the nurse said she couldn’t as it can affect the result of the smear, I am sure some nurses do use KY they did with me and they have done so on some of the vile youtube videos. For some reason she decided to take two swabs too one from next to her cervix and one from the top of her vagina as well as the smear itself and although they say the smear takes seconds I timed using the clock on the wall and the speculum was in for 100 seconds and opened for over a minute and a half.
The nurse seemed indifferent that she was causing her pain and seemed eager to get on with things. We had another coffee on the way home and Hannah said that was the first and last smear test she was ever having and if she had been shown the speculum before hand she would have backed out there and then, as she thought it would be no bigger than a tampon applicator. When she had got dressed she asked the nurse why she hadn’t been shown the speculum before it went in and was told she has shown it to women before only for them to walk out and not have their smear taken.
Now this ordeal is over I will show her this site in full. We are both going to formally opt out of this invasive and degrading process for good. This afternoon she is going to write a letter complaining about the attitude of both the receptionist and the nurse. Its still morning but I need a gin to try and calm down while trying to dodge the next month of smear test propeganda!
OMG Michelle, that sounds awful! Why is it that it takes 7 years to train to be a GP and all of 7 minutes to train a receptionist to think that she is a GP. How come that some GP surgeries have stirrups and some dont? Thank fully I have never undressed for a GP or nurse and I have no intention of doing so either.
Jess
Is this the UK? I have never been asked how many sexual partners, and they can FO to the far side with that one.
I have had unnecessary and incompetent breast examinations to get the pill though.
Hi Jan,
Yes it was, in a normal surgery in the UK. Personally I think most of the questions she was asked were irelevant to her state of health, more of a data mining exercise to they can model the personal habits of the bulk of the UK population
Yes, I usually get asked how many sexual partners I’ve had. This question has DATABASE written all over it! Clearly, it’s to try to gather the information of how many sexual partners women in various age group say they’ve had. As I have not consented to be a participant in any such study, no thank you.
This conversation got me re-thinking it. I’d be tempted to lay it on with a trowel, and embarrass the $hit out of whoever is asking! In my current practice, which has records of my outright refusal, including the little fact that I’m a sexual abuse/assault survivor, and for one thing I find this discussion and ‘test’ quite triggering, If someone asks, I’ll tell them they obviously have not read my records… if they persist and want details…
“What do you mean by ‘sex’? Do I only count coitus, or other sexual activities, such as oral, anal, manual, or using ‘marital aids’? Do you mean consensual sex? Does that include that which happened before I was to the age of consent? Giving or receiving? How about phone sex? How about voyeurism or frotterism (someone rubbing up against you, often done without consent)?”
If they want “the total”, I’ll go on to explain that my memories of when I was less than 5 are probably unreliable. However, the first thing I remember about being alive was someone sexually abusing me. Also, two cases of sexual assault happened in medical settings – which is in my medical records which they clearly haven’t read.
If they only want the ones that happened over the age of consent, my objection will be whether they are really asking to get medical history, or do they want my memoirs? See, when I was a toddler, I was called “slut” (as well as other sexual slurs) enough that it lost its shock value before it could be developed. As an adult, I was doing the best I could with what I had. HOWEVER, it will take me some time to write out my memoirs. After I’ve done that, I’ll PUBLISH them – I might as well make some money while I’m about it. See, people will pay for fulfilling their prurient interests that you are asking for free. I’ll come back after you buy the book.
If they come up with “It’s for your own good…. for your health…”, I’ve got another comeback. “The main person who sexually abused me from when I was a toddler until I was 12 often explained it by he was trying to get the demons out of me. He was paranoid schizophrenic. As an agnostic atheist, I think there’s a low chance that demons are possessing anyone. It’s hard to give it a probability, but let’s say 1:10,000. As there are 160M women in the US (granted some of them are children, and some have had hysterectomies, and some of them are very elderly), and roughly 14K cases of CC in a given year, that’s less than 1:10,000. Thus, I give this nonconsensual penetration of me less chance of being what you say than I do the schizophrenic doing it for demon possession. There are many other cancers with a greater chance to cause a problem – so why all of the focus on this one? I don’t think you’re crazy, and you can do math too.
It doesn’t seem reasonable to put in all of this effort and cost for such a rare occurrence. At $33B per year spent in the US on screening, testing, and treating CC, that’s over $2M for each case.Considering that ~4K die of CC, that’s a maximum of 10K who might be helped by this treatment, each of them costs $3.3M. Certainly, there are many other conditions where we can treat and save people for under $3.3M a pop!
I probably won’t do this, and almost certainly not all of it, but it’s a good thing to have in my back pocket if I need it. It felt good to write this out, as I made the appointment yesterday for my annual visit to the doctor for my diabetes, and it’ll be asked – unknowable what amount of coercion they’ll try. In reality, the tool I’ll keep ready is, “I’m going to have to seek legal advice before I acquiesce to vaginal or anal penetration against my consent, and in apparent violation of ‘the patients bill of rights’ posted in the waiting area. I do not think that it’s legal, much less ethical, to use coercion, a type of force, in the form of refusing to treat me for the #7 cause of death which we already know I have, in order to penetrate my vagina and/or anus.”
So sorry to hear your account, Michelle. Sounds just like my first experience more than 30 years ago. I take it the nurse didn’t even bother to announce what she was going to do, to actually get consent for all this? No, of course not, women are just dead meat to have procedures done on them after all. All part of being a woman and something we have to normalise, according to these creeps.
So sad that these attitudes haven’t changed a jot, but I’m glad your daughters friend formed the right opinion of it all and will hopefully stand firm against further demands. I’m sad my daughter made the decision to get hers done. There was no way I would have accompanied her, or assisted her to have it in any way at all. She hasn’t spoken about it with us, and I reckon it was peer pressure from friends that persuaded her. Certainly wouldn’t have got that from me! Some consolation is that the next one may be 5 years away, if they manage to change the system in spite of the baying idiots creating more and more petitions. I hope so.
Another interesting piece of news I heard from my job in the NHS is that HIV testing is now opt out, should you find yourself getting a blood test for whatever reason in a hospital. This will be men as well as women, as apparently there are a fair number of hetero men out there who have HIV without knowing it, believing it to be solely a gay man’s issue. There’s a link between HIV and cervical cancer. One doctor told me women with HIV are 5x more likely to get cervical cancer. It’s about time they came up with STI testing for men. Why should we women bear the burden of these invasive tests and questions all our lives, while men are free to spread it all around thinking they are not to blame? I’m hoping that catching these men and treating them will do more to prevent women getting cervical cancer than smear tests ever did, and am hoping this is another tool that will bring about the end of cervical screening completely before too long.
Those Wuhan restrictions. Look how quickly their attitude changed when challenged.
Sorry for such a bitter learning experience.
Now teach her how to say NO! Or STOP!
Terrible experience. So sorry.
Oh, Michelle, that’s appalling.So not only was your young friend’s first test an awful experience due to a callous nurse – and yes, they ARE allowed to use lube, albeit sparingly, so she’s either ignorant or has a sadistic streak – but to also be railroaded into other dubious health checks during the appointment? So much for informed consent. This isn’t just a bad attitude, but an abuse of authority.
The sooner we introduce self-testing here in the UK and deprive these egomaniacs of the power they have over vulnerable patients, the better.
I’m almost 50 and I’ve never had a routine breast check, and I don’t believe it’s the norm – certainly not in this day and age – to have a breast check during a cervical screening appointment.
And I absolutely agree that all those intrusive questions are nothing more than data mining exercises.
Why on earth does a 25 year old with (presumably) no signs or reports of breast complications or complaints need a non-clinically required “breast check”?!
Mng Michelle that poor poor girl! And in 2022 they still do breast checks? Absolutely bloody appalling. Hope your young friend manages to put this behind her. Thinking of you and her. X
Hi Kat Rehman, I have had a look on the website of the Surgery we went to this morning (its not the one I am registered with) Under “clinics” it states “Cervical Smears – With the practice nurse by appointment. We recommend 3 yearly checks for women up to 50 and 5 yearly checks for women between 50 and 65. Breast examination technique, blood pressure check and urine testing available.”
when they say “breast examination technique” I read that to be that you will be coerced into having your breasts examined weather you want to or not” I had my breasts checked at all three smears I had at age 18, 21, and 24. for the first two I was given an internal examination too.
Michelle that’s truly appalling! I guess I should be grateful I “only” had a few smears, though I had the questions about periods and number of partners, I declined to engage about partners !!
Hi Michelle,
Many women are made “aware”of screening from an early age , but until they actually experience the test physically, and find and feel exactly what this entails it doesn’t become an eye opener until then, this first experience can be a make or break for many with regards to abandoning or continuation of screening, it sounds like your daughters friend had one of the more unpleasant experiences, but from what you had written it sounded like she had already made her mind up about being tested, all that can be done in this case is to be supportive ,now she has had first hand experience of screening show her the testing facts and figures of incidents and accuracy and armed with this she will be able to make a rational choice in the future.
Hugs Jules x.
I can’t say I’m surprised..
It “only takes a minute” they say, yet it doesn’t does it? And they always try and make it as degrading as possible, hence the questioning about periods and sexual activity, breast exams, leaving the speculum in for as long as possible etc.
Every time I hear them say “it’ll only take a minute” I think, yeah, a few minutes for them. But for myself and many of us the traumatic memories last a lifetime.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10505801/Doctors-working-biggest-shake-breast-cancer-screening-30-years.html#comments
This appeared recently in the Daily Fail, but they’re not giving up so easily. They’re thinking of replacing the current test with a risk score. Can just see that panicking even more people. Again, it is always women need, must, should get a test. Never women may choose not to have it at all, as no difference in all cause mortality.
Hmmm!! I agree with Ms Kenny here in the article.
And whatever they trot out, I won’t be “accepting “ any “invitations “! I’ll seek help if I find anything unusual!
Interesting that the women surveyed by Ellie Cannon thought screens were essential and they wouldn’t be here without their (maybe unnecessary) treatment!
Hi ladies,
Yet another doctor has been suspended by the GMC pending a police investigation, this animal worked at a hospital in the Stoke area of the north midlands , and worked as a paediatrician, he had been arrested in 2018 because of similar complaints but no charges were brought because of lack of evidence, he was suspended by the hospital after two separate incidents one involving a seven year old and one girl of fifteen, (and the screening services wonder why people have little trust in them)this news is quite new and the police have only just released a statement saying that a thirty four year old man is under arrest in connection with complaints made by nine individuals, now
doesn’t that make you want to go and get naked in front of them and let them do their little bit of fiddling, if this bastard is guilty they should execute him on live television .
Hugs Jules x.
Hi ladies,
The post by Michelle struck a chord with my own experience of screening and was one of the reasons i stopped attending, I must apologise before hand as it goes on quite a bit.
My story
Having completed uni i found my way back home and settled back in helping mom around the house in between sending out my cvs and full of optimism and youthful exuberance for the future. After around four months I had an interview with a company that was one of the ones at the top of my list, and two weeks after my interview received conformation I had been accepted, although getting to and from work could take over an hour and half each way, after three weeks of this decided to find somewhere nearer, dad helped massively I think he was trying to get rid of me ha ha . Eventually we found the ideal place only about twenty minutes from work it was a bit pricey but again dad helped out ( bless him)
Feeling all grown up I set up all my direct debits changed my registered address to relevant paperwork and revelled in my new found independence.
Mom phoned one evening to say I had a letter from the NHS to screen ( my 25th was two months later) I arranged an appointment for a couple of weeks later with them and dutifully attended ,it was with the nurse and not at all comfortable although not too painful it felt very unpleasant after I had left I was unsure how I felt about it, my concerns passed over time , now fast forward three years and another test was issued , I decided to register myself with a new practice it was just too far to go to my old surgery so found one only two miles away with ok reviews I booked an afternoon off and popped in on my way home the receptionist was helpful and seemed nice I filled in the forms and was told that at my next visit I would need to bring in an i d such as a passport or birth certificate and a utility bill with name and address on she then said I would be under the care of a doctor Lesley …….
Wow that’s a bonus a female doc
I left on a high almost skipping out the surgery, two weeks passed and i turned up for my appointment I went to the receptionist (a different one) and stated the reason for my visit and she asked if I would require a chaperone I answered no it’s fine
and sat down awaiting my test a little anxious but in control they had a electronic message board above the receptionist desk which buzzed and you’re name came up with which room to go to off I went down the corridor looking for room 1c , I took a deep breath and knocked the door ,enter a rather deep voice answered I opened the door standing with it half open I said I’m sorry I think I have the wrong room who are you after he said , I’m after doctor Lesley ……. that’s me he said please come in and take a seat somewhat shaken I explained I expected a lady he gave a little laugh and said I’m afraid you have to blame my mom and dad for my name but don’t worry it happens all the time. He said that my records had been transferred to them from my old surgery but they were incomplete and could I answer a few questions to bring them up to date before any exams started sure I answered we like to provide excellent service to each individual registered with us so we like to have a complete and full history of all patients,
can you remember at what age you had your first period , this caught my completely off guard and I found myself answering automatically 13
and at what age did you become sexually active 19
I couldn’t actually believe how these questions were relevant anxiety was now screaming skyward
number of intimate partners was the next question 2 long term boyfriends I answered
and during these encounters did anal or oral sex occur, at this I kind of snapped back into reality
and said I’m sorry but I’ve become increasingly uncomfortable with this line of questioning and I think I’m going to leave now , and at that I picked up my bag and headed for the door he did call after me twice but I didn’t acknowledge him and left all the way home I couldn’t believe what had just happened, the feeling of unease was overwhelming as soon as i arrived home the laptop went on and I tried to find a legitimate reasons for these questions, some did come up in relation to questions asked at an Sti clinic scrolling through the web is when I came across fweo and from that moment on knew that screening was not for me, to this day I don’t know if these were legit questions or information the doctor wanted ? for whatever reason and if they were legit why did the surgery not ring to ask why I did not take the test ?
Sorry about the massive post , but this believe it or not is the condensed version , my diaries go a whole lot further, I know this pales into insignificance with some of the others stories on here , but at the time it was very concerning to me and
besides Annette you are the only others that now know my story.
Hugs Jules x.
Yes, this line of questioning is one that has DATABASE written all over it. If you had not consented to participate in research, this is inappropriate.
You could use my current idea of what to do: Leave, saying that it would take some time to write out all of the details, at which time you’d publish your Memoirs for prurient interests, and he could buy a copy.
I think database is one reason they ask for this information. I’ve also heard that health care “providers” sell information to third parties.
Another reason is speculative on my part and I just think some of them are just damn creepy and either get a kick out of it or want to monitor women’s sexual activity. Either way, they can hide behind their profession to disguise their real reasons for asking these intrusive questions.
Another major red flag that occurred to me was that he did not offer you the opportunity to reschedule your appointment with a nurse or female doctor upon learning that you were expecting a lady.
He clearly did not have your wellbeing, comfort or best interests in mind and I think you were right to listen to your instincts. I bet you gave him a surprise when you walked out of the door too as these people are not used to hearing the word “no” are they (particularly from young women).
Good for you for standing up for yourself but I am sorry you went through those experiences x
Hi AQ,
I don’t think I was being brave or defiant
I just think survival mode kicked in because I felt so uncomfortable and uneasy , if his motives were unjust I hope I worried him enough to change his ways.
Hugs Jules x.
OMG Jules, that is awful. Total respect to you that you followed your instincts and left. That is SO hard to do.
It was totally amiss of that surgery to not tell you that he was a male. You would not have been the first patient to have thought he was a ‘she’.
Just seen the cervical screening advert on TV ‘I’m doing it for my family, I’m doing it for me’. Emotional blackmail. Of course no mention of the vast amount of unnecessary treatment and no respect for informed choice. Makes me sick.
Me too Gem! I found the ad online! I’m doing the not screening thing for me, and as I ❤️ My cervix I’m keeping it away from the cervical screening programme, and full stop I don’t even want to receive invites to ignore so I’ve opted out! I’m now going in search of the vomit bucket
I haven’t seen it on TV. I don’t watch much TV so dont know if its targeted at a daytime audience or evening in the Coronoation Street advert breaks. I think this is it that I found on Youtube
As you say Kat Rehman i am looking under the sink for the vomit bucket, its cringeworthy.
Jules, I’m so sorry what u went through! Anyone would have reacted and felt as u did that “doctor “ was waaayy OTT ! And wtf with the did oral occur?? What these ppl do to women is appalling and just GOT TO STOP!! X
Oh dear ladies! As some of you may know, I am an Officer of my Trade Union, and my misguided Union is backing a smear test on demand campaign! I’m always very respectful of peoples health, and don’t tend to get behind initiatives such as persuading my colleagues to get flu jabs for example. I don’t feel I can do much as I don’t screen and have alternative views on healthcare! Not really sure what I can do here! It’s not a cop out, but I have enough already with the current issues, but I’ll have a think…
Oh for heaven’s sake. They’re backing a non evidence based campaign that will cause harm. I suppose you could show them the outcome of previous parliamentary discussions and what Jo’s Trust have said about testing below 25 etc. to point out that they are not backing something officially endorsed by the healthcare community (albeit that screening itself is and we all know the problems with that!). However, of course, it’s up to you as to whether you have the mental energy to take that on as I imagine you’ll get an earful back from the brainwashed. I’m not sure I would but I would find it so galling to have to listen to that nonsense and the ensuing discussions. Sorry to hear you find yourself in that position.
Tell them it’s a rape-on-demand campaign. Can you educate them? Talk it out? Have a vote of no-confidence? Surely if they see a woman put their hand up and say ‘No, and this is why!’, they’ll start to think differently. Most men have ZERO idea of what a pap smear procedure is.
Thank you Ozphoenix.
That’s perfect.
Thanks Gem! At least this is half term week…!
Hello everyone,
Well it had to happen!!
I have been working away a lot over the last few weeks and haven’t posted on here as much as I did at the end of last year. As I mentioned a few weeks ago I have now registered with a new GP after getting struck off by the last one and a couple of weeks back had a run in with a receptionist over my opting out of cervical screening. When I am away working, I am often on another time zone and I have an app running on my phone so only my husband or parents can call me. All other calls don’t even go to voicemail it just lets the phone ring and ring. I saw over the last week or so I have had a number of missed calls from a withheld number. This morning I was up and about getting ready to go shopping when I get another call from a withheld. It might be someone trying to get compensation from the car accident I had years ago but it might be someone else. It was indeed someone else and a call that I was expecting and both half dreading and also mischievously looking forward to.
“Hello is that, Jessica? Its Rebecca here from the surgery I am one of the clinical leads here” she went on to try and get a rapport by talking about the weather etc. I asked what was this call was aid of as I was busy. “Well so-and-so on reception tells me you have opted out of cervical screening and I just thought id give you a call to ask why, can I ask why?”
“you cant I’m afraid as quite frankly its none of your business”. This really took the wind out of her sails as the must have thought she had snared me in her trap.
“It’ really important you come in as according to my records you have NEVER been screened” (never? Lock me up, paint a cross on my forehead, I am clearly a dangerous person to be around spreading HPV around the neighbourhood) “never have been never will be, I have made an informed decision not to screen and my decision is my choice, its final, and non negotiable” I retorted.
“Ahh well you see, if your not screened it may well limit the choice of contraception we can offer you, we are running a program to encourage women to get screened for the next month and we can make an appointment that works for you” I was half expecting this and had my answer well rehearsed “Oh really? Does this mean that you and your vagina police are going to come round to our house, kidnap my husband, shove him in your stirrups and reverse his vasectomy? He had it over three years ago so even if you did manage to reconnect him, chances are there is a blockage somewhere else and the reversal wouldn’t work”.
“There is no need to be like that Jessica we are only trying to help you, and you seem to have an answer for everything”. “I do indeed” I replied “Is there anything else can help you with today? Please be quick as I have a lot to do”. At this point the phone went dead and she hung up on me. How professional!
Hopefully I have heard the last on this and they will stop harassing and coercing me. I will let you know.
Jess
You’re a legend! 👍😁👏😅🤣
Kudos to you for challenging them and having them over a barrel like that!
I am amazed that they keep trying even when you have made it perfectly clear that you are not interested! They could not get a clearer and more adamant message and they still keep pushing the, “we’ll make you an appointment” line, even though they run the risk of humiliating themselves further.
What annoys me is that they also think that they can invade women’s personal and professional time to push this nonsense when they have already had a perfectly unambiguous NO.
They are either dumb, desperate or both! Maybe the screening figures for their surgery are nose diving!
That was awesome Jess, good on you! I can’t believe how much time and energy they put into harassing women with this stupid test!
Thanks Apocalyptic Queem and Ozphoenix. I didn’t feel awesome as I was speaking my mind I was actually shaking and when I put the phone down I burst into tears, so in a way she has won.
Jess, you did a great job. Those tears show exactly how much needless stress and pain you were put through for something you decided – as a responsible adult -you didnt want.
‘No thanks’ should have been enough to make them leave you alone. That it wasn’t is a shocking testament to their lack of respect and abuse of authority.
I am so sorry you felt like that Jess. The harrassment is beyond the pale.
But I suspect she wouldn’t have felt as though she won though. She ultimately failed to get another bonus from screening and she was outwitted at every turn.
I can understand the pressure is relentless though. I avoid doctors mostly for this reason!
Kudos for standing up to them! Honestly, a hard “NO” would just have been warrented. Why do we have to deal with this harrassment all the time if we don’t want this exam. Don’t they realize that they are creating stress by mentioning these things. i remember 2 years ago when i kept getting letters “oh you are due for your pap smear, please schedule” when i said i will call if i have any problems!
If they create stress, they can do a medication cascade – high blood pressure meds, antidepressant meds, anti-anxiety meds. Possibly anti-diabetes meds, and thyroid meds which can figure into stress. They might even get some cardiac tests/problems/meds to go along with all of that. Lets not forget the cholesterol meds. Then the side effects, and drug interactions – multi-way drug interactions are almost unstudied.
If the phone went dead, I think that’s your win, Jess. Disgusting that they clearly feel they have the right to withhold contraception for a smear test. Things haven’t changed for decades have they? These people are vile.
The pill is available online, although I recognise that does not override the principle.
I suffer from terrible PMS and heavy periods and am self-treating myself with Microgynon bought on Superdrug online at a cost of around £25 for six months.
I have a blood pressure monitor at home too. I feel really bad for those who cannot afford to go down that route or are held to ransom over other prescriptions that are necessary to their health.
It makes me wonder, how many women have avoided going to see the doctors due to serious health complications or have ignored lumps and other worrisome symptoms over this?
It really is completely unacceptable.
GOOD FOR YOU!!!
Same reason why my husband got snipped.
You gof them to expose themselves for what they really are.
Parasites. Insincere at that.
I despise them.
And when you need help post menopause guess what they’ll offer.
They don’t give a damn about sex quality, whether there’s incontinence or a rectocele or anything.
Jess…. RESPECT! to u!! And no, she didn’t win you did!! Another nail in the programme’s coffin!
Thanks for all your support re; my mental union colleagues! Thankfully it’s not my workplace and at the other end of the country, my members certainly won’t hear about it from me and if they mention it I’ll go from there! It’s the same old; an Officer wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for screening and she can’t understand why women are being denied tests and dying before 25( because the doctors don’t follow the protocols maybe and give internals or follow up but just dismiss it as periods/ Pill issues?) they say if a woman wants a smear and a nurse agrees then they should b smeared groan…..
My position is that if these women and their “health care providers” are foolish enough to believe a smear on demand will help them and they accept the risks of overtreatment, or are ignorant to it in the face of the evidence, I say let them get on with it.
Problem is, they would never be happy with that and insist that all women are coerced into screening from an incredulously young age for their “own good” and because “everyone else is having it” 🙄
AQ they take the view that 50% of the members are women so they should be campaigning on womens issues!! If such a massive body as the union gets behind it all…. I agree, it’s mad
Saw that ridiculous NHS TV advert last night. I just find the whole system outrageous. I went once in my 20s, found it painful, was a bit traumatised by it (couldn’t stop shaking for a few days) and never went back. It’s an extremely invasive health test – regardless of how they frame it, it is NOT mandatory. I just bin the letters and get on with my life. I refuse to live my life believing cancer is always waiting to pounce. As many of you have said – they’re not bullying men like this.
Indeed. They are not bothering people who don’t do the bowel screening kit nor do they pester women as much about breast screening, and breast and bowel cancers are far more common than cervical cancer ever was or will be!
Come to think of it, I got a summons to make an appointment for a mammogram ages ago, and don’t seem to have received the follow up letter suggesting I’m an irresponsible, illiterate thicko. Perhaps they’ve given up with me.
Thanks Adawells, I needed a good laugh! 🙂
I’ll use that if I ever get into a slanging match with a doctor. ‘I’m sorry I’m an illiterate thicko for not screening…’.
LOLZ….
Apocalyptic Queen. Why is there so much pestering about pap scrape and pelvic exams?
Because it’s fun. For them.
Beats green snot, sore throats and bad breath. Fevers and Wuhan too.
Plus the depressing “real” cancer diagnosis.
Pap always means talking about sex. Not their own of course, only the patient’s.
I’m off to find the vomit bucket as well: even in the US, they have been showing commericals of people getting their pap smear. i saw one on valentine’s day, and nearly ughed at the tv when they showed it. Numbers must be really down for them to be promoting this crap! And nothing about informed choice and false positives from that screening.
They’re really laying it on thick. I’ve just seen ‘celebrity’ Scarlett Moffett talking about how hers probably saved her life when she had ‘abnormal cells’ and how she is passionate about ‘educating women’. Then, the usual cast of characters such as Dr Zoe Williams and I imagine that harridan Dr Sarah will pop up to berate women at some point too. I also saw one survey by a newspaper asking ‘Do you regularly attend your screening when called?” Choices are “Yes” “No, but I will in future” “No, I need more advice” and “I am not required to”. Required??? It’s an optional screening test with both risks and benefits. How about an option “I have made an informed choice not to” – it doesn’t even feature in the discussion.
How many of you noticed that emotionally manipulative women’s health BS ad during StuporBowl?
Seeing a black recording star whore herself for these instilled in US a desire to drink more alcohol to forget and then to change channels.
The NFL (Never F****** Lying) corporation treats its cheer leaders like corporate prostitutes. Complete with no-tell clauses and below minimum wage pay while mandating how they will dress and live outside their whore jobs.
And of course, we all know, convincingly, that the NFL hired the “best*” medical personnel to boldly prove that its violent play (without adequate medical long term care of course) doesn’t cause CTE or brain rot.
And what does * stand for?
Hiring so called doctors to rule on CTE who have zero qualifications to study it.
Sorta like doctors treating us here like we don’t know what we’re talking about.
Hi ladies,
Only three days into the campaign and already sick to the back teeth of it, but there is a bright side to it surely after a whole month of this crap even the most staunch supporters will get tired of it and beg for a respite, and these no name celebs who endorse the program are not really bothered about female healthcare they are more worried that they haven’t been in the news or television for a while , so would sign up to anything just to get back in the limelight or as me and Annette call them attention whores .
And to jess a big salute ,way to go girl.
Hugs Jules x.
When you think about it…
Something is wrong with our legal system…
Doctors and nurses everyday bully women into the stirrups…
Forcefully penetrating a woman’s innermost body parts…
Causing blood loss, pain, and emotional trauma…that’s never forgotten.
The Crown usually prosecutes sexual assaults…but rarely if ever…for sexual assault under medical guises…
And for the crime of forcing women to endure a 50% accurate medical test? Nothing. No prosecution. Ever.
Create a fake cancer cure? Or a fake Wuhan cure? Prison time and becoming a social pariah results.
The perpetrator likely sentenced between 5-20 years…
So while a mugger or rapist will do time…a doctor or nurse never will.
Because it’s still chic today to coerce, lie to, bully, and forcefully penetrate a woman’s innermost sacred body parts for a Pap Scrape (smear) medical test which has little value.
Why? Isn’t there something better?
Delphi Screener.
I’m not getting paid for this but neither are any of you for what you do. We’re fighting for ourselves and the women becoming teens tomorrow.
That first period not only signifies a girl’s transformation into a young woman, it also starts the clock a-ticking. And every receptionist on the phone, every “invitation” mailed, every doctor or nurse is waiting to tell these first-timers what they want to hear.
Quick. Easy. Painless. No loss of dignity. No trauma.
No problem if the girl isn’t ready, or is scared, or has already been traumatized.
Those medical professionals are waiting. Waiting. When quotas are reached, so are bonus payments.
Conflict of Interest? Shhhhh. Don’t whisper that in clinic where these are performed.
Don’t let the significant other know it’s a good idea they go to offer support.
For that support means another Scrape, oops, errr, I mean, Smear Test, and another payment afterward might not happen.
Time this was stopped.
After my experiences on Monday with my daughter’s friend Hannah, and Jules sharing her story on Tuesday, I have a question for everyone on here. In all of the leaflets that I get sent “inviting” me to go for a smear test all of the show a woman (or a person with a cervix) laying on a normal style couch, however in reality it’s a lot different. Hannah had to lay on a couch with her legs in Stirrups (the nurse adding that it’s much more comfortable to have a smear taken that way). All of my three smears I had to go in the stirrups too. Are stirrups a lottery and mainly they are used, and not using them is a rarity?
My experiences of having a smear on the NHS are not pleasant but like Jules I thought I’d share them with you:
First smear aged 18 in 1988, three months after going on the pill. I had it sprung on me that to get a further supply of microgynon I needed to attend the surgery on a Friday afternoon for an appointment with a male Dr and a female nurse in the room. Just told I had to have a smear there and then, nothing explained as to what it involved. I had to undress totally and put a front opening gown on and had my weight and height checked. I had a breast examination with my hands behind my head and with the gown open I might have well been naked. I had a smear taken while in stirrups followed by a full pelvic examination (two fingers in the vagina while pressing on my tummy with the other hand). Both procedures weren’t just uncomfortable they bloody well hurt and I was told I was just making a fuss when I said they hurt.
Second smear aged 21 in 1991. Same as the above only with a female Dr. Last appointment of the day and they had run out of gowns so I was examined totally naked. Although she apologised for not having any gowns left, when I said I was uncomfortable about undressing she told me not to worry as she sees women’s bodies all the time (but what about me ??) and that I needed to hurry up as she needed to get away.
Third smear aged 24 in 1991. Seen by a female nurse, again smear taken while laying in stirrups. I only had to undress from the waist down this time, but afterwards I had to take my top half off and she did a cursory breast examination.
Forward wind to 2022 and I am told by those who have gone for a smear at the surgery where I am currently registered that they don’t use stirrups for smears (it’s a small village surgery). Are stirrups a thing of the past or is it just a lottery if they are used or not?
I’ve never had one so I don’t know. But all the doctors offices I’ve been in have a table with NO stirrups. I’m in Australia, btw.
I don’t see any good reason why a woman has to take all her clothes off, to have a smear. That definitely sounds perverted to me.
Pants off only is completely sufficient. I think you have cause for complaint over the ones you had where they did that.
In Australia, doctors very rarely ask you to undress and put a gown on, in a GP’s office. I can say that I’ve never done that.
It’s a good idea to refuse!
In america they seem to do that as ‘routine’, no matter what you’re there for. Bloody refuse!!!
Hi Michelle,
Just opt out and it really doesn’t matter if they use stirrups or not , it won’t bother you, if they persist in trying it on ,use scary tactics on them and tell them they shouldn’t keep going on about it because the voices in your head are telling you to attack them, and then laugh. I would love have the nerve to say this and watch the expression on their face.
Hi Jules,
I checked through my medical records some years ago and this GP actually wrote in 1996 that “she is vehemently opposed to the cervical screening programme”. In any other procedure this would be a clear no, and an indication that patient has not given consent. She should have been giving me the opt out form there and then, but she forced 2 tests on me after writing this in my notes. Consent is an unknown concept to them.
I’ve never seen stirrups in any GP surgery. Like you my first was for the pill in mid 1980s and this was a smear test and my only ever breast exam. Honestly, where is the evidence for doing this in 25 year olds ffs? Next was a smear test against my will by a new GP as it was a “requirement during pregnancy” in 1990s. I still didn’t know how to opt out at this stage and thought this GP could make life very difficult for me if I didn’t comply. I had requested a homebirth and knew she could pull the rug on this for the slightest reason. Unfortunately, she was very rough and made me bleed. That meant that the sample was useless, so all for nothing.
I actually did get my request to birth at home, but sustained a 2nd degree tear which was left unstitched, as couldn’t be carried out at home. I was very tender down there and was going to raise it at my postnatal assessment, along with significant breastfeeding problems. At the time of my postnatal assessment I was ushered into a room by the nurse and told to remove my lower clothing. After that I was basically assaulted as the GP came in and without saying a word, rammed a large sized metal speculum into me. I clenched shut in horror but she forced it in, took the sample and left the room. I almost fainted with the pain as I’d had birth injuries from giving birth only 6 weeks before. Not a word about how I was coping with motherhood, couldn’t give a damn about my baby, who I ‘d got feeding concerns about. I was deeply traumatised by this experience for weeks afterwards. No, nothing gets in the way of carrying out their smear tests, not even the well being of mother and baby at first postnatal appointment. Since then the rules have changed: smear tests are not to be carried out during pregnancy or before 12 weeks postpartum, so when I next got pregnant, said GP moaned about my overdue smear test and said she would do it postnatally. I made sure there was no postnatal follow-up from that bitch in any shape or form and never had another smear test. I found out how to opt out after that. Hope said GP is now dead, or at least suffering from an extremely painful debilitating terminal illness. She deserves it.
Hi adawells,
I had to read this post a couple of times the way you were treated was way beyond horrific and it made me feel quite queasy thinking about how you must of felt mentally and physically at the time having a child should be one of the happiest moments in a woman’s life and she should certainly not be subjected to this kind of brutality, I join you in wishing this person a slow, painful and lingering death .
Hugs Jules x.
No stirrups the one time I went in South London about 2008. Never had breast check. I’m sorry about your experiences – why the hell would she think you would be happy to lie there naked??? They treat women like pieces of meat to be groped. And for what?
No stirrups when I went the one time I went in 2008 in South London. Why on earth would that Dr think it was ok or appropriate for you to be completely naked??? They treat women like pieces of meat. And for what?
Hi ladies,
John snow house, Durham university science park, Durham
DH1 3YG.
Some here maybe familiar with this address for the benefit of others it’s the headquarters of the NHS cervical screening administration service. After yet another advert for screening appeared on telly , which by the way put me right off my breakfast ,and feeling a little bit mischievous i sent an email thanking them for taking the initiative and highlighting their campaign to bring it to the attention of the female population and due to my age it would apply to myself soon
( a little fib )
I also said that because of the campaign I had searched for further information off the NHS website and while reading the supplied information it mentions that the test is a choice
Something that I didn’t know ,
and because of this new found information thanks to their campaign which had encouraged me search for more information had led to me of making the choice to opt out .
I hope this makes them choke on their fu. ….. g breakfast
Hugs Jules x.
LOL, Jules, you are delightfully evil!
OMG jules, that is brilliant, if you get a reply please post it on here!
Jess
Ewww Michelle that’s awful! None of the smears I had (last one in 2000) were done in stirrups, our surgery then didn’t have them. I escaped the breast exams too, not “offered” them, though I would have refused! I was very lucky the Pill and I didn’t get on, so they couldn’t hold that, or indeed any other contraception, to ransom. Don’t know if my current surgery does them in stirrups, though I’ve not seen any in the nurses room when I’ve gone for bloods or my EKG I had. So sorry you went through all that x. I’m in UK too btw
Adawells and Kat Rehman, your experiences sound terrible as well. I am now a cynical middle aged old bat aged 52 and if anyone tried to coerce me into getting this done now they would get the full force of sarcastic mouth. Its hard to picture though back to 34 years or when we were coerced/forced into having these tests and being made to feel they are mandatory.
It was an appalling time, and shocking that only 30 years ago our human rights were totally abused by this screening test. During the 1990’s there were some politicians who were actually asking for it to be made mandatory, but also others who spoke of how well-to-do ladies in their constituencies were being harassed by raging surgery staff over screening. It can all be found by doing a search in the Hansard parliamentary debates, which are freely available online.
If you think back about the 1980s it was when AIDS first started and was seen as a genuine plague. There was a huge amount of fear about it. ‘m sure that cervical screening was forced on women in response to the government wanting to implement a form of compulsory STI control. There would have been outrage if any STI tests were forced on men, so women bore the brunt of these interventions.
Just day four of week one of Cervical Screening Propaganda Month. Just seen this on you tube, a “staged” video. If the process only takes 5 minutes how come its broad daylight when “Laura” goes in but pitch dark when she comes out ???
Sadly the comments are disabled so I cannot ask why!
#BeThatFriend (who tells you that screening is a total waste of time)
Jess
Can’t bear to watch this tripe, Jess, but I’ve seen a number of videos showing women being told they have cervical cancer. There is no way that cameras would be allowed to film personal appointments at hospitals or GP surgeries, or even be allowed to film the entrances to such premises with other patients being around. All staged.
Hi ladies,
Yet another serving police officer
47 yo David Carrick has been arrested for sex attacks on four different women, this and that pervert doctor from Stoke interfering with girls in his care we would probably be safer living in a cave in a remote area of the outer Hebrides
Hugs Jules x.
“I’m a doctor not an abusive sex pervert!”
When McCoy on Star Trek was accused of insisting on pap scrape instead of using tricorder to diagnose.
Hi C&M,
If that was the case it would serve him right if he came across some Klingons
Hugs Jules x.
Hi ladies,
Maybe we are being a little harsh on the male doctor issue, but I think I have a solution, castration this was an accepted condition of males attending females in the oriental in bygone years known as eunuchs these men were devoid of sexual excitement due to the loss of their nuts and lack of testosterone so maybe we should start a campaign ourselves any male who wants to serve in female healthcare should get them chopped before he treats women, I’m sure they would agree as it will only feel like mild cramping or a little scratch and there’s no need for anaesthetic.
Sorry I’m a bit drunk.
Hugs Jules x.
Hi Adawells,
“Writing vehemently opposed to screening ”and yet still subjected you to two further tests, sadists such as this creature should have no place in society let alone healthcare, the monetary issue may well of played a small part in this ,but in this case I think she just enjoyed being cruel, just take some comfort in knowing that this will never happen again ever.
Hugs Jules x.
Jules, they are just obsessed by this test to exclusion of all else
Just after I officially opted out in 2015, I was diagnosed with severe anaemia. The doctor who pushed me most about smears was the one I saw to discuss the anaemia. He mentioned sending me for the test where you have a camera down your throat and up your bum, and I point blank refused and said I wanted to try improving diet and iron tablets first. There is no way I’d EVER consent to ANYTHING up my bum. He seemed fine with my refusal of a test related to a diagnosed condition. He then spent the rest of the time trying to get me to have a smear!! Now by then my periods were virtually nothing, and so irregular with menopause, so I really didn’t think my cervix or vagina was an issue, and anyway I’d opted out and kept telling him , I opted out and signed a disclaimer! I must have repeated it 5 times before he took my point! And 7 years on I’m still here so……!
I know periods aren’t affected by smears I meant as no periods no heavy blood flow so that’s not causing anaemia and I had no gynae symptoms anyway!
I avoided the surgery for a few years after, I didn’t want more smear hassle, but to be fair when I had my disc problem in 2020, my x rays and diagnosis were explained to me by the same “Dr Smear Test” as I nicknamed him. On this occasion, he dealt with the problem of my discs, explaining it, answered my questions, issued pain relief and insisted the 2 weeks i asked to be signed off for wasn’t enough and wrote a 6 week sick note, and never mentioned smears at all!!
Hi kat,
I think it’s too much to believe that he saw the light and became a convert, it’s more likely he remembered your last run in with him and he just didn’t want the hassle again.
Hugs Jules x.
Hi ladies,
Being a non conformist can be fun, writing the post that told the screening authorities it was thanks to them I had opted out felt bloody good, so I’m afraid I’ve been at it again this time an Email to our favourite charity Jo’s .
In it I stated my deep concern for their backing of the change from three year to five yearly testing, and that for many years they had been urging women not to miss their appointment or ignore their invites and that if they condone this change they are betraying women as a whole and are a disgrace for the very thing they stand for and that this would never of happened under mr music, and they would no longer have my support financially or morally (as if).
Hugs (a very naughty) Jules x.
*chuckle* 😂
You could be even more naughty and say you and several people you know regularly (and generously, I might add) donate to Jo’s T0ssers, but as of now, the funding will be drying up and you will be urging all your friends to follow suit as well 👍🤣
Hi ladies can anyone help? A link or info as to what the smear test brush is made of? I said over on Mumsnet there’s a wire in it and someone who takes smears says no wire? I’m sure I read here wire is in it?? Thanks! B good to c some of I over there too, it’s actually a good discussion
It is a soft plastic, with longer ‘bristles’ in the middle to go into the os and the rest shaped to go round the transformation zone.
There are various more hideous versions that are made but I have no idea what they use them for, if they NHS does at all.
The wooden spatula did not go so far into the os. I think this is why it was ok for me but the ‘soft brush’ is uncomfortable and always causes bleeding.
I have an ectropian which is probably disturbed. They always tell me about like it is a big deal then say it is nothing to worrry about. As far I can tell most women have them.
Kat Rehman and Jan Allen, can you send a link to the mumsnet discussion It might be worth reading.
Jess
I have an ectropian too. I think mine’s from being on the pill but I’ve read that it’s so common it’s considered to be a normal variation. Some of the more sadistic doctors will try and convince patients to burn off the cells.
https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4483117-One-in-three-people-don't -attend-cervical-screening
Sorry about last bit I’m useless at posting links
Hi kat,
It seems that they have done away with the ones with wire in them, if you google smear test brush it turns out you can actually buy them ? The bristles are made of plastic there are about ten different ones you can purchase, but looking at them has started to make my skin crawl so that’s as far as I’m going.
Hugs Jules x.
https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4483117-One-in-three-people-dont-attend-cervical-screening
This is one about one in three ‘people’ not attending cervical screening. Therefore 2 in 3 people are ie every woman in the country and quite a lot of the men too…… 😀
https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4485663-To-ask-why-you-ve-missed-delayed-declined-cervical-screening This is in Am I being Unreasonable, asking women why they do not attend (obviously from the above, they all are 😀 ) Most of the reasons are well documented. Plenty of misinformation including the old chestnut about not attending screening giving you cancer.
Hi ladies,
After Kat posted both Annette and myself tried to search for the pap brushes thing, I posted back about them being made of plastic and that was enough for me,Annette carried on looking she passed her phone to me and said check that out .
Jesus freaking Christ they sell the test kits on bloody Amazon I’m not talking about self sampling kits , this is the actual medical grade kit .
In the pack you get a disposable speculum two glass slides a spatula a cervical brush and a sample pot, I know there are some weird people out there with fetish’s but surely this is just too much.
Hugs Jules x.
Omg I’m speechless and not in a good way! Why is that available for anyone to buy?? Very disturbing
I looked up a few brochures from manufacturers of these “brushes”. Here is is some details from one type of endocervical brush.
“ Benefits
Female-friendly one piece brush, without rigid traditional wire and nylon bristle combination.
Reduced cell damage due to the fine bristle technology.
The firm yet flexible head with the integrated protective tip limits tissue damage, therefore reducing the negative impact on the examination result.
A safety ring prevents the brush from entering into the endometrium during the examination, therefore limiting the collection of endometrium cells.”
You have to wonder about procedures that use rigid wire and nylon. Cause cell damage (isn’t that how the HPV virus enters into the tissue for infection?)
Makes me question what would be the result when endometrium cells are in the sample?
I have been writing about the same things, providing the same information as you just verified.
Few years ago I sent an email to the CEO of an American company making patient friendly brushes, those with hidden brass or stainless steel bristles.
Asked if the brushes are friendly enough to use to obtain a sample from his penis.
No response.
If possible, find a picture of these brushes with tissue hunks trapped inside after they’ve mauled a woman’s endocervical canal.
The reason for the stop preventing the brushes from entering uterus? The pain would be extreme.