DEAR DR. GOTT: I had ovarian cancer and had a complete hysterectomy two years ago. My cancer was in the first stage, and, thankfully, I did not need chemo or radiation.
My surgeon continues to schedule me for Pap smears/internal exams yearly and says I will need to have this done for the rest of my life, but I don’t understand why. When I ask him, he gets short with me and says to “look it up on the Internet.” This does not make sense to me. Even my family doctor was surprised that I must continue to have Pap smears after having a complete hysterectomy.
Can you shed some light on this? Thank you.
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