Cancer study biopsy

Went yesterday for my first visit in the anal cancer study. There was quite a bit to get through and in the end I was there for nearly three hours. 

First was an interview where the doctor went through the participant information with me. It was actually really interesting. This doctor has been involved in gay mens health since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in Sydney. I was like, "wow you must have seen a lot of changes", of which she replied that many patients had died and half the clinic staff as well.

Now she's still treating gay men's health and is part of this new study into anal cancer among HIV+ gay men. The reason she explained, was because with the medication breakthrough's in the mid '90's many of the diseases that were affecting HIV+ men reduced as people's immune system recovered. However anal cancer didn't, and HIV+ gay men have a hugely increased chance of getting anal cancer. Ultimately they want to put together a process to screen high risk people such as I for anal cancer, and thereby treat it before it's really serious. By really serious I mean where they have to chop your asshole out, sew it up and put a colostomy bag in. Not a pleasant experience at all; imagine living with no asshole!

After the interview there was a questionnaire on the PC in the room that took me about half an hour I suppose to do. Questions about my sex life pretty much. Was touch screen so it was easy to get through. Then they took blood for the very latest readings on everything, and then it was time for the look into my nether regions.....

This involved similar processes as when a woman gets a pap smear. First was the long cotton bud thing to scrap cells off the anus wall. Then they had to look inside. Put basically a small round tube thing in and the camera right there on a stand as the microscope thing facing looking into there. So I was literally lying sideways on the edge of the bed watching on the PC screen as the doctor proceeded to start poking around in there with one of those long cotton bud things. 

Just looked like a blob to me, although the doc said it looked very healthy. She did however come across a lumpy sort of thing which she considered looked abnormal and so wanted to take a biopsy to test it. I mean this is what this study is all about; treating abnormalities before they maybe turn into a major cancer thing where they chop out your whole asshole (eeeeeck). Anyway she didn't seem concerned at all about it, just wanted the biopsy as that's part of the procedures. The doc reckoned it'd likely just get better on it's own and we'll have a look at it again next time - in six months.