FYI - The cancer treatments only kills cancer cells; not hpv!!!!!

Irishgypsie
Irishgypsie Member Posts: 333
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
I strongly feel now that HPV is the culprit. My question is how fast did the cells proliferate and develop into cancer. I'm a nurse and some of my medical friends say that it couldn't have developed over 6 months; it had to develop over years. Look at cervical cancer statistics; it's the same thing. Tumors don't grossly develop in the cervix over 6 months. My next scare is that yes i hope and pray to beat this cancer; but I'm still single with no kids. Was engaged twice but didn't pan out. Now I have to tell future women that I meet that I have HPV-16 and I could possibly give it to her and it may turn into to cancer. Who in there right mind wouldn't turn and run. You guys are so lucky that you have partners and are already in relationships and have kids. I wish the stupid doctors never told me about HPV! Yes I know that most likely people who have had multiple sex partners already have HPV; but like us if they weren't diagnosed with it they will deny having it. Hopefully, I will be able to meet a woman who is understanding/and or would be willing to take the vaccine! It's crazy, I should be happy to be having a fighting chance at beating this cancer; but I'm more afraid of dying alone. :( What's the sense of beating cancer if you have to grow old alone!!!!!!!!! I don't want to offend anyone, but this sucks, I wish I would have listened to my black friends and never participated in oral sex!!!!
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Comments

  • Pam M
    Pam M Member Posts: 2,196
    Wow, your post made the
    Wow, your post made the Warren Zevon (Werewolves of London) song "Don't Let Us Get Sick" song jump in my head.

    I'm lucky to be here
    With someone I like
    Who maketh my spirit to shine

    Don't let us get sick
    Don't let us get old
    Don't let us get stupid, all right?
    Just make us be brave
    And make us play nice
    And let us be together tonight

    I feel for you - I'm glad I did my reproducing before the cancer popped up (chemo-induced menopause; kids not an option now). I wonder about the possibility of future marriage, as well. I'm a content "reformed spinster" now (divorced), but worry that having a cancer with a high rate of recurrence makes me a poor candidate for a commited relationship. It's not that I feel a need to remarry - I just want to know it's an option.

    I'm with you - I'm HPV negative, but single, so would naturally prefer any future "contestants" be negative, too. On the realistic side, when you meet a new person, chances are very good they're positive. The problem as I understand it is that you can test negative if it's there, but dormant. Your post reminded me that I wanted to ask my docs if I should get vaccinated (even though I'm well past the normal age range for vaccination). And for those who are HPV+, do you need to be vaccinated, to guard against other strains of HPV? I know that some tout the dangers of vaccination, as well. Are we all going to have to have no sex of any type without barrier protection from now on, even in long term relationships? I do feel that anyone who hasn't been vaccinated would do so - I would. And the fear of "catching" HPV from someone, then developing cancer from it would not keep me from having a child with an HPV+ man if I could. Sorry to have given you only more questions, and no answers.
  • JUDYV5
    JUDYV5 Member Posts: 392
    HPV Virus
    Millions people have the HPV virus and don't get cancer. People who get specific types of cancers are more likely to have the HPV virus. The only importance of knowing if you hnc and HPV is that the cancer reacts better to the treatment. Tumors do develop within 6 months. Depending on the type, they all grow at a specific rate. That's how the doctor, if he finds the primary, can tell you how long you have had cancer for. (at least that what I've been told). I have had friends with a lot more baggage then being a cancer survivor find new love. (a few cases I really can't figure out how (LOL))
    I am sure there is love out there somewhere ??
  • JUDYV5
    JUDYV5 Member Posts: 392
    Pam M said:

    Wow, your post made the
    Wow, your post made the Warren Zevon (Werewolves of London) song "Don't Let Us Get Sick" song jump in my head.

    I'm lucky to be here
    With someone I like
    Who maketh my spirit to shine

    Don't let us get sick
    Don't let us get old
    Don't let us get stupid, all right?
    Just make us be brave
    And make us play nice
    And let us be together tonight

    I feel for you - I'm glad I did my reproducing before the cancer popped up (chemo-induced menopause; kids not an option now). I wonder about the possibility of future marriage, as well. I'm a content "reformed spinster" now (divorced), but worry that having a cancer with a high rate of recurrence makes me a poor candidate for a commited relationship. It's not that I feel a need to remarry - I just want to know it's an option.

    I'm with you - I'm HPV negative, but single, so would naturally prefer any future "contestants" be negative, too. On the realistic side, when you meet a new person, chances are very good they're positive. The problem as I understand it is that you can test negative if it's there, but dormant. Your post reminded me that I wanted to ask my docs if I should get vaccinated (even though I'm well past the normal age range for vaccination). And for those who are HPV+, do you need to be vaccinated, to guard against other strains of HPV? I know that some tout the dangers of vaccination, as well. Are we all going to have to have no sex of any type without barrier protection from now on, even in long term relationships? I do feel that anyone who hasn't been vaccinated would do so - I would. And the fear of "catching" HPV from someone, then developing cancer from it would not keep me from having a child with an HPV+ man if I could. Sorry to have given you only more questions, and no answers.

    menopause
    I was told today that my cycle could start up again after a year or two. Nooooooooo!
    I kinda like the chemo-induced menopause. Instant menopause none of the side effects that you hear about on TV. You gotta to look at the positive.
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    Charles meet Pam, Pam meet Charles....
    LOL, dang Charles, tell us what you really think, LOL....

    Sorry, about you feeling down, I know it's not funny. But where have you read for certain that;

    HPV can for sure be passed to your present mate from you.

    That the HPV that may have given you cancer wasn't killed with your treatments. We all carry HPV & Cancer cells from my understanding. Just a chain of events and luck of the draw on what activates them.

    As for time frames, I know I have been with my wife nearly 20 years and her I. If either of us had something from previously, it was dormant for that amount of time.

    I don't think there is an absolute on how HPV is ultimately contracted. I'm sure there are numerous possibilities....

    Unfortunately it is what it is.

    You are alive, you are clean and clear at the moment.... I really don't think that there is a high probability that you will give HPV to another.

    Of course there are never any certainties...

    Best,
    John
  • Pam M
    Pam M Member Posts: 2,196
    JUDYV5 said:

    menopause
    I was told today that my cycle could start up again after a year or two. Nooooooooo!
    I kinda like the chemo-induced menopause. Instant menopause none of the side effects that you hear about on TV. You gotta to look at the positive.

    Not Fair
    Two bouts of menopause is not right. Like you, I saw the "no menopause side effects" as my bonus in this situation. I'll be bitter if I get my cycles back for a little while, then go into "real" menopause, hot flashes and all!
  • JGE
    JGE Member Posts: 51
    JUDYV5 said:

    HPV Virus
    Millions people have the HPV virus and don't get cancer. People who get specific types of cancers are more likely to have the HPV virus. The only importance of knowing if you hnc and HPV is that the cancer reacts better to the treatment. Tumors do develop within 6 months. Depending on the type, they all grow at a specific rate. That's how the doctor, if he finds the primary, can tell you how long you have had cancer for. (at least that what I've been told). I have had friends with a lot more baggage then being a cancer survivor find new love. (a few cases I really can't figure out how (LOL))
    I am sure there is love out there somewhere ??

    Your own body can rid itself of HPV. The HPV that caused your cancer might already be gone. From you and whoever might have passed it to you. May have been from the first person you ever kissed for all you know.

    Be happy if it was HPV that caused your cancer because your odds of recurrence go way down.

    You will be such a better person after you survive this because of your new appretiation for life and the people in it that women will flock to you. If this event in your life doesnt change your perspective on the value of your life (and everyone elses) then you are heartless... and that will be your bigger problem with women!

    Let everyone you meet know how happy you are to be here, and more importantly, how happy you are that THEY are here and you will soon be the most popular guy in town.
  • Pam M
    Pam M Member Posts: 2,196
    Skiffin16 said:

    Charles meet Pam, Pam meet Charles....
    LOL, dang Charles, tell us what you really think, LOL....

    Sorry, about you feeling down, I know it's not funny. But where have you read for certain that;

    HPV can for sure be passed to your present mate from you.

    That the HPV that may have given you cancer wasn't killed with your treatments. We all carry HPV & Cancer cells from my understanding. Just a chain of events and luck of the draw on what activates them.

    As for time frames, I know I have been with my wife nearly 20 years and her I. If either of us had something from previously, it was dormant for that amount of time.

    I don't think there is an absolute on how HPV is ultimately contracted. I'm sure there are numerous possibilities....

    Unfortunately it is what it is.

    You are alive, you are clean and clear at the moment.... I really don't think that there is a high probability that you will give HPV to another.

    Of course there are never any certainties...

    Best,
    John

    Smiling
    Hee, John - if I were only a few years younger (OK, more than a few), and didn't have that menopause thing . . . . Creepy - but I wonder if surviving cancer is not an attractant (beating cancer as a show of strength).
  • timreichhart
    timreichhart Member Posts: 194
    Pam M said:

    Smiling
    Hee, John - if I were only a few years younger (OK, more than a few), and didn't have that menopause thing . . . . Creepy - but I wonder if surviving cancer is not an attractant (beating cancer as a show of strength).

    about HPV
    Alright after reading the first post this really got me scared because I remember reading my mayo paper and saying I had HPV but didn't have a number on it. So my question is can I pass this onto my wife when we have intercourse?
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    Pam M said:

    Smiling
    Hee, John - if I were only a few years younger (OK, more than a few), and didn't have that menopause thing . . . . Creepy - but I wonder if surviving cancer is not an attractant (beating cancer as a show of strength).

    Pam, you could be a Cougar....
    Well you know.....LOL.

    In all seriousness, and I don't want to offend my buddy Charles.

    But I can understand your frustration and feelings. But also I can't help but feeling that you are just having some doubt, and obvious depression. I'm sorry that you have to go throught this alone. I can oblt offer not to get wrappedup in a lot of things that others say or that you read.

    There are no guarantees on anything. Just because you do or do not have HPV does not mean that you won't get cancer again. I think that you are as vulnerable to getting cancer from from the radiation we have had, or anuthing else floating around.

    Just try to concentrate what you are going through at the moment. Deal with that and get better and back on your feet. Worry abot all of that other stuff later.

    Finding someone isn't something that can be planned and manioulated. The best relationships are actually just the opposite. You can never tell whom might fall in your path and you theirs...just let it happen when that time comes.

    Personally, I on't think you having HPV derived cancer is something that you need to worry about telling someone as a fore warning on the very slim possibility that they might contract it from you.

    Ask your medical professionals on their thoughts and feeling based on their experience and education. From my unprofessional opinion, an what my doctors have told me, it's not something to be concerned about. That the chances are no greater of contracting it from me than anyone else. That unless you have cancer or something similar going on, I don't even believe that there is a test that can definitively say that you carry HPV.

    John
  • Irishgypsie
    Irishgypsie Member Posts: 333
    Skiffin16 said:

    Pam, you could be a Cougar....
    Well you know.....LOL.

    In all seriousness, and I don't want to offend my buddy Charles.

    But I can understand your frustration and feelings. But also I can't help but feeling that you are just having some doubt, and obvious depression. I'm sorry that you have to go throught this alone. I can oblt offer not to get wrappedup in a lot of things that others say or that you read.

    There are no guarantees on anything. Just because you do or do not have HPV does not mean that you won't get cancer again. I think that you are as vulnerable to getting cancer from from the radiation we have had, or anuthing else floating around.

    Just try to concentrate what you are going through at the moment. Deal with that and get better and back on your feet. Worry abot all of that other stuff later.

    Finding someone isn't something that can be planned and manioulated. The best relationships are actually just the opposite. You can never tell whom might fall in your path and you theirs...just let it happen when that time comes.

    Personally, I on't think you having HPV derived cancer is something that you need to worry about telling someone as a fore warning on the very slim possibility that they might contract it from you.

    Ask your medical professionals on their thoughts and feeling based on their experience and education. From my unprofessional opinion, an what my doctors have told me, it's not something to be concerned about. That the chances are no greater of contracting it from me than anyone else. That unless you have cancer or something similar going on, I don't even believe that there is a test that can definitively say that you carry HPV.

    John

    Just having a bad day/ nobody wants a charlie in the box!!
    Thanks John, I'm sorry for whining; I was just having a bad day; I just feel like i'm this broken man like in Rudolph the red nosed rain deer; nobody wants a charlie in the box and now i belong on the island of misfit toys.. I know that I have alot to still be thankful for and have to figure out how to get out of this funk; so I can start living and not wasting any more time with useless thoughts of things I have no control over. If it's meant to be, then it's meant to be. I just wish I had a big crystal ball and i could have some one read and tell me it's gonna be alright. I try to let Jesus take the wheel and put things in God's hands; but then some day's when I home; the loneliness creeps in and that's when my thoughts get the best of me; sometimes I'm my own worst enemy!! Thanks again! Big Huggs!!

    Charlie in the box!!!
  • luv4lacrosse
    luv4lacrosse Member Posts: 1,410 Member

    Just having a bad day/ nobody wants a charlie in the box!!
    Thanks John, I'm sorry for whining; I was just having a bad day; I just feel like i'm this broken man like in Rudolph the red nosed rain deer; nobody wants a charlie in the box and now i belong on the island of misfit toys.. I know that I have alot to still be thankful for and have to figure out how to get out of this funk; so I can start living and not wasting any more time with useless thoughts of things I have no control over. If it's meant to be, then it's meant to be. I just wish I had a big crystal ball and i could have some one read and tell me it's gonna be alright. I try to let Jesus take the wheel and put things in God's hands; but then some day's when I home; the loneliness creeps in and that's when my thoughts get the best of me; sometimes I'm my own worst enemy!! Thanks again! Big Huggs!!

    Charlie in the box!!!

    IT'S OKAY BUDDY
    I agree, a bad day has set in upon you. You are one of the cheerleaders on this site. Let us cheer you up.

    Get a good nights sleep and start fresh tomorrow.

    We all care about you.

    Mike
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member

    Just having a bad day/ nobody wants a charlie in the box!!
    Thanks John, I'm sorry for whining; I was just having a bad day; I just feel like i'm this broken man like in Rudolph the red nosed rain deer; nobody wants a charlie in the box and now i belong on the island of misfit toys.. I know that I have alot to still be thankful for and have to figure out how to get out of this funk; so I can start living and not wasting any more time with useless thoughts of things I have no control over. If it's meant to be, then it's meant to be. I just wish I had a big crystal ball and i could have some one read and tell me it's gonna be alright. I try to let Jesus take the wheel and put things in God's hands; but then some day's when I home; the loneliness creeps in and that's when my thoughts get the best of me; sometimes I'm my own worst enemy!! Thanks again! Big Huggs!!

    Charlie in the box!!!

    No apologies
    Chaz,

    I can completely understand your feelings...it's bad enough not having a companion when you're healthy, let alone not having one when you really need someone.

    Vent all you like, I just don't want you to feel it's all doom and gloom...you are alive, you will have time, what will be will be...

    I'm sure in time, that everything you are hoping for will come. Just try to concentrate on getting better, and back to your kick butt self.

    Spend some time getting to know that adorable little yellow lab, Abby...she needs you and you her. She will give you so much loving, that you won't believe what you've been missing.

    Love ya bro....
    John
  • Joel4
    Joel4 Member Posts: 263 Member
    Skiffin16 said:

    No apologies
    Chaz,

    I can completely understand your feelings...it's bad enough not having a companion when you're healthy, let alone not having one when you really need someone.

    Vent all you like, I just don't want you to feel it's all doom and gloom...you are alive, you will have time, what will be will be...

    I'm sure in time, that everything you are hoping for will come. Just try to concentrate on getting better, and back to your kick butt self.

    Spend some time getting to know that adorable little yellow lab, Abby...she needs you and you her. She will give you so much loving, that you won't believe what you've been missing.

    Love ya bro....
    John

    HPV
    Our bodies usually get rid of the HPV in a relatively short amount of time. We got left with an unfortunate parting gift BUT the HPV is almost certainly gone.
    The percentage of people who get sick from HPV is very small. This is the last thing you need to be worrying about in my humble opinion. Almost anyone who has ever had physical contact with another human being is at some risk.
    The HPV thing really bugged me at first because I felt like I had done this to myself. If I were to die my wife would be without a husband and my children without a father because of a choice I had my made at some point in my life. What a bunch of garbage.
    Keep kicking cancer's butt and keep thanking the Lord.
  • RushFan
    RushFan Member Posts: 224
    Joel4 said:

    HPV
    Our bodies usually get rid of the HPV in a relatively short amount of time. We got left with an unfortunate parting gift BUT the HPV is almost certainly gone.
    The percentage of people who get sick from HPV is very small. This is the last thing you need to be worrying about in my humble opinion. Almost anyone who has ever had physical contact with another human being is at some risk.
    The HPV thing really bugged me at first because I felt like I had done this to myself. If I were to die my wife would be without a husband and my children without a father because of a choice I had my made at some point in my life. What a bunch of garbage.
    Keep kicking cancer's butt and keep thanking the Lord.

    Joel4 is spot on
    In relation to head & neck, this is a confusing topic that has not been studied in detail. I brought this up Monday with my surgical onc...she said there's an association with SCC, but at this point is not causal. Much more study is needed re other cancers and HPV.
  • delnative
    delnative Member Posts: 450
    RushFan said:

    Joel4 is spot on
    In relation to head & neck, this is a confusing topic that has not been studied in detail. I brought this up Monday with my surgical onc...she said there's an association with SCC, but at this point is not causal. Much more study is needed re other cancers and HPV.

    FWIW
    My doc at Johns Hopkins (not the doc who was shot today, thank God) told me that my SCC was the result of HPV exposure decades ago -- which is good, because it was decades ago that I was (ahem) on the front lines of the sexual revolution.
    HPV disappeared from my system long, long ago, but it was that exposure combined with who knows what else (smoke? drink? rock 'n' roll?) that spurred it to give me cancer.

    --Jim in Delaware
  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    You are in the medical profession so keep on reading!
    Hi Charles,

    Focus your studies a little bit more. HPV may be sexually transmitted, but it is not your standard STD. At SOME point in our lives, every one of us tested positive for HPV, we must have because now we now have an HPV-derived cancer. Most, if not ALL, of us now would NOT test positive for HPV. We are not contageous for HPV. We will not infect our partners. We simply exhibit tumors/cancer that has the genetic markers of being derived from the HPV virus.

    Other statistics state that as many as 80% of adults may have/had HPV at some point in their lives. Given that number, the percentage of us who end up with HN SCC is pretty small.

    Keep on readin, man. And, talk your doctor into giving YOU the Gardasil shots (three shot series). It might just boost your immune system enough that HPV-derived cancers will never come back at you, and an active HPV infection will never happen to you again.

    Deb
  • Scambuster
    Scambuster Member Posts: 973
    D Lewis said:

    You are in the medical profession so keep on reading!
    Hi Charles,

    Focus your studies a little bit more. HPV may be sexually transmitted, but it is not your standard STD. At SOME point in our lives, every one of us tested positive for HPV, we must have because now we now have an HPV-derived cancer. Most, if not ALL, of us now would NOT test positive for HPV. We are not contageous for HPV. We will not infect our partners. We simply exhibit tumors/cancer that has the genetic markers of being derived from the HPV virus.

    Other statistics state that as many as 80% of adults may have/had HPV at some point in their lives. Given that number, the percentage of us who end up with HN SCC is pretty small.

    Keep on readin, man. And, talk your doctor into giving YOU the Gardasil shots (three shot series). It might just boost your immune system enough that HPV-derived cancers will never come back at you, and an active HPV infection will never happen to you again.

    Deb

    Running a red light more of a worry irish..
    Chaz, I am with Deb++. Most of us show HPV from the antibodies we still have, not the virus. You should be more worried about running a red light or slipping on your kitchen floor than about HPV and how it might affect your life. Seriously.

    We all fall off our horse from time to time with the emotional rollercoaster of living with we have had.

    Time to get back on your horse, think positive, make your little part of the Universe perfect and complete, and you will attract the right person and get to do all the things you want.

    Scam
  • Fire34
    Fire34 Member Posts: 365

    Running a red light more of a worry irish..
    Chaz, I am with Deb++. Most of us show HPV from the antibodies we still have, not the virus. You should be more worried about running a red light or slipping on your kitchen floor than about HPV and how it might affect your life. Seriously.

    We all fall off our horse from time to time with the emotional rollercoaster of living with we have had.

    Time to get back on your horse, think positive, make your little part of the Universe perfect and complete, and you will attract the right person and get to do all the things you want.

    Scam

    Significant Other
    Charles as Scam said think positive you made it thru heck with treatment and all. You seem to be doing well in your recovery that should be another +. Just keep a positive attitude and things will work out.

    Has anyones spouse thought that she/he had given you the HPV virus. My wife continually thinks that she is the reason for me getting the cancer. She naturally is going to her OB/GYN and get tested for it.
    I try to convince her that I could have been exposed anywhere. Even possibly in the ambulance as I am a paramedic.
    Any ideas how I can convince her otherwise? Thanks
    Wishes & Prayers to everyone
    Dave
  • Jimbo55
    Jimbo55 Member Posts: 590 Member
    delnative said:

    FWIW
    My doc at Johns Hopkins (not the doc who was shot today, thank God) told me that my SCC was the result of HPV exposure decades ago -- which is good, because it was decades ago that I was (ahem) on the front lines of the sexual revolution.
    HPV disappeared from my system long, long ago, but it was that exposure combined with who knows what else (smoke? drink? rock 'n' roll?) that spurred it to give me cancer.

    --Jim in Delaware

    Not Rock n Roll
    Jim, not rock n roll, tell me it can't be from rock n roll!!! Cheers

    Jimbo
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    Fire34 said:

    Significant Other
    Charles as Scam said think positive you made it thru heck with treatment and all. You seem to be doing well in your recovery that should be another +. Just keep a positive attitude and things will work out.

    Has anyones spouse thought that she/he had given you the HPV virus. My wife continually thinks that she is the reason for me getting the cancer. She naturally is going to her OB/GYN and get tested for it.
    I try to convince her that I could have been exposed anywhere. Even possibly in the ambulance as I am a paramedic.
    Any ideas how I can convince her otherwise? Thanks
    Wishes & Prayers to everyone
    Dave

    It is What it is...
    There are so many thoughts, opinions, and suggestions. I think it's just one of those things that has evolved due to change in norms and habits.

    I haven't read anything specifically that has definitvely defined the possibilities of conception.

    My wife had similar thoughts. She was tested during her annual exams and there is no evidence of HPV. It's just one of those things as mentioned several places above that we all either have, had or are portential to have. It doesn't mean that if it's in your body that it will become active, same as cancer.

    As far as I've been told and know, unless either are actually active and affecting some area in the body, there isn't even a way of detecting it. So I guess yes, the possibility of passing it back and forth is there, will it become active during you or your mates lifetime, more than likely not, but that's always a possibility. But in that same token, there's a possibility that anyone that you have been with could have given it to you, or you them.

    I haven't read anywhere the life time or cycle of the virus. Like I mentioned before, if I contracted it sexually from someone it had to have been dormant for over 20 years, same with my wife. So that makes me think that either most of us carry the cells and they either never become active or if so, it could be anywhere in time. Or that there definitely are other modes of conception.

    Just my thoughts and opinions....

    Best,
    John