I want to start off that this submission is very personal so reader discretion is advised.  It took my a while to actually decide to write this, but I hope to reach to others like me and save them from having to go through what I currently am. 

I want to gain awareness for HPV, Human papillomavirus, because today it steadily becoming an epidemic.  I believe it is important to express a great amount of concern for women of all ages, and I would like to tell you my story.

I became sexually active at a considerable young age, which is something I am not proud of.  I had gone to an OBGYN shortly after and then waited 5 years to go again.  I personally thought that going to an OBGYN and having them examine me was mortifying and not a big deal.  Little did I know, I was wrong about that.

In December of last year, I had gone for the first annual I had since I was a teenager.  I never received the results of whether it was good or bad, I just assumed that everything was okay, because I felt fine!  In April 2007, I started getting panic attacks and was on birth control and to make a long story short I decided to go see my OBGYN as a process of elimination of what was going on with my body.  I was told that their office neglected to tell me that I was tested positive for HPV.  That very day they did a biopsy, which they determined at the stage I was in, to do a leep procedure to excise the whole area before it turned into cancer.  After my procedure, I got a phone call-which told me that I actually had pre-cancer at that point.


Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). The virus infects the skin and mucous membranes. There are more than 40 HPV types that can infect the genital areas of men and women, including the skin of the penis, vulva (area outside the vagina), and anus, and the linings of the vagina, cervix, and rectum. You cannot see HPV. Most people who become infected with HPV do not even know they have it.

Cervical cancer does not have symptoms until it is quite advanced. For this reason, it is important for women to get screened regularly for cervical cancer. Approximately 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV, and another 6.2 million people become newly infected each year. At least 50% of sexually active men and women acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives.

At first I was embarrassed to tell anyone about my medical condition.  I realized that if I waited ANY longer to get a checkup, I may have had cervical cancer at this point.  There is a new vaccine called Gardasil, A vaccine can now protect females from the four types of HPV that cause most cervical cancers and genital warts. The vaccine is recommended for 11 and 12 year-old girls. It is also recommended for girls and women age 13 through 26 who have not yet been vaccinated or completed the vaccine series.
 
For those who choose to be sexually active, condoms may lower the risk of HPV, if used all the time and the right way. Condoms may also lower the risk of developing HPV-related diseases, such as genital warts and cervical cancer. But HPV can infect areas that are not covered by a condom—so condoms may not fully protect against HPV.  So the only sure way to prevent HPV is to avoid all sexual activity.

My advise is simply, for those of you who were like me and didn't like going to an OBGYN or found it insignificant, please GO.  It is important to get rountine yearly check ups, even if you think your fine.  Also, you do NOT need to be sexually active to contract HPV.  You can contract this virus with the shake of a hand, that simple.  

Men are carriers of the virus and they have no way of knowing if they have it.  There is currently NO test for a male to determine if they have the HPV virus or not.  When I mentioned you can get it by shaking someone's hand, its as simple as if a male goes to the bathroom, doesn't wash his hands and shakes a FEMALES and she doesn't wash her hand before she wipes, she may contract the virus that easily.  Scary isn't it?

Take precautionary measures and take care of yourself :)  I know there are many people out there who say "Stuff like this won't happen to ME.."  Well let me be the proof that it does happen, because I as well was aware that stuff like this happened to other people, but never me.