Few things send me into panic mode like a vague voice mail from the doctor’s office. So you can imagine the agggh feeling I got when I received a call after a Pap smear last year. The triage nurse told me my test had shown some abnormal cells that could be the result of human papillomavirus (HPV)…and there was nothing I could do about it. When I asked her to clarify, she casually shared the fact that more than 80 percent of sexually active people will get HPV and the infection would likely clear up on its own. Um, what? I was totally caught off-guard by the nonchalant delivery of this news, considering I got the vaccine – which is key for cancer prevention (more on that later!) – as a teenager.
Now, 10 years after taking that important preventive measure, I was told “everyone gets HPV,” to live life as normal and that we’d check in next year. I had so many questions running through my head: Should I stop having sex for a while? Couldn’t this mean, like, cervical cancer? Why does everyone seem calmer about this than me? If you’ve been here, you know what this storm of emotions feels like. If you haven’t, statistically speaking, you could be soon.
This story is from the January - February 2023 edition of Women's Health South Africa.
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This story is from the January - February 2023 edition of Women's Health South Africa.
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