WomanSavers.com Forum / WOMEN'S HEALTH AND SEX ISSUES / Update

Hi Ladies,

Kitty asked for an update, and since many of you know my situation, I thought I‘d share it here.

Most of you know I have high-risk HPV. This is the type that can cause cancer. Pretty sure I caught it from Toogood.

Ladies - you can‘t tell if a guy has this kind of HPV. There are NO symptoms in men, no warts, nor can they be tested for it. You won‘t know until you start having bad paps after unprotected sex. Toogood had a vasectomy, so I thought I was pretty safe. I didn‘t know anything about HPV at the time.

Ask him if his previous partners had bad paps. Better yet, just figure IF HE‘S HAD UNPROTECTED SEX, HE PROBABLY HAS HIGH RISK HPV.

Anyway, my pap in May 09 came back CN1 - pre-cancerous cels. My gyno recommended cryo-surgery to freeze off the bad cels & hopefully get things back to normal....well, as normal as they CAN be with high-risk HPV. I had that done in August 09, then a follow-up pap in December 09.

That pap came back showing inflammation & ASCUS (abnormal cels). Of course, I still have the HPV - that probably won‘t go away unless my body fights it off somehow.

My Dr. says that inflammation & ASCUS are BETTER than CN1, and I should expect that type of reading due to the HPV. I will probably never have a normal pap again. We just have to keep monitoring it to make sure it doesn‘t get worse than ASCUS, or develop into cancer.

Meanwhile, having trouble with the left boob. I felt a lump back in June 09 (AFTER a supposedly normal mammogram in April). After a diagnostic mammogram & ultrasound, they said the lump was a small cyst (not to worry), but the area of calcifications in my left breast had changed & they wanted to get another sample.

A biopsy was recommended. Since I had such a hard time with the stereotactic biopsy back in 06, they tried the ultrsound method, but couldn‘t pinpoint the area well enough. So I had to go back again for another stereotactic biopsy in November 09. That one wasn‘t so bad....with the aid of 1/2 a Vicodin!

However, they said I have a small mass - atypical ductal dysplasia - a cluster of abnornal cels. They recommended surgery to remove it "to make sure there‘s no cancer hiding in there." I just had an MRI yesterday so they could get a better picture of the area to be removed.

It‘s been hard to find a surgeon who can do it on the days I can take off. I‘m a school teacher, so it‘s hard for me to take time off during the week (I‘m home sick today). I finally found one who can do it on Fridays, so I‘m trying to schedule it for the end of March. J will take me there & back.

Despite my health issues, I‘m still doing what brings me joy - dancing, teaching, performing, doing things with J & friends, etc.

J & I hit 9 months yesterday, and things are going great. We get along very well & I am actually looking forward to Valentine‘s Day this year! I‘m going to try to make his favorite dinner - Chicken Paprikash (he‘s Hungarian). It‘s been a long time since I felt like a guy was special enough for me to cook something special for him! ha ha!

I will keep you posted on things, as they happen. Thanks for your support & good thoughts.

UB

I am so glad you are in a good relationship right now with someone who is truley there for you. It makes all the difference.

I‘m also glad things were caught as early as they were...Believe it or not...alot of women out there do not go in for annual screenings...they have the same partner so they assume they‘re free from all problems...and it just isn‘t so.

I‘ve done quite a bit of research on HPV and what I‘ve read all comes to the same conclusion...to get checked and re-checked to screen progression and health.

I‘m sorry this happened to you...I‘m sorry you have to go through it at all. But you are a damn strong woman and I know you can make it through without a scratch.

You know you‘re in my thoughts...

KK

Thanks for your words of encouragement, ladies. It‘s good to know I have your support!

My surgery is scheduled for Fri. 3/26, the day after my school‘s big International Night performance. I run an after-school dance club, and my kids (probably me too) will be performing 2 dance numbers that night - a Lindy Hop & a Salsa. I had to wait on the surgery until that‘s over, because I won‘t be able to dance for 7-10 days afterward. J made arrangements to get me there & back. I‘ll have the weekend to recover & should be ok to get back to work on Monday.

Yes, Shally, J & I are back together. I remember you didn‘t like him. Well, he did act like a big baby & wasn‘t very nice to Toogood. However, he‘s matured quite a bit, and has proven to be a much better match for me than Toogood could ever have been. At least he doesn‘t get jealous or hallucinate when I‘m dancing with other guys, and think I‘m smacking their butts & such! HAHA!

Kahlan - chicken paprikash is one of the Hungarian national dishes, like goulash. It‘s chicken cooked with onions, garlic, and lots of spicy paprika in a creamy sauce. It‘s served over nokedly (aka spaetzle) a type of egg noodle dumpling. I followed the recipe on the spaetzle box, and it came out very bland - probably because it was a German version. J still liked it & ate a lot of it. Next time, I WILL make it much better - much spicier!

J came to the USA when he was about 5 y.o. , so he‘s very American. His parents managed to get them out of Communist Hungary for a better life here. His mom is really sweet. His dad is very opinionated, and likes to stir things up a lot! They do carry on certain family/cultural traditions as home.

J sounds sexy when he speaks Hungarian! Kitty, you‘ll probably get to meet him sometime when we meet up.

He made Valentine‘s Day really special for me! Gave me a HUGE bouquest of gorgeous peach roses, took me to brunch, took me dancing, and gave me a sweet card & a lovely heart-shaped pendant with a real emerald & diamond in it (our birthstone is emerald). Treated me like a queen & pleased me in every way, if ya know what I mean!  ;-)  It was the BEST V-Day I can ever remember!  just had to brag a little, gals!

Thanks again for your kind thoughts!

UB

shally wrote:

Would you mind uber if I put a post in General as the date gets near so we can do the same for you as we will for rhi? All of us need to be praying and thinking good thoughts for you on the day of surgery. All of one accord and I believe there is power in numbers. You rest assured you won‘t be alone. You much loved member you, we‘ll be right there with you. Move over J a spiritual crowd will be there. He‘ll be worried too so I‘ll say some prayers for him. I‘ll pray the same for you as I did rhi, may a peace wash over you and comfort you, may you feel the love surround and fill you today and the day of surgery. And I‘m going to get on the phone and start a prayer chain. Seriously our prayers travel the world. Putting healing words out into the universe for the lovely woman that you are. May I put it in General as it nears the date?

Hi Shally - that is so nice, and I‘m sorry I didn‘t see it until now! I haven‘t had time to be online much lately, and I didn‘t check this thread at all. Sorry! Your good intentions & prayers are much appreciated!

So I had the excisional biopsy on 3/26.  They took a chunk out of my left boob, and it came back NEGATIVE...ALL NEGATIVE...as in NOT EVEN ABNORMAL!  NO atypical ductal hyperplasia!

I asked the surgeon "Then why the hell did I have this done?" I mean, I‘m HAPPY there is no cancer, but to find out they took out a chunk of HEALTHY TISSUE makes me very angry!  I‘m already small, and now left boob has a little dent in the side.

He said "sometimes needle biopsies come back showing atypical cels, and we don‘t know if there is cancer in there until the tissue is removed. We have to take the precaution, and make sure it‘s nothing worse."

Well, WTF. I am not ungrateful that I don‘t have cancer, I AM VERY HAPPY & RELIEVED. But I am also very PO‘d that they had to cut me. I‘ve only had 1 other surgery in my life, which was an emergency appendectomy when I was 22 y.o. (I‘m 48 now). If I EVER have this situation come up again, I WILL do whatever it takes, get as many opinions as necessary, before I allow myself to be cut again.

So now I have to arrange for diagnostic mammo in 6 months. Next pap is coming up next month. I‘m sure that will be abnormal. With HPV, abnormal is about the best I can expect (says my gyno).

Things are going well with J. We are approaching 1 year together next month! ALREADY!

My kids did great in their 1st 2 performances & we‘re getting asked to perform more all the time. This is the 1st time in 6 years of running the afterschool dance club, that I have NOT had to dance with them because I have enough leads & follows! The kids are having a great time dancing, making friends & forming relationships. They are so sweet, and I am so proud of them!

So, despite a dent in my boob, etc., life is good.

UB