Gardasil- is anyone else planning on getting this vaccination to help prevent cancer

[amitya]

having had cervical cancer that was diagnosed when i was pregnant with my first child and having gone thru the 3 different procedures in an effort to get rid of it over 2.5 years, I can honestly tell you at this time I Will not be contemplating this shot for my daughter.

Cervical dysplasia can be caused by many things including HPV which is what this vaccine protects against. Vaccines are NOT 100%. There are over 700 strains of HPV and over 80% of the US population is already infected. HPV can remain in your system for years. Some doctors believe that your body can get rid of the HPV but I for one do not believe that after all the research I did when I was diagnosed in 2000. HPV can lay dormat in your system and become active whenever it wants basically. If you already have HPV (which they can do a test on cells from your pap to find out) this vaccine most likely wont help at all.

Yes the surgeries (LEEP, Cryo, and Cone Biopsy) hurt and i had recovery times of up to 4 weeks for them, but they are promoting this shot like its a cure-all--

Knowledge and safer sex practices are the key. Not some bandaid shot. This shot is going to give parents a false piece of mind over their kids sexual health.

I am wondering why they are only wanting to give the shot to women when men are the primary carriers and transmittors of this virus.

I wonder how few strains of HPV this shot protects against. I know it cant protect against ALL of them. Just like the bordetella and parvo shots dont protect dogs against all the strains of those diseases.

The risk of a new product, the thimersol in the shot, and all the other factors i mentioned above turn me off of this fast.

JMO of course

Amity

 

[emrldsky]

Originally Posted by amitya

having had cervical cancer that was diagnosed when i was pregnant with my first child and having gone thru the 3 different procedures in an effort to get rid of it over 2.5 years, I can honestly tell you at this time I Will not be contemplating this shot for my daughter.

Cervical dysplasia can be caused by many things including HPV which is what this vaccine protects against. Vaccines are NOT 100%. There are over 700 strains of HPV and over 80% of the US population is already infected. HPV can remain in your system for years. Some doctors believe that your body can get rid of the HPV but I for one do not believe that after all the research I did when I was diagnosed in 2000. HPV can lay dormat in your system and become active whenever it wants basically. If you already have HPV (which they can do a test on cells from your pap to find out) this vaccine most likely wont help at all.

Yes the surgeries (LEEP, Cryo, and Cone Biopsy) hurt and i had recovery times of up to 4 weeks for them, but they are promoting this shot like its a cure-all--

Knowledge and safer sex practices are the key. Not some bandaid shot. This shot is going to give parents a false piece of mind over their kids sexual health.

I am wondering why they are only wanting to give the shot to women when men are the primary carriers and transmittors of this virus.

I wonder how few strains of HPV this shot protects against. I know it cant protect against ALL of them. Just like the bordetella and parvo shots dont protect dogs against all the strains of those diseases.

The risk of a new product, the thimersol in the shot, and all the other factors i mentioned above turn me off of this fast.

JMO of course

Amity

I completely agree with all that you've said. The shot won't help me, but if I had known about it years ago, I would have had safer practices instead of getting a shot. My Dr. hasn't told me a lot about HPV and I was only diagnosed this year. Most of the information I've found has been research on my own time.

As far as giving men the shot...I'm not sure how men are affected by HPV or if the vaccination can even work with their bodies.

I'm also concerned about side effects later down the road. Everyone thought that patch was great, but now people are freaking out because of the cases of blood clots causing death (btw, I've worn the patch for over 4 years with no side effects).

I'm all for advances in medicine, but not at the risk of my own health.

 

[katl8e]

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

Cervical cancer is treatable though if its caught early isn't it? I'm not sure that vac is available in Canada

If you have regular pap tests and catch it early, its IS treatable - that's how mine was detected. Because I was through having children, I opted for a hysterectomy, 16 years ago and have never regretted it.

As for the vaccine, I'd like to see more long-term studies.

 

[katiemae1277]

I'm with amitya and emrldsky, this vaccine helps prevent cervical cancer caused by HPV, not cervical cancer in general. To me, if you're negative for HPV and in a monogamous, committed relationship, why would you get the vaccine, especially not knowing what the long-term side effects are? folks who are sexually active should be using condoms anyway, and if you're not wearing them then you have a lot more to be worried about than contacting HPV which "might" cause cervical cancer down the road. I'm too old to get it, although I'm not really understanding the age limit

but I would not get it, I have annual exams exactly because of these things.

 

[starryeyedtiger]

everyone has made some excellent points. it's great to hear some input from cervical cancer survivors- i applaud you guys for sharing your stories with us.

I just made my doctors appointment for the 22nd, so i'm not going to plan on doing anything until I talk in depth with my doctor. I talked to Colin about it this morning and told him that my main concern would be the effects it has down the road that have yet to be study. I don't want it if it has a potential to affect my fertility or harm any future children you know. I'm just a little leary of a product that has not been out on the market long or has been studied years down the road to see what kind, if any, side effects it may cause. I can definitely see pros and cons to the vaccine. Oh, one more thing, i don't remember who asked, but according to the Gardasil site, the vaccine helps to prevent Types 6,11,18, and 16 of cervical cancer. I'm not sure why there is an age limit eithor? Made no sense to me.

I will definitely ask about it though.

 

[starryeyedtiger]

Well ladies, when all else fails, consult Cosmo

/ I was just skimming through my new issue of Cosmo, and what do you know, they did a huge section on HPV/Cervical Cancer/ and the new Gardasil vaccination. It answered a lot of the questions we had earlier. I'd suggest those of ya'll who were interested, read the new december issue of Cosmopolitan. They answer a lot of myths and questions. I'm thinking about writing down certain questions/points they made in the issue and asking my doctor about it. I'm still not definite i will get the shot, but i am going to look into it and see what the doctor says