is the hpv, the kind that causes cervical cancer, is an std?

hi my name is Vanessa im 25 years old. it all started when i went to the gyno  2 years ago this october. i went to the dr for my annual exam and she felt a lump in my lower amdomen, kinda by my ovary. she told me to go to a specialist right away. so i did. i didnt get in til december 07.. i found a dr and everything and wen tin and she felt a huge lump. she then sent me to have an ultrasound. i went in and they said that i have a cyst on my ovary, it was about softball size. immediately the following month i had to go in and have it removed. i had the surgery in january and had it removed. it had bascically taken over my ovary so they had to take my ovary out with it. i only hav eone now yay! jk! then after that sometime i forgot when it was i went back for my annual exam a few months later and it turned out to be be normal. this was a few months after my surgery had healed and everything. then again sometime after that i had to go in for my first colposcopy. i had no idea what it was, i was freaking out. i used to call my mom and cry to her cuz her and my dad didnt live here, and plus we werent telling my dad, about it anyways. abd i thought iwas cancer too, i used to tell her what if i have cancer, blah blah blah. we did tell him about the surgery but thats all. not about the pap and other procedures. after the results came back from the colposcopy it showed that they were abnomal and had to have a  LEEP procedure. this was january 08. i was even more scared than when i had to have the colposcopy. now the though to wires and burning off tissue just freaked me out. i would still just cry to my mom all the time, but she would always say  you just have to do whats best fo rme right now, and its to have these procedures done. so i had the leep. it was painful and afterwards i had bad cramps and bled. but i made it thougth that. so then i went back for my regular exam a few months later and didnt get in til may 08. went in, my pap was abnormal again. I WAS LIKE WHAT!!??! i thought this was supposed to cure this shit!!!!!!!! once again my dr tol dme i had to go back and have another colposcopy. once again after i got the results, it was abnormal cells again, but they called dysplasia. im still not even sure what it i s. after this i was told i have to have another LEEP procedure. my second one. now this august 08 when i had the LEEP i was super scared again but it was only painful during the procedure this time. afterwards i barely  had any pain.and some run off. lol. i go back on sept. 2nd for my follow up appt. and then im sure i will have to come back in a few months and have amy annual exam. only to find out that its abnormal again, then the whole damn process happens all over again. it really sucks. it takes about a 6months each time ive come to discover. i guess i am wondering after my huge story i had to tell, is that hpv is an std, because it is what causes genital warts,  correct? cuz i was telling my bf about all thsi stuff and all the procedures and everything, and we were looking up articles about the leep procedure and stuff and one article said that hpv is an std. my bf read that and freaked out about it. i had to calm him down and tell him that its not that theres 2 kinds and one of them can cause cervical cancer and thats the one that i have. how does an std, if thats really what it is, how does it cause cancer? im conused. sorry if im wasting your time! thanks in advance!  Vanessa

 

On 8/26/2008 brynessa wrote:

hi my name is Vanessa im 25 years old. it all started when i went to the gyno  2 years ago this october. i went to the dr for my annual exam and she felt a lump in my lower amdomen, kinda by my ovary. she told me to go to a specialist right away. so i did. i didnt get in til december 07.. i found a dr and everything and wen tin and she felt a huge lump. she then sent me to have an ultrasound. i went in and they said that i have a cyst on my ovary, it was about softball size. immediately the following month i had to go in and have it removed. i had the surgery in january and had it removed. it had bascically taken over my ovary so they had to take my ovary out with it. i only hav eone now yay! jk! then after that sometime i forgot when it was i went back for my annual exam a few months later and it turned out to be be normal. this was a few months after my surgery had healed and everything. then again sometime after that i had to go in for my first colposcopy. i had no idea what it was, i was freaking out. i used to call my mom and cry to her cuz her and my dad didnt live here, and plus we werent telling my dad, about it anyways. abd i thought iwas cancer too, i used to tell her what if i have cancer, blah blah blah. we did tell him about the surgery but thats all. not about the pap and other procedures. after the results came back from the colposcopy it showed that they were abnomal and had to have a  LEEP procedure. this was january 08. i was even more scared than when i had to have the colposcopy. now the though to wires and burning off tissue just freaked me out. i would still just cry to my mom all the time, but she would always say  you just have to do whats best fo rme right now, and its to have these procedures done. so i had the leep. it was painful and afterwards i had bad cramps and bled. but i made it thougth that. so then i went back for my regular exam a few months later and didnt get in til may 08. went in, my pap was abnormal again. I WAS LIKE WHAT!!??! i thought this was supposed to cure this shit!!!!!!!! once again my dr tol dme i had to go back and have another colposcopy. once again after i got the results, it was abnormal cells again, but they called dysplasia. im still not even sure what it i s. after this i was told i have to have another LEEP procedure. my second one. now this august 08 when i had the LEEP i was super scared again but it was only painful during the procedure this time. afterwards i barely  had any pain.and some run off. lol. i go back on sept. 2nd for my follow up appt. and then im sure i will have to come back in a few months and have amy annual exam. only to find out that its abnormal again, then the whole damn process happens all over again. it really sucks. it takes about a 6months each time ive come to discover. i guess i am wondering after my huge story i had to tell, is that hpv is an std, because it is what causes genital warts,  correct? cuz i was telling my bf about all thsi stuff and all the procedures and everything, and we were looking up articles about the leep procedure and stuff and one article said that hpv is an std. my bf read that and freaked out about it. i had to calm him down and tell him that its not that theres 2 kinds and one of them can cause cervical cancer and thats the one that i have. how does an std, if thats really what it is, how does it cause cancer? im conused. sorry if im wasting your time! thanks in advance!  Vanessa

 

the first time i said my pap was normal, i meant abnormal! sorry!

I am so sorry you are going through this. From personal experience, it's very, very upsetting to be faced with this. Something about what you are posting is putting up a red flag about your doctor.

1. Did you look at all of the lab reports? Did you notice if the margins were actually clear, for yourself? Why did your doctor have you come back in six months instead of three months after the LEEP?

2,. Did your doctor give you a thorough explanation of what you have, how extensive it is, where it's located, how many quadrants are involved, (Think of the cervix as divided into fourths.) if it's in the endocervical canal, and if there is any glandular involvement, especially in the endocervical glands? That would determine your treatment choices, right there.

3. Did your doctor thoroughly discuss the risks and benefits of all your treatment options - cryosurgery, laser, LEEP, or cold knife, before making a recommendation? In addition, since it hurt so badly when you had LEEP the first time, did your doctor mention giving you painkillers before the surgery or give you the option for having a sedative IV drop in office or general anesthesia in outpatient? There are risks involved with that, but a woman in that much pain could go into shock, which is another risk.

If you answer "no" to even one of those questions, please fire that doctor, immediately, and get a new one. Your life is too precious! It is your right to have a caring, ethical doctor who wants you to be as educated as possible so that you can make an informed decision. From what you have posted, I am questioning how much information your current doctor has actually given you. That you are posting your questions here puts up the red flag even higher.

Let me give you some links about cervical dysplasia and HPV.

This is older, but the info is very concise. If you go to the home page, it will also give a good overview of CIN.

http://www.mjbovo.com/Women/DysplasiaRx.htm

Here is one of the few doctors I have encountered who still knows each case of dysplasia is different and each woman's body is different, so treatment has to be customized. He doesn't push the most inexpensive treatment option on women as the only choice.

http://www.gynalternatives.com/default.htm

Some more.

http://www.imaginis.com/cervical-cancer/treatment.asp

http://adam.about.com/reports/000046_7.htm

http://www.jotrust.co.uk/about_cervical_cancer/cin__pre_canc

This is an explanation about LEEP that also mentions the alternatives. I was impressed with the overall presentation of that clinic because they are thorough and fulfill the requirement by mentioning the other treatment options.

http://www.mhc.uiuc.edu/handouts/loop_electrosurgical_excisi

Here are some links about HPV.

http://www.cdc.gov/STD/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm

Wikepedia is obviously not an expert's site, but it's a good starting point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_papillomavirus

Some more.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hpv.html

http://hpv.emedtv.com/hpv/types-of-hpv.html

The good news is that there is medication in clinical trial, right now, that is proving successful. Nventa has HspE7, CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique has MVA E2, and Roche has TG-4001, which is a therapeutic vaccine that targets HVP-16. The John Hopkins Medical Institute is also one of the few places doing research on therapeutic vaccines. We just have to contact our elected officials and push them to send funding to these biotech firms to get it available to women.

The House of Representatives.

https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

The Senate

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_c

I don't know how people in other countries can reach their elected officials, so they would know better. But this is at least a starting point. There is hope!

In the meantime, I hope your PAP smear comes back normal. But make sure you get a copy of the lab report. And don't hesitate to fire your doctor if you aren't getting good answers.