HPV

soccerfreaks said:

"Don't worry, be happy"
I was frankly surprised by some of the seemingly smug posts here and elsewhere in the board about HPV, as if an HPV-positive diagnosis was a reprieve of some sort from you-know-what.

I am not surprised that people would react that way, that they would hear one way or another that their cancer MIGHT have been instigated by this HPV virus and this MIGHT improve their chances of success with treatment, but reading some of the posts I could almost hear "Wahoo!" over the internet connection, a sort of "I'm gonna live! Sorry about you, sucker!" thing going on, at least to my sensitive ears.

I kept quiet because we all need our ropes of hope, if you will. Far be it from me to snip at those.

I am not HPV-positive, gravey, and am frankly glad that I am not, as it means I did not pass this on to my wife nor, potentially, from what I am reading above, to my children.

I am not HPV-positive, gravey, and like any number of others you might find on this site and in this board, I am alive now more than four years since my diagnosis and treatment.

As a cancer survivor, gravey, if you are inclined to worry, there are lots of things you can worry about other than something you cannot control and which may, in the end, have nothing to do with your survival: concentrate, gravey, on what you can control.

Don't worry, be happy .

Take care,

Joe

Cancer by any name

I guess in life we all done a lot of things we now look back on and wonder about, I know it is that way for me but I have no regrets of my passed. If my cancer did anything it made me grow closer to the God I now daily put my trust and faith in. My passed is forgiving and my future is just ahead of me with him by my side. You can’t get it by reading a book it is something you live, to the world it is foolishness but then the wisdom of God has always been foolishness to man.

stevenl said:

Out of hand
Hey everyone,
Looks like to me this has gotten out of hand, and it probably don't matter what I think to a lot of you out there. I smoked, drank,ate the good ol southwest tex-mex diet and all for at least 40 years of my life. And by the way, I am also HPV+. So what does that make me? Dead already? Am I just going through this to see if I can live another couple of months? I don't think so. I am gonna beat this no matter how insane the decisions I made were, and all my doctors think I have a pretty damn good shot at it too. I don't care what responds better statistically, as far as I am concerned it is just not about that, it is about ones willingness to fight. I know of too many people that have been given 4 weeks,4 months or what the hell ever, derived by some stupid statistic. Statistics to me are B.S. While they may be something to look to for some kind of insane hope MY STATS are this. 100% or 0%. I am either gonna live or die. LIVE it is for me, just as many, many of you here are doing RIGHT NOW. You are my stats. So to hell with stats, and here's to the blessed 5FU being pumped into my body at this very moment and here's to my next opportunity to get strapped in for the next glorious microwave session and kick this craps butt i WILL

Damn seriously,
Steve

Right on Steve
Extremely well put Steve. That discussion had been bugging me a bit too.

All the numbers are extrapolations of how the entire population fares. There is some statistical evidence that says HPV+ derived scc is a better positive outcome prognosticator, but there are so many factors related to prognosis no one factor should be held out as definitive over any other. Many, many people survive scc h&nc and that is what the focus needs to be.

To be doing cartwheels or diving into depression either way is not seeing the big picture. Statistics is the common language for insurance companies and researchers when talking about populations. Staging is similar. It's only so the people working on this have a baseline, not for them to gives us the *answer* to our questions of mortality.

A positive attitude (the will to live as Steve puts it), support, and early aggressive treatment are all at least as important as cause in terms of prognosis and perhaps more important in terms of long term disease free survival.

To me, my chances are 100% that I will die, but *I* am going to have my say in how and when that happens. Like Steve, I plan on beating this and no stat is going to negatively influence me otherwise. My favorite part of Steve's post is this:

"here's to the blessed 5FU being pumped into my body at this very moment and here's to my next opportunity to get strapped in for the next glorious microwave session and kick this craps butt"

RIGHT ON STEVE!!!!

Best,

Mick

stevenl said:

Out of hand
Hey everyone,
Looks like to me this has gotten out of hand, and it probably don't matter what I think to a lot of you out there. I smoked, drank,ate the good ol southwest tex-mex diet and all for at least 40 years of my life. And by the way, I am also HPV+. So what does that make me? Dead already? Am I just going through this to see if I can live another couple of months? I don't think so. I am gonna beat this no matter how insane the decisions I made were, and all my doctors think I have a pretty damn good shot at it too. I don't care what responds better statistically, as far as I am concerned it is just not about that, it is about ones willingness to fight. I know of too many people that have been given 4 weeks,4 months or what the hell ever, derived by some stupid statistic. Statistics to me are B.S. While they may be something to look to for some kind of insane hope MY STATS are this. 100% or 0%. I am either gonna live or die. LIVE it is for me, just as many, many of you here are doing RIGHT NOW. You are my stats. So to hell with stats, and here's to the blessed 5FU being pumped into my body at this very moment and here's to my next opportunity to get strapped in for the next glorious microwave session and kick this craps butt i WILL

Damn seriously,
Steve

You got it Steve


Could not have said it better