Wellness

[Hoovermom]

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@SeaMaiden wrote:

My last physical at age 60.  I was not thrilled with having to have a pap test done but it had been about 4 years  so my doctor suggested I have one...... I have never had a  positive test for anything bad  my entire life.  This last test was the same. 

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@SeaMaiden:  Did I miss your post about your guests coming to your home?  I was excited to see who they were.  

[BirkiLady]

As long as you are sexually active, shouldn't you be having an annual pap test and exam? Shouldn't mammograms be done annually at any age? 

Great questions, but am I the only one still going at age 70, with plans to continue for many years ahead?

[novamc1]

@BirkiLady

Annual mammograms?  

I'm 70 and have had two or maybe three in my entire life.  I am in the camp that you play with fire exposing oneself to radiation that frequently.  And I told a general practitioner doctor that very same thing just two weeks ago, who was seeing me for the first time and recommendng every test in the book.

Have had a lifetime of dental Xrays, bone Xrays for various reasons (including DEXA scans) , lung Xrays. 

Enough already (!) and only if something seriously  and  obviously calls for that.

Radiation is cumulative.  Too much over time is too much.

My BIL has cancer, is a radiologist, and has not opted for radiation to make sure he is free of cancer after surgery.  He thinks he  knows better.  He thinks there is no point in exposing a body to more abuse.

[151949]

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@BirkiLady wrote:

As long as you are sexually active, shouldn't you be having an annual pap test and exam? Shouldn't mammograms be done annually at any age? 

Great questions, but am I the only one still going at age 70, with plans to continue for many years ahead?

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A PAP test is done to look for cervical cancer - you can get cervical cancer without being sexually active. Being or not being sexually active has nothing to do with needing to see your gyne once a year - as long as you still have your female parts. My gyne doc never did a pap test after I had my hystertectomy, and after I was through menopause he told me I did not need to see him again, unless I developed a problem that was in his area of expertise, which was fine with me.

[BirkiLady]

@151949  If you truly had a hysterectomy, why would you have gone through menopause? There was no menopause following a hysterectomy for mom or any of my friends having such surgeries. They do have mammograms annually.

[151949]

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@BirkiLady wrote:

@151949  If you truly had a hysterectomy, why would you have gone through menopause? There was no menopause following a hysterectomy for mom or any of my friends having such surgeries. They do have mammograms annually.

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A hysterectomy does not mean you had your ovaries removed - that is an oopherectomy. If you still have your ovaries - or even just one ovary you will go through menopause at the appropriate age.

If you have both a hysterectomy and an oopherectomy you experience surgical menopause. Depending on your age at that time you may or may not be advised to start taking hormones because a too early menopause can lead to other things associated with early aging - like osteoporosis.

ALL women should have a yearly mammogram but I don't know the age they say to start as they keep changing that.

[bathina]

I'm not quite sure, but if you're still having sex isn't it possible to contract HPV? I hear it's practically an epidemic! HPV causes cervical cancer and a pap test will find that. I'm monogomous, assume my husband is too...But I still get the test every couple of years. I can't see the downside except a couple minutes of discomfort.

[cbrite]

Ewww imo.....tmi

[missy1]

I do both of the tests,