I didn't realize until after I met with my doctor that this procedure has become a bit routine for me. I had my colposcopy and biopsy today, and until my doctor made a reference to the effect that we've done this a few times, I didn't realize that this the 3rd time. Get an abnormal pap...follow-up with a "colpo," as we call it. It's sad when the people in the office know you by name and doctor refers to herself as your mother. Grant it, she goes to my church, delivered my baby, and knows about all my relationships and "womanly-body" history for the past 5-6 years. Her normal first question when she walks in is, "so, are you still with your son's father?" Really? I mean really? No, I'm not. He showed up at the birth and you haven't seen him since. Please stop asking. It's an ongoing conversation. I guess we do have an extensive relationship.

I had a friend join me for moral support which did help. Otherwise, the actual procedure was routine. The down side is that I could feel everything. "You'll feel some pressure." No kidding. You're pushing against my intestines. "It doesn't look toooo bad." Ok. How do you quantify that? In the realm of cancer and pre-cancer, or better yet, on the spectrum of abnormal dysplasia and cancer, where does "toooo bad" fit? Then she picks up this metal scissor-looking thing. My friend about cried. I just had to breathe deeply. Nothing like cold-metal snipping away at your cervix before lunch. "You'll feel a little pinch." Nice. More like a few pinches. She snipped away and made sure she had an adequate specimen to send to the lab. Did it hurt? Yes. I wasn't crying or anything but I definitely had some discomfort. Started cramping almost immediately after getting up and was worse when I walked or moved too much. The good news is that she doesn't want to do surgery....only if I don't get any worse. Worse would be defined as going above the CIN-1 level that I was diagnosed at as of early July (remember, CIN-3 = cancer-in-situa). She said that if we keep snipping away at the tissue, we risk the chance that I won't be able to hold a pregnancy due to a weak cervix. We will only do surgery if it worsens (so we all know what we need to pray for).  She didn't schedule a "results" appointment, so no call is a good thing. Otherwise, she wants to see me in January for a 6-month check-up.  The results should be back in about 7-10 days.

My spirits are high. I look forward to each coming day and I'm determined to keep moving forward. I prayed last night and asked God for good health, favor, and to be blessed. When I got into work this morning I received 3 emails of accolades from around the company regarding the work I've done. I thank God for that. I'm going to lay down a little early tonight and rest.