My recent cancer scare

So, I wasn't sure if I wanted to share this story with the world (or at least with the 13 people that might read my blog)...but I finally decided that this is the kind of thing that I created the blog for...to share my stories and experiences and thoughts...whether they are pool related or not.

In mid-April, I went to the OBGYN for my annual check-up. No problem. But a week later, I got a call from the Dr's office...and they wanted to see me again because the pap had shown abnormal cells in my cervix. So, I went back in, and had 2 biopsies...one of the cervix, and one kind of outside...because the Dr told me that I had some suspicious mole-type spots. Nothing too painful...but now the waiting game began.

A week later...I went back to Dr to get the results. I was diagnosed with CIN3 and VIN3. Both are caused by HPV. (And while I recognize that HPV has a negative connotation in most people's minds...please do some research before judging anyone with HPV...because it's most likely that you have had it at some point, but your body fought it off and you never knew about it...which is what happens like 80% of the time.) And both my CIN and VIN were grade 3...meaning that they were severe and needed to be surgically removed in order to prevent cancer from forming.

I had surgery May 3rd...and I have been dealing with recovery since. I had a LEEP procedure done for the CIN...and CO2 laser surgery for the VIN. Recovery has been easy for the LEEP, but incredibly painful and exhausting from the laser surgery. It's been 2 weeks, and I am finally getting to a point where sitting isn't tortuous or uncomfortable.

I have no intentions on getting into gory details here...partly because it's disgusting...and mostly because I doubt that anyone wants to read the details.

But I wanted to create a post to inform people a little about HPV, to dispell some of the misconceptions, and to share my own experience.

Last Wed, I got the news that the surgery was successful, and that they had removed everything they need to. Neither procedure should affect my ability to have children, and I've been told that the laser surgery will leave no scarring. So...after a hellishly scary month...everything is fairly back to normal. I'm working on quitting smoking...because apparently smoking increases chances of recurrence. But I will tell that story in another post someday.

Thanks for listening.