Screening on My Terms: HPV Self-Collection Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe HPV self-collection, the cervical screening sample people can now take themselves at home or in a clinic. What kept them away varied: pain with a speculum, vaginismus, a past sexual assault, endometriosis, using a wheelchair, modesty and faith, a ninety-minute drive from a cattle farm, a long trip from Skye, twin toddlers, ADHD and phone queues, and a doctor who said a woman who doesn't sleep with men didn't need it. Writers include a nurse who had done the exam on others more times than she could count, a trans man, a hairdresser who now nags her whole salon, a church health ministry leader, a woman screening because of an aunt who died at forty-four, and a sixty-eight-year-old who thought HPV was only for the young. Places run from Rotorua to Gothenburg and Memphis to Cape Town. Writers describe six days waiting for a result, positive results that later cleared, further tests and watching, samples sent back as unsatisfactory, help in Spanish over the phone, and a clinic that came to their street. The kit did not suit everyone: some chose a nurse-taken test instead, one writer's bleeding needed a doctor whatever the kit said, and one positive result led to a cancer found early.

Who it's for

For anyone holding a screening letter they have been avoiding, anyone weighing a home kit against an appointment, and the daughters, partners and friends gently nudging them.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 281 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.