European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 13, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Man error during the Chain of Steps from doctor s twice to Laboratory. Both physicians and laboratories ave been faulted. Manv Rhode Island women found to have advanced ical cancer Between 1980 and 1986 May have been the Sims of faulty Pap tests that did not detect the cancer Hole it was still easily curable the Providence journal Etin reported last fall. The article was based on a study hat appeared in the american journal of Medicine. Two years ago the Wall Street journal reported that tidies showed the Pap test fails 20 percent to 40 percent of the time to detect cervical cancer or a dysplasia making it one of the most inaccurate of All Finical Laboratory procedures. The american College of obstetricians and gynaecologists recommends that women undergo a Pap test annually. This is partly because of the test s la failure rate says or. It. Col Manuel de los a Antos chief of obstetrics and gynaecology at Frankfurt my regional medical Center. While Huv is implicated As the main cause of cervical cancer risk factors May also include smoking chronic infections such As trichomoniasis having had More than me sexual partner and beginning sexual activity in Early teen age years. Research continues on whether laughters of women who took the synthetic oestrogen Des ire at greater risk for developing cervical cancer. The growth of cervical cancer is divided into five stages. In the earliest stage called carcinoma in Situ the cancer is almost always located at the external end of the cervix and has not invaded surrounding tissue. This Quot pre invasive stage is usually without symptoms. However Early symptoms May include bleeding Between menstrual periods and pain during Intercourse. How cervical cancer is treated depends upon the slag of the disease. Treatments most often used for ire invasive cervical cancer Are ionization cryosurgery freezing laser or Hysterectomy according to the Merican cancer society. During a ionization the doctor removes the cancerous tissue in a Cone shaped wedge. The operation requires general anaesthesia and a Hospital stay. Cryosurgery kills the cancerous cells by freezing them. It is used to treat severe dysplasia and pre invasive cancer and May be performed in a doctors office since it requires no anaesthesia. Laser surgery is the newest treatment available. A beam of laser is used to evaporate the cancerous cells minimal damage to surrounding tissue explains de los Santos. Later stages of cervical cancer Are usually treated by performing a Hysterectomy radiation chemotherapy or a combination of the three. A j.d., . Overcoming cervical cancer by Libby Grimm staff writer the Call from my doctor s office came while i was at work at a Connecticut newspaper. My most recent Pap test showed carcinoma in Situ a the first stage of cervical cancer. It was March 1984,1 was 27 and childless had never been hospitalized a Day in my life and now my world was falling part. All i could fee was despair. Because it was the dreaded Quot a Quot word i thought i was going to die. Or if i lived i thought i would be unable to have children and i had always assumed that of course i would be a Mother someday. I was to report to the Hospital in a few Days to undergo a cervical ionization a procedure that is both diagnostic and therapeutic. The goal was to remove the cancer cells and preserve my Fertility. At once i was aware of the irony of my situation. For 10 years i d been a participant in a Boston based medical program for Quot Des daughters Quot my Mother had taken Des a synthetic oestrogen when she was pregnant with me. Doctors in the 1950s thought the drug could prevent miscarriages but it was later found to cause changes in the cervical cells of daughters whose mothers had taken it. When i was 18, my cervix showed the presence of altered cells known As Adenois. However during the next decade my condition like that of most of the women being studied was reversing itself. So it seemed to be particularly bad Luck that at the end of the study i was diagnosed As having cervical cancer because i d contracted the human papilloma virus. I d never had any symptoms and knew very Little about Huv. Recent studies show that because my cervical cells had been altered by the Des perhaps they were More vulnerable once exposed to the virus. But All i could think of at the time was Quot Why was this happening to me a i could t figure out any reason Why i should be  i could t really figure out Many things that i should have done differently in the past and these thoughts Only added to my misery. Much of the despair i first Felt is Akin to what people must feel when they Are diagnosed As carrying aids or other life threatening viruses. I had contracted a virus that was radically altering my life. But fortunately cervical cancer a if caught Early enough a can be cured. My hopelessness lingered however because after my first Quot Cone a the lab report showed the presence of cancer cells that had t been Cut away i received this information five Days before i moved to West Germany to work for the stars and stripes. My Frame of mind was such that when i went to Europe that april i went thinking i would stay a month or so and then return to the states to die such dark thoughts did t last Long. I underwent a second Cone in Germany that effectively removed the cancerous cells. By August i was pregnant which somewhat surprised the doctors. They had said Conception can often be difficult after a ionization. A reduced cervix Means there s less mucous to Quot usher in Quot sperm the pregnancy proved to be difficult however As my cervix dilated and i was confined to bed by january. At the end of March my husband and i became the parents of a son born 5v2 weeks premature. After he spent three weeks in an incubator i had a healthy baby at Home in my arms a not much More than a year alter those Bleak Days when my cancer was first diagnosed but my own Happy healthy times were fairly Short lived. The cancer returned in january 1987 and i underwent a third ionization. I had hardly any cervix left and my German doctor said it was Quot one for the  those old feelings of desperation came Back. I wanted to control my life and not have the disease control me. I wanted one More baby which i knew would be our last. Looming in the future was a Hysterectomy. I was gambling now gambling that i could have a baby before any More signs of cancer returned. Two months later i was pregnant. This time my doctor decided to perform a cer Cage a procedure under anaesthesia in which the uterus is sewn shut to help prevent a premature birth. As a result i did not have to be confined to bed As during my first pregnancy. Totally unrelated to my risky pregnancy ultrasound showed that my second baby was in Breech position during my 20th week of pregnancy. Quot of the baby will turn around again Quot my doctor said. I bet it wont i said to myself thinking that i was destined to go through almost every known gynaecological procedure. Sure enough our baby daughter never turned around and was delivered by caesarean Section i now had two healthy children. Three months after my daughter s birth my Pap was still negative and it was time to play it Safe and have a Hysterectomy. For two nights before i went into the Hospital i cried All night a a last final Quot crying  since then i Haven t cried once about any of this i Don t look Back. I can t i Don t have tins time i m Loo Busy caring for my soon to be 5-year-old and my 2-Ycar-old.every Day can make a world of difference in your life Iff a world that never takes a Day to rest every Day can make a world of difference. A Day can mean the difference Between a Campaign and a Victory. A budget and a budget Cut. A revolutionary idea and a revolution. The stars and stripes has All the news it takes to keep you on top of the world s events. And a subscription to the stars and stripes can assure you that you la never fall a Day behind. Call one of our circulation offices today listing on Page 11 for you subscription to the stars and stripes. Or write of the stars and stripes attn sales promotion Apo 09211jj9 Sand stripes a we can make a world of difference in your life. Every Day. Q trial avg blam d m Dot fatal aids Guanla papa d Canara to count Matt on i aft in a Page i o Plana for Quot map la life  Quot  3 Mcaa Fountai tonal a . Paga ii ripes twi Day. A to it 11 i Lithuania Breaks with soviets womb  endures at West Point reunion to m in util it kit to to Ida my hat do Aali m u i ,i4d a a Ltd it it Imam a it sir old pm of u Tab atm Lar i by Inird k pm  i lift a a a Tau j i we Illel Ummi Uli   re tuesday March 13,1990 the stars and stripes