January is Cervical Health Awareness Month in the U.S. Each year in the U.S. approximately 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and more than 4,000 lives are lost as a result.
Each year in Canada, 400,000 women receive an abnormal Pap test result, 1,300 to 1,500 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and almost 400 women die of this disease.
But according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 15% of women have never been screened and 30% have not been screened in the last 3 years.
I have always stayed on top of my health, visiting my doctor for my annual check-up. About a decade ago, one of my pap tests came back abnormal.
I freaked out of course. I’ve heard too much about cervical cancer but was relieved to know it is one of the cancers most treatable.
The abnormal cells were at a stage that they were pre-cancerous – early detection meant having those cells removed before they turned into cancer.
Luckily through a procedure, doctors removed all of the abnormal cells on my cervix. A year later, I was pregnant with my first child.
I still go routinely for check-ups and often wonder if they will ever come back again. But I know that through annual pap tests, if those abnormal cells come back, they will be detected early enough to be treated.
If I hadn’t gone for my annual pap test, those abnormal cells could have easily turned into cancer.
Please get yourself checked regularly. Even though you may be frightened and the test itself isn’t the most comfortable, just do it.
The good news is that the occurrence of cervical cancer has declined and mortality rates have also decreased. The main reasons for these reductions are improved knowledge, the widespread regular use of Pap test screening, and the availability of HPV vaccination.
Early prevention is the key.
