Trying to migrate myself over to the new forum so we can actually have a conversation which is why I'm posting infrequently here.
In the meantime, I am fetching this little circle bandage on my left arm where I got my shot for the HPV virus. That is the needle they give young women around here in Grade 8 to prevent the 6 out of 100 strains of the virus that cause genital warts and cervical cancer. There has even been some unsubstantated claims that the immunization may help prevent breast cancers. I don't have that substantiated, but I was scared to death by the lecture last week about how many women were getting aggressive cervical cancers. And getting the shot prevents this cacer. How cool is that? The only cancer you can prevent. Cervical cancer is 100% caused by the HPV virus.
The reason I hadn't had it up to now was that it was beleived to be a young woman's disease. The idea that your cervical cells change and make it less likely for you to get it as you get older. There maybe some truth to the fact that you are less likely to have the take up of the virus as you age. But the new study that looked at women up to age 49 said we can still get it if we are exposed to the virus at any age. There are women currently dyin at the Ottawa Hospital at 22 and 24 among other ages, so they were likely exposed between 4 to 8 years earlier.
Hence the reason we give the inoculation to 13 year old girls. The inoculation is a medical breakthrouh, and all of us (unless we are nuns and never plan on having sex)shoul have he shot. The downside is the expense. It is covered under most health insurance, but I paid $170 for the injection. I have to get two more over the next 5 months to be completely covered at an additional $170 each time. That hurt worse than the needle.