Hi Christina - It's never easy to get this type of diagnosis, and before you know it one question is going to lead to another and then another and so forth. There are a number of good information resources that can help you online, and if you feel the student health service doesn't provide enough support you may want to go to your local Planned Parenthood center and talk with a trained counselor.
Your question only mentions HPV. You haven't indicated whether or not you had a pap test, and since you said this was your first pelvic exam I'm going to guess that you didn't have one. You need to have both the HPV test and the pap test which is used to determine whether or not cervical cancer is present. The Pap test looks for cell changes caused by HPV. The test finds cell changes early -- so the cervix can be treated before the cells turn into cancer. This test can also find cancer in its early stages so it can be treated before it becomes too serious. It is rare to die from cervical cancer if the disease is caught early.
In terms of the genital warts, these need to be treated or removed by your doctor. And you need to be taking precautions to protect yourself. And your boyfriend needs to be aware of the issues he faces too. Please refer to the links below for more information and I'm also going to see if I can get an expert to assist in answering some of your other questions.
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/stds-hiv-safer-sex/hpv-4272.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/genitalwarts.html
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/stds-hiv-safer-sex/safer-sex-4263.htm
Thanks for writing and taking this important step to learn more about HPV, cervical cancer risks and taking care of your health.
Pat
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Hi Christina - It's never easy to get this type of diagnosis, and before you know it one question is going to lead to another and then another and so forth. There are a number of good information resources that can help you online, and if you feel the student health service doesn't provide enough support you may want to go to your local Planned Parenthood center and talk with a trained counselor.
Your question only mentions HPV. You haven't indicated whether or not you had a pap test, and since you said this was your first pelvic exam I'm going to guess that you didn't have one. You need to have both the HPV test and the pap test which is used to determine whether or not cervical cancer is present. The Pap test looks for cell changes caused by HPV. The test finds cell changes early -- so the cervix can be treated before the cells turn into cancer. This test can also find cancer in its early stages so it can be treated before it becomes too serious. It is rare to die from cervical cancer if the disease is caught early.
In terms of the genital warts, these need to be treated or removed by your doctor. And you need to be taking precautions to protect yourself. And your boyfriend needs to be aware of the issues he faces too. Please refer to the links below for more information and I'm also going to see if I can get an expert to assist in answering some of your other questions.
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/stds-hiv-safer-sex/hpv-4272.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/genitalwarts.html
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/stds-hiv-safer-sex/safer-sex-4263.htm
Thanks for writing and taking this important step to learn more about HPV, cervical cancer risks and taking care of your health.
May 25, 2010 - 5:56pmPat
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