WHAT I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT HPV AND THE GARDASIL VACCINE

Yes, I am very aware that the Gardasil vaccine is a very controversial, hot button topic. And YES, I just received my first vaccination two days ago for the HPV virus, and I am almost 49 years old. I have had the same sexual partner for 8 years, do not require birth control, and was married for 21 years prior to my current partner, and for medical reasons, I haven’t had a menstrual cycle for over 8 years. In other words, I do not fit into any of the “categories” that the vaccination is recommended for…

So, WHY did I need to be vaccinated at my age, when the age that it was created for is 9 years old to 45 years old? I have asked my doctors the very same question.

The HPV virus is a high risk for cervical cancer cells to form. I was recently diagnosed with Stage 1 cervical cancer and as part of my treatment, I was given the prescription for the 3 sessions of needles. Apparently, your body can carry this horrible strain (HPV Virus) throughout your entire life and can reveal itself at any given time. Mine showed up during a routine Pap last August, and believe me, it has not been a fun ride. The Colposcopy sucked. There is no other word to describe it. It was a biopsy of my cervical cells that is done, by literally taking small chunks of your lady parts out and sending them away for testing. There is no local freezing and just for fun, you can watch it all happen on a TV monitor magnified at 1000 X just to envision what is happening down south.