Many years ago, I conquered cancer of the cervix. I was lucky and they caught it early. The treatments were unpleasant and I soldiered through as best I could. Luckily it didn't involve going through chemo. But some of that soldering was in the form of eating but I conquered that too. Though I have had my share of ups and downs, I can happily say that I am in the 'fit but fat' category which is better than I was in 2006 when I was at my heaviest dealing with illnesses.
I've been reading all the controversy over the HPV vaccine that is still going on. This blog post from a charity run that I have been a proud part of since 2008 gave me a very sobering fact:
"The HPV virus is also responsible for nearly all cases of cervical cancer, and this year more than 12,000 women will be diagnosed with this deadly cancer. More than 4,000 of them will die."
I had no idea that I was in the 2/3 that lived category. Wow! Had I not gone to my doctor on a regular basis, I could have been part of the 1/3 :: schwoooooo :: Both my doctors never told me the risks. Both told me I'd be just fine and I was.
I thank my lucky stars now for Advocates of Women's Health like Planned Parenthood and for the people that created the HPV vaccine. Next up in my world, the mamogram. Do I dare blog about that?
Here's the link for the full article:
https://runforherblog.com/cdc-announces-56-drop-in-hpv-infection-among-teen-girls/