FAQ Regarding Cervical Cancer

I think this is a very good resources and wanted to share it with you. As I have mentioned time and again Cervical Cancer is a very serious disease. It is also a disease that most people know little about. But if you are reading my blog you are learning, as am I. Not only are you learning something that could save your life you are also arming yourself to help save others. You are not too afraid, embarrassed or closed minded to talk about HPV and Cervical Cancer.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources states "Cervical cancer is a disease that can be very serious. However, it is a disease that you can help prevent. Cervical cancer occurs when normal cells in the cervix change into cancer cells. This normally takes several years to happen, but it can also happen in a very short period of time. The good news is that there are ways to help prevent cervical cancer. By getting regular Pap tests and pelvic exams, your health care provider can find and treat the changing cells before they turn into cancer."

To read more about Cervical Cancer and find helpful phone numbers and websites please visit WOMENSHEALTH.GOV and be sure to book mark the site. You never know when someone will come to you asking for advice and/or help. This could be the resource that saves a persons life. I don't mean to sound dramatic but if someone had known enough to say to me, "Meaghan I think you may have Cervical Cancer" maybe things would have turned out differently. Even doctors didn't have the sense to alert me to Cervical Cancer. That means we have to arm ourselves and watch out for eachother!

As always thanks for being so supportive and inspiring me to keep learning and sharing what I find!


And you have to stop by my Get The Bean Blog and see today's recipe: Coffee Cake Pancakes!

More Information about HPV and its Dangers

Here is a great article given to me by my good bloggy friend Somewhere In between Im so excited that people seem to be open and interested in learning how to protect themselves and their children against this terrible virus! The more we know the stronger we become, right?!?

This is an article from MSNBC that talks about the links between HPV and 25,000 cancers in the last 5 years! This is scary stuff people. But, just because its scary doesn't mean we should run, we need to stand strong! We need to arm ourselves against HPV and Cervical Cancer and then fight like mad!

Please check this article out, share it and TALK TALK TALK!! When you gain powerful information you need to share it. Help me spread the word and save others from a difficult, scary endless journey that is Cervical Cancer!

If you haven't yet read my story here is a snid bit: Meaghan's Story

After reading that I hope you realize why this is an important article to read:

HPV Linked to 25,000 cancers in 5 years

Boys Should Be Vaccinated Against HPV Too!

First I should say that I am not an HPV expert, I am just a woman who lived through 3b Cervical Cancer. I am just a woman who wants to educate others about Cervical Cancer and how to avoid its devastation. I am not here to argue or debate just to put out information for you to read. If you disagree with an article or idea please feel free to leave a comment but seriously, don't be a jackass about it! This is an open forum and I appreciate all opinions but if people start being mean, aggressive or antagonize I won't stand for it! I don't think anyone has all the information regarding HPV and Cervical Cancer and if they did we wouldn't have young woman dying from it!

Here is an article about why Boys should be getting the HPV vaccine as well. If you are interested in learning more about why experts are saying your sons should get the vaccine as well please read the article:

Boys Need HPV Vaccine Too

Early Symptoms of Cervical Cancer

It is important that you and your daugther(s) know the early symptoms of Cervical Cancer. If you catch Cervical Cancer early it can be treated without bringing devastation to your life. After I beat cervical cancer I promised to help others avoid the horrors I experienced. I wish that I had recognized, and my doctors, all my symptoms. The pain and loss I experienced can be avoided!

READ ARTICLE

Cervical Cancer Health Care Update!

I got a text from my sister, Arbra over at Just Call Me Sleep Deprived, yesterday. She told me that I needed to check something out and so I did. I am so happy to see that there are advancements going on with regards to cervical cancer. Being a cervical cancer survivor who went misdiagnosed and mistreated I do everything I can to help other women learn how to advocate for themselves. However, thats a hard thing to do when there are few options. Well, here is a new one and it sounds pretty great!

There is a new MRI that is being used to diagnose Cervical Cancer. Just like other cancer Cervical Cancer has different stages. The higher in the alphebet and the lower the number better. Mine, unfortunately was neither, 3b not a good number. The sooner cervical cancer is caught the better chance one has of surviving it and doing so with less secondary damage. Being able to have children, not getting early menopause, avoiding painful treatments etc...all just some of the benefits of catching cervical cancer early.

Many people are misinformed regarding cervical cancer and how bad it is. I remember, not long ago, when I told somone I had cervical cancer their response was: "well thats not one of the bad ones thank god" WRONG! If you are reading this PLEASE TAKE NOTE: Cervical Cancer is the #2 cancer killer of women behing Breast!! Its treatments are more severe than breast (both are horrible by the way) Radiation to your cervix means radiation to your bladder, digestive system, colon etc....that means all those organs are damaged. Many women who receive radiation for cervical cancer come out of it having to use colposcopy bags, nephrostomy bags, tools to keep the vaginal entry open (scar tissue closes it up), going through menopause, being unable to have kids and the list goes on.

Do NOT let Cervical Cancer happen to YOU OR YOUR DAUGHTER!! Please read this article and learn about an easy way to get early detection for Cervical Cancer.

Cervical Cancer Vaccine???

This is a very important article and I encourage you all to read it. In this article the recent Nobel Prize winner speaks about Cervical Cancer, HPV and the current vaccination. I am shocked at how misinformed women AND Gynecologists are about the vaccine.

I talk about cervical cancer to whoever will listen. Daily I am reminded that the majority of women are completely misinformed. Not only are every day women misinformed shockingly so are gynecologists. When I tell women that in fact the current vaccine will not work for them if they are sexually active I am met with resistance. "My gyno told me that as long as I'm under 26 the vaccine is good for me" -WRONG! If you are interested in becoming informed about the current vaccine read the article, share the article, talk about the article!!

Furthermore, the vaccine is much too expensive! This is a vaccine that can prevent CANCER! Its the first and only vaccine out there that can prevent cancer. Cancer effects the rich the middle class and the poor. It is completely unfair that only the wealthy are allowed to protect themselves against this cancer, ridiculous!

Also, for the men out there reading this blog. YOU CAN GET THE VACCINE TOO! Over 90% of men are hpv carriers. This means they too should get the vaccine and stop transmitting the hpv virus to women. Most people are unaware that men can also get the vaccine.

As always I appreciate all your support and willingness to learn ever day!

READ IMPORTANT ARTICLE

Scary Fact of the Day

On average 10 women die each day in the United States due to Cervical Cancer.

Be aware. Talk about Cervical Cancer & HPV. DO NOT be ashamed, frightened or embarrassed to talk about it. There is too much false information going around about cervial cancer & HPV and we need to correct and stop that. If women were really aware of the facts they would be interested and active in the prevention, cure and education of cervical cancer and HPV.

Nobel Prize In Medicine Goes To......

Dr. Harald zur Hausen for discovering the cervical cancer comes from HPV. I hope that this Nobel Prize award helps bring awareness to cervical cancer. Dr. Harald zur Hausen also won the award for his work related to HIV. Please take a minute to read the article and share your thoughts. If you are a women, have a loved one who is a women etc...this is something that affects you! HPV is extremely common and easily transmitted. The more you know the more you can protect yourself and loved ones.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Vice Presidential Debate & Health Care

I try not to get too much into politics on my blog. However, for obvious reasons, health care is something that is very important to me. I was surprised and disappointing that Health Care was not a focus during last nights debate. Our Nations Health Care System is in crisis. There are too many people without health care, unable to get the proper treatments, prescriptions and over all care.

There are so many of us who have fought cancer, too many. We all have voices. And, for those of you who are fortunate to not have any health issues there is always the possibility and you want to be sure that if you need a solid health care system its there. "I have Health Insurance" you say?? Well I hate to be the barrier of bad news, I did too. Insurance companies will do whatever they can in order to not pay you! They don't care about you at all.

Lets tell Washington that Health Care is important to us. That we are voters who need to hear what both parties plan on doing to fix our broken health care system!

How do I become my own advocate

I know you hear over and over, "be your own advocate". Okay, great so how do I do that? In this post I will tell you one way to accomplish being your own advocate.

Use your voice. What does that mean? When I was first sick I went to my doctors office several times a week, I called them constantly. Just recently when my pain was unbearable I called my doctors daily asking them to fix me. This was being my own advocate wasn't it, NO! Even though I was using my voice & asking for help I was not being my own advocate. Unfortunately doctors think they know it all. They have already figured you out within the first couple minutes of visiting you and anything after that is just you being emotional or sensitive. They stop hearing you so even though you are using your voice you are not being heard. I have been fighting for my life for the last year and a half and I just recently learned how to be my own advocate.

Call your doctor anytime you need them. I don't care if its Saturday at 8 am or Wednesday night at 11. Doctors have pagers for a reason so get over it and call them. I can't tell you how many nights & weekends I sucked it up in horrible pain because I didn't want to bother the doctor or thought they would think I was annoying! The only person I was punishing was myself. Doctors get paged all the time, its part of their job, so don't even waste one second worrying about what day or time it is. If you are in pain, need a doctor or just concerned call them. Don't think, well im not that sick or it can waitif you do that you are being a FOOL!

If you know what will make you feel better tell the doctor. For me the only thing that works is Hydromorphone. I have a nice supply of it. Before I would wait until I needed it to ask. Then it would become a huge problem because I would be in pain and desperate. Don't be afraid to tell your doctor you need something. That you need it for the future. You should always have a supply of whatever medications you need. We tend to forget how bad it can be when we are feeling well. Be aware of what you need if you start feeling sick so that you are always prepared.

Finally, tell your friends and family what things help you stay healthy. Maybe you need to eat certain food, sleep certain amount of hours, exercise. Tell them to remind you what it is you need to stay healthy. For example, after this surgery I didn't rest for a week like I am suppose to. Instead I went back to school within 48 hours. This did not help me get better. I told my boyfriend and friends to remind me next surgery how bad I felt this time. Sometimes we need a reminder in order to avoid getting sick again.

An addition that I didn't originally include in this post but that is super important. One of the comments kindly reminded me that I forgot this one. If you are not happy with one of your doctors FIRE them and do it sooner than later. I had a terrible urologist. I talked about this in my last post. I tried to make it work b/c he was suppose to be soooo great but he was not great for me. I suffered for a year in pain, incontinent, bleeding etc...Once I fired him and got a new urologist (in July) I started feeling soooo much better. If you are not happy with your doctor, if you are unsure, have a gut feeling etc...look for a new doctor. Its your life, future & dreams so you are the one who needs to take control and make the right decisions. (Thank you Pseudonymous High School Teacher)

Stay healthy everyone and enjoy your weekend!

xoxo

Cervical Cancer Spreads in Women with Chronic Stress, Weakened Immune Response

Wow look at this article. It looks like high stress levels may inhibit your bodies ability to fight off the HPV virus. If you are a woman who lives a high stress life you must read this article. And by the way, I don't think I know any women who don't live high stress lives. Click on the link below to read the entire article and please leave me comments with your opinions.

HIGH STRESS LINKED TO CERVICAL CANCER

Here Are Some Scary Facts About CERVICAL CANCER

Cervical Cancer is the second most common type of cancer in women behind breast.

Approximately 500,000 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in one year

Approximately 300,000 women will DIE of cervical cancer in one year.

More and more young women are being diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Many cases of Cervical Cancer go misdiagnosed.

Your PAP may be coming back normal when it should not.

Please educate yourself about cervical cancer. Just because you are young, healthy and going to your yearly PAP's does not mean you are protected against this deadly disease.

National Non-Profit Organization Brings Cervical Cancer Awareness to Big Apple

Just came across this Article from the Wall Street Journal and thought some of you may be interested. This article is about a great Fund raising project going on in NYC. The non for profit organization, Tamika & Friends is conducting its third annual Walk to Beat the Clock. To learn more check out the article and please leave comments letting me know what you think.

NATIONAL NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION BRINGS CERVICAL CANCER AWARENESS TO BIG APPLE

WHATS UP WITH ALL THE LINKS???

You may have noticed that I have added a bunch of website links to my blog. You should really take a few minutes and look through them. I only add websites that I find helpful, inspirational or educational.

It has been a year since I stopped treatment. Unfortunately I didn't reach out to anyone until just recently. I knew about the American Cancer Society, National Cervical Cancer Coalition and other various support groups but I chose not to participate, BIG MISTAKE. Just the other day another fighter told me about all sorts of charitable organizations that could really help me out. I have surgery every three months and have to fly from FL to Mass., this adds up. To my surprise there are a bunch of charities that will help pay for my tickets, O-M-G how great is that! So, today I called the ACS and got an ID number and started signing myself up for all sorts of charitable organizations. Flights, places to stay, excursions, magazines, WOW there is so much out there!!

So I strongly suggest to those of you who have been going it alone, give in and take some help!! Please take a minute to look through the websites I have linked, who knows you may really enjoy them and they could help make your life a little easier.

If there are websites you think I should add just let me know, I would be happy to include them. Also, the sites are not dedicated to any specific cancer. Please check em out and let me know what you think.

xoxo
Meaghan

Don't Rely On Your PAP Alone

I am very concerned that too many women do not fully understand why they get a PAP test and what it is. Furthermore, I think too many women rely on their PAP results too heavily. My PAP results had always come back good. Even when I had stage 3B Cervical Cancer my PAP results were not showing any great irregularities. This is a fact that scares me! Of course you want a good PAP test and then you want to go home and not think about it for another year. I urge all of to be proactive and understand this test, why you are getting it and what the results actually mean.

If you know something isn't right with your body yet your PAP comes back normal don't just go home and forget about it! There is now another test you can have in addition to the PAP, the HPV test. PAP test can miss pre-cancerous cells as well as cancerous cells, just look at what happened to me. The HPV test is extra sensitive and therefore less likely to miss things the PAP does. I understand that women just want good news so they can go home and be worry free but what good does that do when you should be worried. If my Cervical Cancer had been caught early on I could have avoided so much pain, could have children, not miss out on almost a year of my life etc.... Check out this article if you want to know more: PAP Plus HPV Tests

Keep talking and educating yourself!

Scary Facts About Cervical Cancer

Cervical Cancer Screening Saves Lives, yet...

• 11% of United States women report that they do not have their Pap test screenings
• In the United States, About 10,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and about 3,700 women die in the USA each year from this disease.
• Women in developing countries account for about 85 percent of both the yearly cases of cervical cancer (estimated at 473,000 cases worldwide) and the yearly deaths from cervical cancer (estimated at 253,500 deaths worldwide).
• In the majority of developing countries, cervical cancer remains the number-one cause of cancer-related deaths among women.
• A woman who does not have her three shot prevention vaccine and her regular Pap test screen and HPV test when recommended, significantly increases her chances of developing cervical cancer.
• High-Risk HPV Types are directly related to cervical cancer, yet many women are unaware of what HPV is or the relationship it has to cervical cancer.