Thank you for reading on.
Human papillomavirus is a group of more than 120 different viruses that are primarily sexually transmitted. Which means that any sexually active person can (and statistically does) get one or more in their lifetime. For the most part, these viruses go away on their own. Yet for such a strikingly omnipresent virus, the population is woefully uninformed about its reach. There are 13 serious types of HPV that have been shown to cause cervical cancer. Two of them cause 70% of all cases of cervical cancer: HPV types 16 & 18. They don't go away on their own.
Guess which ones I got.
Everything is going to be fine. There's plenty of protocol for cutting and scraping and biopsy to manage their presence and their pre-cancerous states.
I feel lucky. I happen to have health care and routine screening detected them. But lesions manifest in stages without rhyme or reason and progress at their own rates, so time is a real wild card with HPV.
Yet here's the thing: I'm pretty sure my experience was far from unique and it really makes me grumpy. When I landed in the arena of HPV information overload, I did what I presume any angry, partner-less gal would do - I went for inquiry and edification. When something unexpected and infuriating happens to me, I need information. And I need to spread it around. It wasn't fun, but my coping mechanism included contacting past partners. There is absolutely no protocol for this, because unlike most sexually transmitted diseases, HPV is a sexually transmitted viral infection which most often goes away on its own, and male partners are very unlikely to have symptoms of HPV. On top of that, there is no standard screening technology for HPV in men. They can pass it along and be none the wiser. Think about it - for men to give it, they have to get it. While it is not likely that contacting past partners is going to identify who had what and when (because HPV is slow to show itself), that's no excuse at all for men and women alike not to know a thing or two about it.
I will admit, I was really hoping one of these guys would say, "Why yes, I knew my ex/partner/fling had HPV. I should have thought to tell you that." No such luck. I was angry, emotionally impaired, and suffering inconvenient and invasive procedures. I really wanted men in particular to care. I communicated with half a dozen men between the ages of 35 and 55 including some past partners, and not a single one really knew much about HPV. They certainly didn't get how they had a stake in the game. And this bothered me a lot. Half of those 6 are fathers of daughters. And the way I see it, if you're having sex or parenting a child who will have sex, you oughta know your stuff. Half of the women I talked to had some experience with HPV. Half did not.
Ladies, we are in trouble when our own men can't share the cocktail party conversation about the inconvenience of this scourge. It affects everyone. It's also preventable, which is what the HPV vaccination campaign for all children aged 11 & 12 years old is about. I'm not crazy about the way this campaign is being conducted and tested on our kids, but I 100% appreciate the idea that it's a vehicle to get a transparent conversation going about this onerous infection, and that the burden to making a change is shared between the sexes.
HPV can be talked about at every dinner table. It's that commonly experienced, it's that relevant.
Sadly, I feel that I lost at least one friend bringing the conversation around, and I certainly didn't come out ahead or appreciated bringing it to attention of another. I stand by edification. Serve it!
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