HPV?

Heavenleah

I had my surgery to remove my tonsils on 8/8 and after surgery, doc says found 2 warts near my tonsil, and they are known to cause tonsil cancer. I asked him how the heck i get warts on my tonsils and he told me to google it when I get home. He ended up keeping me overnight because apparently I bled alot. I did look it up, and the only thing im coming up with is HPV. (is this REALLY a sexually transmitted virus???) Anyone have any personal info on this? im freaking out to say the least.

At any rate, hes now saying that it may not be cancer after all, and couldnt get a clear read on my tonsils so sent them for a 2nd and 3rd opinion at the university. I asked if that was a good sign, and he said 50/50. I really dont know much about the wart thing he was talking about, I was very out of it when he talked to me. He did call today to tell me the pathology reports came in and he will talk to me on Monday and review it with me. This has me a little hopeful that he was indeed wrong about cancer, if he had to send them off for additional opinions.

With the tonsil surgery, I have already lost 46 pounds in all since I started getting sick several months ago. I still cant eat anything but Jello and drink only water, everything else hurts or burns on the way down. I dont know how long its suppose to last when they do surgery in your throat like I had done. But I know Im starving Im so dang tired all the time. I just want it all over with so I can go on with life.

~~Frustrated~~

sweetblood22

I'm kinda a little ticked
I'm kinda a little ticked off that your doctor told you to google something instead of taking the time to explain it to you. I'm sorry, but that pisses me off. I would want my patient to get good info, you could find any info posted by anyone on the internet. No offense to you, because I know you are smart and bright, but what if you were a person who cannot really discern info very well, or weren't computer savvy. Ok rant over I will shut up now.

Yes, it seems that HPV can cause oral and head and neck cancers. It is really starting to be a major cause of it and is joining smoking, and alcohol consumption as the major risk factors.

We have had tons of discussions on this subject here, if you would like to do a search on it. I also have a section and some links with hpv related stuff in the HNC Superthread.

Oral Sex is obviously a risk factor. Women are screened with regular pap smears. There is also the Guardasil vaccine, which has been given to young girls and women, and now some, even a couple here, have gotten their boys vaccinated.

If HPV is found, in a way, that can be a good thing. While it doesn't change the way the cancer is treated, some studies show that HPV related cancers have a higher cure rate.

Heavenleah

sweetblood22 said:

I'm kinda a little ticked
I'm kinda a little ticked off that your doctor told you to google something instead of taking the time to explain it to you. I'm sorry, but that pisses me off. I would want my patient to get good info, you could find any info posted by anyone on the internet. No offense to you, because I know you are smart and bright, but what if you were a person who cannot really discern info very well, or weren't computer savvy. Ok rant over I will shut up now.

Yes, it seems that HPV can cause oral and head and neck cancers. It is really starting to be a major cause of it and is joining smoking, and alcohol consumption as the major risk factors.

We have had tons of discussions on this subject here, if you would like to do a search on it. I also have a section and some links with hpv related stuff in the HNC Superthread.

Oral Sex is obviously a risk factor. Women are screened with regular pap smears. There is also the Guardasil vaccine, which has been given to young girls and women, and now some, even a couple here, have gotten their boys vaccinated.

If HPV is found, in a way, that can be a good thing. While it doesn't change the way the cancer is treated, some studies show that HPV related cancers have a higher cure rate.

Thank you
Thank you for the info, Sweet. I will take a look now and see whats posted. Im sure the doctor didnt mean any harm when he told me to google, I had just woke up from surgery and was very groggy, and he most likely knew I wouldnt absorb all of what he would have told me. I hope he had intentions of going into it further at our appointment, I hope he meant it in jest...however inappropriate, I agree. He has been great with me until that point, so i really do hope he was kidding...Hes the only ENT in the entire county.

I have so many questions. If there was no cancer found in the tonsils that hes sent out, (which i find out results on monday) could there still be cancer in the lymph node that is rock hard (that with the ugly tonsil is what led him to think cancer to begin with). What would cause my lymph node to enlarge and be hard like this if it isnt cancer? I know youre not doctors, but I dont know who else to ask..I guess I should just wait for my appointment, but this waiting game is destroying me mentally and emotionally. I just dont know where we go from here...How could he potentially be so wrong in telling me hes certain I have cancer the week before surgery, then "maybe i was wrong" afterwards... I dont understand how a doctor would be so sure one minute then not so sure the next...

sweetblood22

Heavenleah said:

Thank you
Thank you for the info, Sweet. I will take a look now and see whats posted. Im sure the doctor didnt mean any harm when he told me to google, I had just woke up from surgery and was very groggy, and he most likely knew I wouldnt absorb all of what he would have told me. I hope he had intentions of going into it further at our appointment, I hope he meant it in jest...however inappropriate, I agree. He has been great with me until that point, so i really do hope he was kidding...Hes the only ENT in the entire county.

I have so many questions. If there was no cancer found in the tonsils that hes sent out, (which i find out results on monday) could there still be cancer in the lymph node that is rock hard (that with the ugly tonsil is what led him to think cancer to begin with). What would cause my lymph node to enlarge and be hard like this if it isnt cancer? I know youre not doctors, but I dont know who else to ask..I guess I should just wait for my appointment, but this waiting game is destroying me mentally and emotionally. I just dont know where we go from here...How could he potentially be so wrong in telling me hes certain I have cancer the week before surgery, then "maybe i was wrong" afterwards... I dont understand how a doctor would be so sure one minute then not so sure the next...

Well, I hope that was why,
Well, I hope that was why, because you just woke up and couldn't absorb what he was saying. But a better response would have been that he would explain it to you when you were coherent, IMO.

I really cannot speculate about the cancer/no cancer for you. They never found my primary. I suppose it could be possible you had infected tonsils or something and your lymph node is just swollen, or it could be cancer and the primary was microscopic, or is somewhere else. I know the waiting game is brutal! I am hoping you get a lot of answers Monday, and it's really better to wait until you get that info before you make yourself do that what if, what if thing.

I forget did you have a CT Scan or Pet?

Skiffin16

HPV
Your ENT doesn't seem to be to informed....

I know that my ENT was suspect of HPV as soon as he got the CT back the first day and especially as I wasn't a tobacco user.

A few days later he took the tonsils out, did a quick biopsy at that same time and determined I had STGIII SCC of the tonsils. HPV does take longer apparently to confirm as that went out and took about 2 - 3 weeks before it came back as HPV+.

As for warts and HPV I'm not a MD so with my limited education on it. I've only heard of HPV connected with genital warts..that's mainly what I find when googling it.

Like Dawn said, HPV derived H&N Cancer is on the rise. It's said to more than likely over take tobacco related H&N Cancer within 10 years or so.

There is nothing that I have read that definitvely confirms at what level it is transmitted or contracted. Actually it like cancer enters our body and is usually not infectious. Another study that was just released says that about 80% of people 35 and younger have been exposed and had HPV but most don't become infected.

In women you are usually tested annually with your other female tests. In men, there isn't one that I'm aware, unless you already have some advanced illness going on (like cancer).

Some other studies suggest it can lie dormant in your body for 10 - 20 years befoe becoming active.

Thoughts and prayers on your results,,
John

ngk

HPV
hi,
sorry about your situation. there is a great website regarding HPV, i just don't know if you want to put all that info in your head when you are not even sure if you are HPV positive. I am and i just had a tonsillectomy and another surgery at the same time as i had cancer. i learned everything i needed to know about tonsillectomies from a forum. i had NO idea how bad it was going to be. i was MISERABLE after mine and did not have my first sip of anything until my 4th day out from surgery, and that was only bec my sister forced me to take a sip of soup! chicken soup!!! ackkkk, i'm a vegetarian!!!! (then they finally let me go home)and then like you took me weeks before i could eat. my favorite was crumbled goat cheese, jello, and sour cream. i ate greek yogurt too. everything else would just sting like crazy. actually vanilla shakes were good, but i hate vanilla ice cream so that only lasted a day or two. the website is http://tonsillectomyforum.com/?page_id=38
let me know what happens on monday and i can share more with you about HPV, and a bit about my situation too. if you really want to know now, i can share....i will leave that up to you. i know this whole thing is probably consuming your thought life. it still consumes mine. until then my prayers are with you.

jim and i

miracles
I agree with Sweet, even if doctor was jesting, that comment was inaappropriate in this situation. Sounds like he did not know himself.

I know it is easy to say don't worry but harder to actually do it. So I am praying that God will take the worry away and give you some pece during the wait. God has led you to this site to be able to vent and share your worries. Tht is one way you can relieve the stress. If it helps check out the reliable websites like Mayo, MD Anderson, etc. If nothing else you are being proactive in educating yourself.

I also am praying that the doctor was wrong, for what ever reason, and you do not have cancer. Maybe you did have cancer at that time. Even though he was sure you had cancer, maybe God answered the prayers and took it away. I know a person who had lung cancer that had spread to his colon, liver, everywhere so the doctoors sent him home to die. One month later he was feeling great. Three months later the PET and CT showed no cancer so they opened him up to reverse his colostomy and confirmed no cancer. That was over 30 years ago. God still performs miracles so do not give up.


I am prayong for you.

Debbie

luv4lacrosse

SECOND OPINION
Hi, I noticed in your post you said your ENT is the only one in your county. I am assuming you are not being evaluated at an NCI certified facility. You may want to find a facility that is an NCI certified facility and get a second opinion.

I am sending a prayer for you that this is just an infection.

Best!!

Mike