-
pancake fun!
-
If only...
-
Between Merida and Cancun, Mexico
-
Salmon BLT Sliders with Chipotle Mayo by howsweeteats #Salmon #Bacon #Chipotle #Sliders #howsweeteats
-
Lamb Sliders with Tzatziki by fotocuisine #Lamb #Sliders #fotocuisine
The STD No One Wants to Talk About
But most people have….If you haven’t figured it out by now I have HPV – Human Papillomavirus. This is an STD that unless you are a virgin sleeping with a virgin, you probably had or have HPV. Most people don’t even know they have it! There are hundreds of strains of HPV, the most well known are the ones that cause genital warts or cervical cancer. My biggest issue with this Sexual Transmitted Infection is that the only time you probably have heard about it is when you’ve seen a Gardasil commercial but are still left knowing nothing about it. So I thought I would give you a few facts so you know for the next time you climb into bed with someone.
Do you know that there are over 6 million new cases of HPV each year with approximately 20 million Americans that are infected at any time? An estimated 80% of the population having been infected during their life with about 12 thousand women (per year) being diagnosed with cervical cancer. HPV usually clears on its own (it’s a virus, so just like most colds, it goes away) so if you only see a doctor once a year, you may never know you had it. The only way to prevent HPV is to abstain from sexuality activity. But there is a vaccine! I actually got Gardasil (a series of 3 shots) which prevents 90% cases of genital warts in both women and men, and 70% cases of cervical cancer. I personally think that every child should be vaccinated at age 9 (before sexually active) just like mumps or measles. If you or your children are between the ages of 9-26, please get them vaccinated because it can help! Both girl AND boys, BEFORE they become sexual active as there is no cure.
So I am sure you are wondering what the result of my biopsy was and if you haven’t figured it out, I don’t have the HPV that causes warts….instead the one that causes cancer. I wish I could say everything was fine but it is neither good nor bad. I don’t have cancer…but I do have pre-cancerous cells or to put a fun spin on something that is scary, as my OBGYN likes to call them “funky”. If I was a 40 year old woman who already had children I would be having what is called a cone biopsy or a FEEP. However, they have found that with some younger women the biopsy (since it’s such a large chunk) can make me more likely for a miscarriage or lack of conception and with my previous conditions, it is in my best interest to just watch the cells instead of remove them. We will monitor them every 6 months and it will probably lead to more biopsies. Am I frustrated? Absolutely! Please, just add another tick mark on the “not able to get pregnant” side. When I told my friend Luisa the results she asked when I would start looking into artificial insemination or if I already found a sperm donor! I couldn’t help but laugh! She knew it was going through my mind… after this, I am at a point where I just want to have a baby and then remove everything. While as tempting as it might be, it is also very selfish. I may consider it down the road closer to the age of 35, but for now, my mother got me thinking about freezing some eggs just in case I do have to have a cancer treatment down the road. We shall see… but right now I will just keep on, keep track of my funky cells so when they do turn into cancer, I can attack. Thanks to those who prayed or thought about me and to those who were there to help pick me back up. I am truly thankful for you in my life.
If anyone has any questions in regards to HPV please don’t hesitate to contact me at Kristen@KristenKady.com or anonymously here.
Update: I am absolutely amazed at the response from this and my previous post! I have had so many friends and strangers come to me with their experiences or how my openness encouraged them to go back to the doctor and get a Pap Smear they have been avoiding for fear of the results. This is the reason why I wanted to talk about it! That it isn’t anything to fear or be ashamed of. We should not be afraid of our own vagina’s! Ha ha ha! Thousands of women face this every day but you would never know since no one wants to talk about it. Thanks to everyone for the support and keep the stories coming! If you have the courage, post yours in the comments below.
Also, if you haven’t been tested in awhile, Auraria Health Center and Denver Metro Health Clinic offer FREE testing so there is NO EXCUSE!
“I give you a week!”
Those are the words that I heard come out of Luisa’s mouth today at lunch. You see, if you remember back almost two months ago, I had a big “feminine problem”. Well, it still continues… that is correct folks! I am going on four months of being constantly on my period. Some of you make think this is impossible, but I guess I am going against the natural pattern of nature. I have taken my pills every single day on the exact hour; I have doubled up on them and am getting to a point where I don’t know what to do. After racking up over $1,500 worth of negative tests and my doctor told me “not to worry”, I want to pull my hair out.
You have to understand, with my disease, it is BETTER for me NOT to have a period, to where my doctor prescribed me to have only 3-4 periods A YEAR! Now that I have been bleeding continuously for four months, I can’t help but wonder what is going on inside my body. The past two weeks have really accelerated the worry wart inside me. I have had severe heartburn off and on, the kind that makes you feel like you have a large chunk of food stuck right above your stomach. When it comes, it last for about 48 hours with nothing I take stopping it. I want to drink the entire bottle of antacid hoping the pain would stop. Of course it doesn’t help that my hormones are riding the rollercoaster wave right now, but I can’t help but worry that maybe my heartburn is caused by the internal bleeding? It is my only explanation! I have never gone to bed with it, only to wake up with the same feeling.
This brings me back to lunch today. You see, what I told Luisa was “I am going on a vegan/macrobiotic diet for a month”. She said, “I give you a week!” If anyone knows me, you know that food is my passion! I am always out at one of the newest restaurants trying the newest things! I LOVE FOOD! This diet change means an entirely different lifestyle. But right now, I feel like it is my only choice. My better health insurance (I’ll explain that in a later post) doesn’t start for another month and a half. I can’t go get a second opinion without it costing me thousands of dollars and obviously my current OBGYN doesn’t think anything is an issue.
Why the decision to change my diet? I had recently picked up an issue of Natural Solutions Magazine. In it Alicia Silverstone recently wrote a book “The Kind Diet” about her vegan lifestyle along with how she makes it green! Now, I am not going to turn into to some hippy freak and start going around hugging trees, but I do believe in doing what you can for the earth and for yourself; body, mind and spirit. I learned some things from the article which then pushed me to buy her book. Don’t judge me for taking diet advice from a celebrity, but it was her realistic attitude toward the change and all the facts to back up her opinion. I struggle to get through books that don’t keep my attention, but it was her ability to make things so short and simple that I enjoyed reading. I am still making my way through the book but I will be making my diet change this week. Wish me luck! Hopefully I will start to feel better and possibly make my bleeding uterus stop, especially since I am cutting out hormone stimulated proteins that might be affecting my own hormone levels. I am also looking into acupuncture this weekend as well. Who would have ever thought that a surgery having, pill popping girl would have turned all holistic and natural? I’ll let you know all the details as I struggle enjoy this new life style.
Is it all worth it in the end?
Most of you know that I have been battling the disease Endometriosis for a while, and now as I approach my 10 year anniversary of my diagnosis, I am struggling. I will forewarn you now, that if you don’t want to read about “women problems”, I would recommend that you stop reading here.
Just to recap, in 2001 I went under the knife, via laparoscopy, to have the endometrial tissues cauterized off my ovaries and other various places. After the surgery, I went through nine months of hormone therapy, using Lupron-Depot shot which was the first time that I experienced menopause. In 2008, the endometriosis started to rear its ugly head and I went through another nine month session of menopause, filled with the glorious hormone rollercoaster, hot flashes and irritability. Now here it is, 2010 and my body is deciding to change.
I have been taking birth control bills continuously for the past ten years, this means having my period only 3-4 times a year. Unfortunately it costs me an arm and a leg ($60 every 3 weeks) but never having my period means that the tissue never gets a chance to grow. The past two months have been a doozy! My hormones are out of whack; my face is breaking out, I have mood swings and the bleeding. The constant bleeding… In the past, I have been able to solve the problem by doubling up on pills or by going off of them for a week to have a full period. This solved it for about 3 days, only for it to start up again. I went to my OB-GYN and had about 6 tests done. And now I have to wait for the results. I hate waiting for results! I did hear back that my thyroid is fine and I’m not anemic but I almost wish there was something wrong, so at least I could have an answer! Instead I have to wait for the results from the biopsy hoping that they found a problem in that, but if they don’t, we begin even more tests with more waiting…
The question that I face is now and again is, is it all worth it in the end? Is the pain and frustration, the surgeries and bleeding for months on end, all worth it? Should I continue on in the hopes that my uterus will be able to able to carry a child? That my ovaries are even capable of releasing an egg? I want to be a mother more than anything, but how do I know I am supposed to give birth to a child? I know it seems silly to be under the age of 30 and questioning whether or not to get a hysterectomy, but this is a question that I ask myself all the time (usually when riding the wave of the emotional rollercoaster). My mother (who also has endometriosis) always says it’s worth it, because that is how she got me. My eyes begin to water just by writing those words. How can I ask whether or not to keep my uterus when my poor mother put her body through hell to be able to give birth to my brother and me? I know I am one of the lucky ones. My mother and many other women out there have had it much worse. I am lucky to have caught this so early in life before the repercussions of endometrial growth could have taken over my organs and possibly been forced to have an oversized uterus removed.
I don’t know what the future holds for me and my female parts, but I do know that I have to have faith and trust that everything happens for a reason. Whether I am given the wonderful gift of being able to give birth to a child made from my own genes or blessed with a baby that was born from a different womb or just being Aunt Kristen to all the little ones of family and friends, I must trust that it is worth the pain and frustration that I endure now. So now I must wait…have faith…and patience…