To Mir and all the Moms reading this,

I applaud your research and how much you love your daughters and want them to have healthy lives free of cervical cancer. I am a 12-year cervical cancer survivor who is childless. I had a hysterectomy and was fortunate not to need chemo and radiation, which several women I know have suffered through.

Whatever your decision about Gardasil and vaccinating your daughters, I urge you to take as good care of yourself as you are your daughters and get the HPV test along with your Pap test the next time you go to your GYN. (Make it easy and make your annual screening appointments as a birthday gift to yourself.)

Women over the age of 30 are most at risk for cervical cancer and 80% of the population will have HPV at some time in their life. Getting the HPV Test along with your PAP is one of the easiest and fastest ways to identify if you have abnormal cells beginning to grow in your body and prevent cervical cancer. The HPV Test will detect those abnormal cells that a normal PAP test can miss. If the HPV Test had been available when I was diagnosed 12 years ago (it was FDA approved in 1999) and I’d known to ask for it (so many women forget to ask or don’t push back and say they want it anyway when their doctor says their previous PAP was normal), we now know I could have avoided a hysterectomy and maybe even a cancer diagnosis.

HPV Test or hysterectomy? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have the test anytime. You still have a choice. Be good to yourself and set the example for your daughters. Choose to know. Get the test. For more information, visit www.theHPVtest.com. They have excellent research and more details that will explain everything.

Mary Marcdante
Author, My Mother, My Friend: The 10 Most Important Things to Talk About with Your Mother
http://www.marymarcdante.com
http://mymothermyfriend.com

IF she was Sexually active IT CAN HARM HER, if infected with HPV (likely if she had sex), 44.6% INCREASE in CERVICAL CANCER and all possible benefit from vaccine is lost.
FDA also in 03 stated "HPV is not associated with cervical cancer" both in a press release and a denial for class II approval for a company's medical device.
The JAMA supports this statment as well.

Read http://www.newstarget.com/z022404.html
quick summary

Read for full report. :: http://newstarget.com/Report_HPV_Vaccine_0.html

if you agree pass it on.

Pelvic pain
Severe stomach pain
Pain, swelling or stiffness in joints
Pain, swelling, redness or itching at the injection site
Mild fever
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, upset stomach (always)
Dizziness (often)
Runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, cough
Muscle pain and general weakness (constant)
Fainting (2 times)

My daughter has recvd 2 of the vaccines/shots and will not get the third. She has been hospitilized (ER) twice over the past 5 months. Once, by ambulance from her college dorm. Diagnosis: NONE-stress etc due to college life. They ran all the blood tests, MRI of her head (fainting), ultrasound for ? of gallbladder disease/stones--all negative. Next, they want to run GI series. Of course, I will have these test, in fear that there could be something else but I am so sceptic now after reading all these reports and blogs...

My daughter is an athlete, plays college Lacrosse, and is in such pain all the time now. She NEVER had any of these symptoms prior to recving this vaccine. PLEASE, think twice about having your daughter receive this vaccine. Educate yourself and her about the ramifications of this drug. Teach her to abstaine instead of feeling the pain from this drug... even death (God forbid)---there have been at least 11 deaths to date and over 4000 reports of negative reactions...

I can understand the fear...which is why I had her take the vacinne to begin with...I now wish I had not. My daughter loves sports and cannot play now, this would have been her 2nd year playing college lacrosse and it is just destroying her "college" life feeling the way she does. Shoulda-coulda...wish I read more about Gardisil before having her take it....

First of all, I agree that the idea of an immunization of this capacity is definitely a step forward towards a healthy lifestyle...IF there was few to no side effects. When I first heard about this shot, I was incredibly amazed and absolutely ecstatic to find out that there could potentially be a way to prevent the worst outcome of the STD known as HPV - cervical cancer. The huge outspread of media coverage and FDA reports on the drug has given it a "popular, need-to-have-it" aire. However, I believe that before jumping the gun, we should all consider a few very important factors in deciding whether the shot is "for me" or not.

 The immunization is incedibly new!!! Yes, many side effects can be determined after short term use, but what about long term effects? What will this shot do to someone's body after x amount of years? What will this shot do to this person's ability to have healthy children in the future? We really do not know any long term effects at this point. There have been other cases in the history of medicine where a drug was pushed to the public and more adverse side effects occured than not, including child deformity and cancer. Drugs should be studied over a long period of time under hundreds of different circumstances in order to evaluate their validity to their original cause. I have researched plenty on this drug, including getting personal opinions from multiple types of doctors, and I have not gotten one answer where the doctor has been any less than extremely skeptical with the drug and its side effects. Side effects have been known to range from none, to typical, to longer lasting than typical, to constantly painful...who knows what will happen? The rumor of the drug causing related deaths aside (not a proven fact and I doubt the FDA would still keep this drug in circulation with multiple proven related deaths) long term effects are still under studied and unknown.

 PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep this in mind when deciding whether the shot is right for you...

This is the most astute argument that I have yet to read on the issue. My daughter is almost 9, and although I have never been uncertain about when or if I would have her vaccinated, I now have a great argument to support my decision. Thank you for putting into words something that I think a lot of us have been wondering how to explain.

Ask Your Mother...
Easy Answers to Hard Questions About
Sex, Love and Relationships
http://askyourmother.wordpress.com/

You should do more thorough research than Jane magazine before getting your daughter vaccinated. There have been no long-term studies done on the effect of the vaccine after 5-10 or more years, and testing on young girls has been extremely limited.

Also the duration of the immunity is still unknown (right now the studies say "at least 4 years") so your daughter might not even still be protected by the time she becomes sexually active.

Read our post about "10 Things You Might Not Know About Gardasil" http://evilslutopia.blogspot.com/2007/01/gardasil.html

Then do some research for yourself and make an informed decision.

The Evil Slut Clique
http://evilslutopia.blogspot.com

I attended a Talking to Your Kids About Sex lecture given by Planned Parenthood early this week. It was a really great talk. Anyhow, one point that really had an impact on me was that you can't assume that your preteen and teenage kids aren't having sex or engaging in sexual activities (hence the outbreak of STDS from oral sex in junior highs). I have to say after being an overnight camp counselor for a number of summers, I would have to agree with that point. As much as I hope my sons will wait until they are old enough to make well informed decisions and to be able to handle it emotionally, I will give them all the info about being safe and protecting themselves. If I had a daughter, I would also seriously consider vaccinating her at 9 for the reasons you gave (excellent post). It sounds like it is a great decision for you.
A. Elliot

We delay and selectively vaccinate in general, and so I was not considering utilizing this vaccine when my 8yo when she turns 9, but now I'll do more research. Thank you so much for your perspective.

Rachel - a Gaggle of girls and sites
blog, recipes, and book reviews

I am a mother of two girls. While I did not lose my viriginty against my will, it wasn't long after that I was in fact raped. The aftermath of assault spiderwebs in so many different ways, to take even one step to cauterize one of those paths, to prevent a preventable disease...what question is there? Why would you consider not doing it? There are so few ways we can really protect our children, I think your stance is a good one. Speaking as both mother and daughter.

Hi,

I wrote about this very thing a couple of days ago on my own blog at Women Walking In Wisdom’s Footsteps™. When I was in my mid-20s, I was diagnosed with severe dysplasia. Mind you, I had been getting my pap smears annually for years - I found out a couple of years after my diagnosis that the lab the doctor's office used (through the HMO) misdiagnosed many smears. By that time, the dysplasia had developed - I had precancerous cells.

I ended up having a cervical conization, where my gyn took out two cone shaped pieces of tissue to remove the disease. She got it all, and I haven't had a problem since (this was about 17 years ago). But one of the side effects of a procedure like this where your cervix is being manipulated is possible miscarriage.

I got pregnant in 2003. Since I was already considered high-risk because of my age (I was 39), I had prenatal appointments every 3 weeks. The last in-office doctor appointment I had, my cervix collapsed - it effaced and opened, and I was only 22 weeks pregnant! If I had not been in that office at that time, I would have miscarried my beautiful daughter. I asked my doctor if a cervical cone could have made my cervix weaker, and she replied it very well could have. I ended up spending 12 weeks on hospital bedrest, and 2-1/2 weeks additional at home before I was induced at 37-1/2 weeks.

My daughter will only be 3 in May, but I know that if I can avoid the possibility of any of this happening to my daughter, I will do it. Your thoughts, I believe, are right on target. It's just like I read recently, just because you mandate seatbelts doesn't mean you're endorsing reckless driving. I've done so much research myself on this disease - and to me, it's absolutely worth it - I know. I almost lost my daughter one day.

Excellent Post!

I too intend to bifurcate the actual innoculation from the eventual discussions with my daughter about sexuality and relationships.

Barring research that comes to light that Gardisil may be more harmful than currently demonstrated, my plan is also to have my daughter innoculated when she's 9 (she's only 5 now...)

Thanks, Mir, for a great post, and to all for an interesting discussion...

Peg
Peggy, As She Is...

I think my earlier post carried with it some of the anger from recently being attacked verbally and then publically mocked at a well baby visit when I turned down the not yet state mandated Hep B vaccination for my 2 year old. Reading back I realize I was being as close minded as those hateful nurses were to me in the phrasing I chose. For that, I sincerely apologize. I only meant to say that I thought it was something worth considering. I love that we are all free to make the choices that are right for our families.

I myself also have HPV. I found out when I was four months pregnant. My doctor had informed most people don't have any symptoms until their immune system weakens thus most women find out during pregnancy or a serious illness. I was 24 at the time, married and had only 2 sexual partners. I also had cone biopsies such as Kwiz did during my pregnancy which did not fix the cervical dysplasia. After giving birth by c-section I had to wait two months for my cervix to heal and shrink and then had to under go a LEEP procedure which was horrific. They used this electric scraper/shaver on your cervix and I have to be grounded so I wouldn't get shocked during the procedure. I have not had any recurrences. I never heard of HPV before I found out I had it.
I wish they would have came out with this vaccination 10 years ago to protect that many more americans from going through the horros of this disease.
The facts from CDC are 20 million americans have the virus. You have a 50% chance of getting this virus in your lifetime when you become sexually active. Even using a condom will not protect you from this disease. Even if you wait until marriage to become sexually active, did your husband?

I read that article in Jane magazine too, and it made me cry that she had to go through this!

Yes, of course in a perfect world we wouldn't need vaccines, especially ones that protect us from the aftermath of sexually transmitted diseases (gasp!) but if there is something we can do to prevent cancer in our children, then why wouldn't we? If it is a decision left up to the parents, then we need to make sure that the information is easily obtained so everyone can make an informed decision. Not a decision based on the fact that they hope their kids don't have sex until...whenver they want them to wait until. Sure, yes, I hope my kids don't have sex until they are old enough and responsible enough, but who knows if that is realistic. Of course I am going to do my best to teach them what I believe is appropriate behavior and why, but who knows what they might do in the rebellion phase (I certainly wasn't stopped from doing anything by what my parents thought).

I had cancer, and had there been a preventative shot I could have had that my parents refused to give me for whatever reason, I would be pretty angry at them for skipping it!

Parents should be serious to take their children to get vaccinated. The vaccine experiment is based on those young
women as inital trial, who have not had sex activity and have not get HPV. The study shows it is 100 pretection against the virus. The mandatory vaccine will not casue the high sex activity but just protect them from hpv that may casue cervical cancer or genital warts.

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