need medical advice

[Gone Disney]

WOW! I am impressed with the responses. I am very grateful for all of your replies.

I just got off the phone with my daughter and first, tomorrow I am going to make an appointment for her to see a different GYN. I think we would all feel better with a second opinion. I am not too sure that she was very comfortable with the lady she saw earlier and as we all know, trust is a big thing especially when it comes to our doctors.

I do need to clarify a few things. She did not get the results as quickly as I had first thought. It was about 1 week later. Since it was a clininc she did not see the same person which may be normal for a clinic. I think I was thrown off by that information. The appointment that she went to today was a "real" GYN not the clinic doctor, or atleast a doctor in a different building. I hope it was a GYN.

She read my post and said the rest sounded correct only the doctor she saw today tells her that what she has is one stage down from cancer. I do not understand how the doctor can know this before doing a colposcopy. From my understanding a pap smear says that something may be off but the colposcopy either confirms or denies the results of the pap smear. Is that a fair way of putting it?


Thanks again.
your posts have all been very reassuring

 

[dis-happy]

Run from school health clinics. They almost killed my dd her freshman year. My doctor here at home later told me that university clinics are notoriously bad across the board.

Make an appt. with a good gyno in a regular practice. Ask them to re-do the original test and go from there.

Wishing you the best...

 

[Gone Disney]

I wanted to add that they never did a second pap smear, which I think it would be a good idea. I do not know if that is a normal procedure or not. I had asked her to get her records from the doctor as that may help us to understand what is going on. I suppose she had asked if they would either email or fax the information and the lady asked her for basic information like name, date of birth ect. and then stated that she would not be able to do this and hung up. I do not know what the policies are for handling medical records. Perhaps they are not permitted to do that but they could have been nicer acording to my daughter.

 

[vettechick99]

When I was 22, my campus clinic said I had scabies. I had the freakin' chicken pox! I would not trust them with anything more than the diagnosis of a cold.

I'm glad you are sending her for a 2nd opinion. Just like my mom did for me!

 

[laurie31]

I wanted to add that they never did a second pap smear, which I think it would be a good idea. I do not know if that is a normal procedure or not. I had asked her to get her records from the doctor as that may help us to understand what is going on. I suppose she had asked if they would either email or fax the information and the lady asked her for basic information like name, date of birth ect. and then stated that she would not be able to do this and hung up. I do not know what the policies are for handling medical records. Perhaps they are not permitted to do that but they could have been nicer acording to my daughter.

There has to be SOME way for your DD to get her own medical records. They HAVE to provide them to her if she requests them. Worst case, she can get her doctor to get them. And definitely go for the second opinion, if for no other reason than for YOU (or your DD) to choose the GYN and not have it be whoever happens to be staffing the GYN clinic that day.

 

[Piglets Mommy]

She read my post and said the rest sounded correct only the doctor she saw today tells her that what she has is one stage down from cancer. I do not understand how the doctor can know this before doing a colposcopy. From my understanding a pap smear says that something may be off but the colposcopy either confirms or denies the results of the pap smear. Is that a fair way of putting it?


Thanks again.
your posts have all been very reassuring

Commenting primarily on the red...I don't understand it either. My understanding was that the colposcopy is what allows Yes, the Pap is step one, and something looks abnormal...it could be something, or it could be nothing. The Colposcopy shows if it is pre-cancerous or cancerous. I'm glad you are getting another opinion for her. Not sure why they won't release her records, but HIPPA laws keep changing. Is she under 18??? Maybe that's it. Good Luck!!!

 

[Abbie]

Your daughter is absolutely entitled to a copy of her records so if she wants them, don't let her back down. She will need to sign a release for them and it is generally easier if they are asked to be faxed directly to whomever she will be seeing next. At the very least, her pap results should be sent to the new gyn.

It could very well be that her pap showed hpv, in which case it is considered to be a precursor to cervical cancer, but certainly this is not a definite diagnosis.

 

[Gone Disney]

I just want to say that being able to ask this question on this forum and get this amazing response is quite incredible. I do appreciate all the concern for our situation. I feel much better about the situation after reading your replies.

My daughter is 21 and I know that she has a right to her records only I'm not sure if there is a law about how they can be transmitted such as faxing them. I will have her get them in the next few days, even if she has to stop by and pick them up.

It could very well be that her pap showed hpv, in which case it is considered to be a precursor to cervical cancer, but certainly this is not a definite diagnosis.

The pap can show HPV? I thought the results were not definative.




I will try to keep you posted on the outcome.

 

[erincon23]

I had exactly the same situation as Pigletsmommy. The Pap only shows abnormal cells. There is another test that can be done at the same time that shows if you have HPV. There are stages to abnormal cells, and if she has the "one step down from cancer" stage, that will be confirmed (or not) by the colposcopy. I would not do this with the school health clinic. I'm glad you made her an appointment with a non-clinic GYN. The procedures for taking care of this, if the colposcopy shows something to be concerned about, are pretty easy to deal with. I had that "one step down" and had a LEEP (a laser procedure). I had to rest for a day, no tampons for a couple of weeks, and was fine. I went on to have another child without any trouble. Often, atypical cells are just an infection, and a repeat PAP a few months later will show that the infection has gone away; if the GYN you're taking her to is more concerned, do what she recommends, and try not to worry too much. It's 18 years after my incident -- my HPV has cleared up, and I had one additional incident of atypical cells, but that went away by the time of my repeat PAP. I'll be thinking about your daughter! Hope everything goes well--
Erin

 

[ksumn1]

I agree that DD needs a 2nd opinion, which I see you've already taken care of. I had HPV around the age of 20. first, I had a Pap which was abnormal. My dr did another Pap and sent it to the lab with notating that it was a possible case of hPV so the lab would know. They again said 2nd Pap was abnormal. I went in, had the culposcopy and in about 3 days (I think) I was called by my Dr and told that it was HPV and I needed to get it taken care of.

I made an appointment and I had a cryo procedure done. I was very lightheaded after, and in a little pain. BTW, why do they always say "You'll feel a little discomfort...", just tell me straigh up it'll hurt.

I had to go back in 3 months, 6 months, and a year to double check. Then 6 months later. At the 2 year mark, I was back on a regular once a year schedule.

And you rDD should be able to get her records. Most dr's want you to sign a release and then they will fax them to your new doctors.

I hope your DD's prognosis is good. Most of the time, it's a fairly simple matter to treat, but I would act quickly to be on the safe side.

 

[minkydog]

I wanted to add that they never did a second pap smear, which I think it would be a good idea. I do not know if that is a normal procedure or not. I had asked her to get her records from the doctor as that may help us to understand what is going on. I suppose she had asked if they would either email or fax the information and the lady asked her for basic information like name, date of birth ect. and then stated that she would not be able to do this and hung up. I do not know what the policies are for handling medical records. Perhaps they are not permitted to do that but they could have been nicer acording to my daughter.

If she did this in person there should be no reason that they would not either give her the records or fax them to the new doctor. They will NOT do this if she simply called them on the phone. They have to see proof that she is who she says she is. HIPAA.

 

[C.Ann]

That seems pretty complicated for a college campus clinic. I would have her get a 2nd opinion. Does she have any other insurance?

I agree.. Who makes a diagnosis of cancer at a college campus clinic?? That just doesn't sound right to me..

Hope it all turns out well - and even better, the diagnosis wasn't correct..

 

[N&B'smom]

The colposcopy is when they take a really good look at the cervix and take a biopsy of the effected area to check for cancer. IF it is cancer then they will do ANOTHER procedure to remove the abnormal cells.

Yes, in my case it was a cone biopsy.

 

[robinb]

I don't mean to sound dismissive, but it sounds like a lot of the trouble and confusion here is not with the clinic but with your DD. She is either not understanding what they are telling her or she is not relaying that information to you. Honestly, administering and reading a PAP smear is not rocket science. Neither is a colposcopy. Any GYN should be able to do it and with the widespread nature of HPV the GYN at the college clinic should be an old pro at it. You may certainly seek a second opinion, but I don't think you will get a different answer. Nothing I have read points to an ineptitude on the part of the clinic but more of a confusion on the part of a 21-year old girl in a scary situation.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you don't have private insurance that will cover an outside doctor and the clinic is covered, I would not be so quick to jump on the second opinion band wagon. Some of these procedures can be quite expensive.

 

[surfergirl602]

Umm... I would trustn't those college clinics at all!! When I was in school I was always misdiagnosed with crazy stuff that they'd try and charge me for when I knew it was strep I had and just needed antibiotics. I finally ended up getting my tonsils out when i was married, but thats a different story. I would have her go to an actual GYN dr. and stay away from the clinic for that sort of stuff.