cervical cancer

[Jolt]

Actually, I learned recently from a virologist colleague that indeed gay men can get anal cancer from HPV, yet the vaccine has never been tested in men and is not available to men. While a women can live without a cervix and man cannot live without an anus, so this appears to be real discrimination.

Not entirely accurate--he can live without an anus but will have to live with a colostomy (not pleasant)!

[Jolt]

Has anybody considered another way this virus could be contracted? We all go to the Dr. for pap smears at some time or another, and many of us have given birth (often assisted, not entirely natural), but has anyone ever asked whether the equipment used at such times has been sterilised effectively or at all? I'm sure that the task would be relegated to an administrative assistant in the Dr.'s Clinic. Everybody has bad days where we aren't on top of everything and forget stuff. We all just assume that the "right" thing has been done. Perhaps we need to enquire about this before allowing medical instruments to be inserted. Just a thought.

YUCK!!!, but that's a good point. Instruments that have been used on someone with the virus and not properly sterilized could very likely pass it on (not sure how long it can live outside the body though--anyone?)

[Dianyla]

PABadger...who has now completed her 3-shot HPV series!!!

Yo, thanks for the reminder! I just scheduled my annual OB/GYN appointment and will be requesting the HPV vaccine series at that time.

[Kitsune06]

I will as soon as I have medical ins. ... not quite looking fwd to it tho. I hear they hurt.

[Dianyla]

... not quite looking fwd to it tho. I hear they hurt.

Heard that which hurts? A pelvic/pap, or the vaccine?

[Kitsune06]

The vaccine, though come to think of it, I haven't seen a gyno for ..uh... entirely too long.

[DrBadger]

I will as soon as I have medical ins. ... not quite looking fwd to it tho. I hear they hurt.

Yup, sorry to say the vaccine does hurt. At my clinic they found that injecting it slowly was actually better. talk to the nurse givning the injection about it. I found the first one hurt the most (a bit of lingering pain the rest of the day), the second and third hurt when they were given, but not afterwards. However, even though the HPV vaccine hurts to get, it is no where near as bad a tetanus shot! Those suckers hurt for days!

[Dianyla]

The vaccine, though come to think of it, I haven't seen a gyno for ..uh... entirely too long.

Well, most shots are relatively unpleasant. But I doubt that the HPV injections could even hold a candle to getting the nips pierced.

I'm envisioning something like a tetanus shot. Ow.

[DrBadger]

I'm envisioning something like a tetanus shot. Ow.

Not really like the tetanus shot.... it burns during injection at the site, and down the arm. Apparently it is because of the silver carrying solution they use. When I got the first shot I got occastional burning sensations and twinges in my wrist and hand for the rest of the day, but the other two only hurt during the injection. In that sense it is better than the tetanus shot which makes your arm hurt for days afterwards! While not pleasent, it is really not that bad, and I am willing to put up with a little pain to (hopefully) protect myself from cancer, especially since my Mom had cervical cancer!

[Jolt]

However, even though the HPV vaccine hurts to get, it is no where near as bad a tetanus shot! Those suckers hurt for days!

Yes, they do! I find the flu shot just as bad if not slightly worse, as well. Feels like the aftereffects of a good punch to the arm.

[damsel]

I know this thread was a few weeks ago now, but i've just read it with interest and have wanted to have a little complain to someone about HPV and the cervical cancer vaccine for a while now. At 25 I've just been diagnosed with HPV (one of the visible genital wart strains) after only ever sleeping with the one guy recently and on only two occasions (ie he was the first guy i slept with). I know it is a very common virus, but it doesn't take away the embarrassment that i feel now. I have enough issues with relationships and I know it shouldn't, but having HPV is going to make me think twice about getting into another relationship with the fear of passing it on to someone i care about.
I thought i was pretty well educated on STDs, but had never been educated about HPV. Why isn't HPV as widely 'advertised' as a prevalant STD as much as other STDs are? Maybe it is elswhere but not where i come from. Further to that, the cervical cancer vaccine has only recently been launched in Australia but very little of the advertising material actually says what it is vaccinating against - not cancer itself but a few strains of a common STD - HPV- that can cause cancer. This is really frustrating becasue i wonder how many other women/girls out there were like me - not even considering getting the vaccine because i didn't think it was necessary (mostly because of no history of it in the family). If the vaccine was/is advertised properly for what it does & how common HPV is, rather than avoiding what i can only gather is either a) a tabu subject (ie HPV), b) that doctors think that everyone knows about HPV or c) leaving it up to women to traul the internet or book in to see a doctor to get more info, then more women/girls might consider getting the vaccine. It wasn't until i was diagnosed with HPV that i started researching the virus that I found out what the vaccine actaually does. The doctor who diagnosed it mentioned that i was elegable for the vaccine but didn't even go into any detail beyond that.

Sorry for the rant, but thanks for listening
Damsel

[HillSlugger]

I know it is a very common virus, but it doesn't take away the embarrassment that i feel now. I have enough issues with relationships and I know it shouldn't, but having HPV is going to make me think twice about getting into another relationship with the fear of passing it on to someone i care about.

Please try to get over being embarrassed; there's really no need for that. It's unfortunate, but you didn't do anything wrong. Sure, caution may be warranted but please don't let this keep you from enjoying life.

In the US there's a drug that a person can take to reduce the chance of passing along the infection. I've seen it advertised on TV but I don't know what it's called. Please talk to your doctor about this and about how to move forward with your life with confidence.

Take care, Nicole

[madisongrrl]

Here are a few good sources of information

http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/sex...th/std/hpv.htm

[madisongrrl]

The virus also can pass thru latex, so condoms are not a reliable preventive.

It's not that it passes though latex (it doesn't), it's that latex doesn't cover all of your skin. It spreads though skin-to-skin contact.