1. Information Pack for Women with a Learning Disability
What is Colposcopy?
Information Pack for Women with a Learning Disability
Version 3 – Sept 2013

2. What is Colposcopy and Why do I Need to Go to Hospital?
Section 1
What is Colposcopy and Why do I Need to Go to Hospital?

3. Why do I need to go to the hospital?
You had your smear test done to check the health of your cervix (neck of your womb)
The result of your smear test shows that you need to have another test to look at your cervix more closely
You have to go to hospital for the test

4. Why do I need to go to the hospital?
Your smear test result may have shown some abnormal cells
They are at risk of becoming cancer in the future
Cancer is a very serious illness

5. Why do I need to go to hospital?
You will need to go to the hospital to have your cervix looked at more closely
The department you will go to in the hospital is called the Colposcopy clinic

6. When will I go to the hospital?
You will be sent a letter telling you the date and time of your appointment
If you cannot go for that appointment you can ring the hospital and change it for another time or day
It is very important that you go for the test

7. Who can come with me?
You can take a friend, relative, nurse or support worker with you

8. What is Colposcopy A colposcopy is an examination by a Doctor or Nurse
They look at your cervix more closely to check if the cells are healthy or not

9. How will the Doctor look at my cervix?
The Doctor or Nurse use an instrument called a colposcope
It looks like a pair of binoculars on a stand
It looks up your vagina to your cervix
It does not go inside your vagina

10. I Feel Nervous! You may feel nervous about going to the hospital
Talk to people you trust
Visit the colposcopy department before the day of your appointment
You can meet the doctors and nurses
Take someone with you

11. Going to the Colposcopy Clinic at the Hospital
Section 2
Going to the Colposcopy Clinic at the Hospital

12. Going to the Colposcopy Clinic
Remember you can take someone with you!

13. What happens at the clinic?
You will meet the receptionist and give her your appointment letter
She will ask your name, address and date of birth (birthday)

14. What happens at the clinic?
You will be asked to sit and wait in the waiting room

15. What happens at the clinic?
The Nurse will call your name and take you in to see the Doctor

16. What happens at the clinic?
The Doctor or Nurse will sit and talk to you
They will ask you some questions
They will ask you when your last period was

17. What happens at the clinic?
The Nurse will ask you to take off your trousers or skirt and knickers

18. What happens at the clinic?
She will ask you to sit on a special chair or bed
She will put a sheet over you

19. What happens at the clinic ?
There will be a lot of equipment in the clinic room, don’t worry
The Doctor needs this to do your test

20. What happens at the clinic?
The Nurse will stay with you while the doctor examines you
The Doctor will put a speculum inside your vagina
This is the same as when you had your smear test done

21. What happens at the clinic?
The Doctor will dab some liquids on your cervix
This will show any abnormal cells on your cervix
The Doctor will look at the cells using the colposcope

22. What happens at the clinic?
Sometimes the Doctor takes a sample of the cells from your cervix
This is called a biopsy
A biopsy can sting a little bit sometimes

23. What happens at the clinic?
The Doctor sends the biopsy to the laboratory in a special pot
The results of the biopsy will let the Doctor know if you need any treatment

24. What does treatment mean?
Treatment means removing the abnormal cells on your cervix
There are different types of treatment
The Doctor will decide which is best for you

25. When will I have the treatment?
Sometimes the treatment can be done straight away
Sometimes the Doctor has to wait for results from the biopsy before deciding if you need treatment

26. Will I bleed after the colposcopy?
Yes you might bleed a little bit for a few days after
Wear a sanitary towel

27. Can I have sex after the colposcopy?
If you had a biopsy taken you should NOT have sex for about 7 days

28. Can I go home after the colposcopy?
Yes you should feel well enough to go home straight away

29. When will I get my results?
The Doctor will write to let you know if you need to go back to the clinic for treatment

30. Section 3
Why do I need treatment ?

31. Why do I need treatment?
The results from your colposcopy show that you have abnormal cells on your cervix

32. Why do I need treatment?
Sometimes these abnormal cells can develop into cancer
Having treatment will help stop them developing into cancer

33. Who decides which treatment is best for me?
The Doctor in the clinic will decide which is the best treatment for you to remove the abnormal cells

34. Where will I have my treatment?
You will have your treatment done in the Colposcopy clinic
The treatment only takes about 15 to 20 minutes

35. Who will be with me?
The Nurse will stay with you while you have your treatment
If you have taken someone with you they can stay with you as well

36. What happens at the clinic?
The Doctor will put a speculum inside your vagina
The Doctor will look at your cervix using the colposcope

37. Does the treatment hurt?
Sometimes the Doctor will give you an injection to numb your cervix to stop it hurting
The injection might sting for a few seconds

38. Treatment The Doctor will remove the abnormal cells on your cervix
They will be sent to the laboratory in a special pot

39. What happens after the treatment?
You should feel well enough to go home
You may need to take things easy for the rest of the day

40. What happens after the treatment?
You should only use sanitary towels and not tampons for 1 month after treatment

41. What happens after the treatment?
You should not have sex for 1 month after the treatment

42. Will I notice any side effects?
You might see some blood in your knickers. This is ok, use a sanitary towel
If you see lots of blood tell your GP or the colposcopy clinic

43. What happens after the treatment?
You might get a pain in your tummy a bit like a period pain. This is OK
If the pain is very bad tell your GP or the colposcopy clinic

44. Will I need to come back to the hospital?
The Doctor in the hospital will write to you and let you know the results of your treatment and when you need to come back to the hospital

45. After your treatment
After your treatment you will need to have smear tests more often
You will receive letters telling you when to attend
It is very important you go for your smear tests
This is to make sure your treatment has worked