Update to an old text post/RE: HPV
I’ve gotten a lot of PMs and asks lately about my text post about being diagnosed with (and later treated for) HPV. The post was from 2014, and I’ve seen an uptick of PMs about it lately, so I’d like to address some things/provide an update/re-extend an invite to anyone searching for answers/a shoulder.
After the LEEP procedure, I went in every six months to have a colposcopy for either a year or two. I went through a tremendous amount of self-reflection and tried my best to not blame myself or feel any negative feelings about my sex life. It didn’t really work, and I pretty much swore off sex for about six months despite my doctor telling me it wasn’t necessary. That was a long time for me. Luckily, the LEEP procedure was successful. Now, 3.5 years later, every one of my pap smears have come back normal. Though I’ll have HPV for the rest of my life, it’s non-transmittable and won’t develop into cervical cancer as long as I take care of myself. I’m not being affected in any way by the diagnosis any more, unless you count medical students in my gynecology office commenting on the strange look of my post-surgery cervix during pap smears. If you have HPV, it might feel like the end of the world. It felt like it for me. But it’s not.
In the time that I was not sexually active, I met someone. We’ve been together more than three years now and my diagnosis (which he knows about and was told about before we had a sexual relationship) hasn’t affected the relationship at all.
The moral of the story: A diagnosis of an incurable disease doesn’t mean the end of your sexual life, and it will get better. Though HPV is one of the most common disease, and most people’s bodies take care of it on their own without medical/surgical intervention, the feelings you’re feeling aren’t invalid just because it’s not “as bad” as any other. Get the HPV vaccine, get regular pap smears, enjoy your sex life. If you’d like to PM me, I’m not a medical professional, but I’m happy to talk you through anything or answer any questions you have.
In the words of Alex the parrot, you be good, see you tomorrow. I love you.