Participant Responses to the Question: “What Caused Your Abnormal Pap Smear Result?”
| Cause | Explanatory Narrative |
|---|---|
| Gynecologic problems | “I have a fibroid and they can become cancerous.” |
| Menopause or cysts | “Because one time I had a cyst. When I got the letter, I thought maybe she found the cyst again.” |
| “There is too much estrogen feeding into the uterus and these hormones can affect it to grow.” | |
| Sexual activity | “If you’re not protecting yourself. He’s ejaculating in you and it’s different—semen is different from what women have.” |
| “The fluid (semen) can carry venereal diseases.” | |
| Misbehavior | “I am a married woman. And I had this thing with this other man. Whatever I have, I have caused, I have brought it unto myself.” |
| “Sleeping around—doin’ it at a higher frequency. Bein’ more out there. Gettin’ exposed.” | |
| Medical error | “Possibly the tools they used were not sterilized. Maybe the Petri dish was infected.” |
| “Something not sterilized can obviously have bacteria. Then most likely it would go abnormal.” | |
| Miscellaneous | “Some of those, you know, on top of the McDonald’s hamburger ... poppy seeds. It could just show up on the Pap smear.” |
| “It could have been something I ate. ... I guess medication could affect it (Pap smear) or maybe it could have been something I had never eaten before ... it could’ve affected my system.” |