Dating Tales

OK. So my friend Julie didn’t actually rupture her cervix, but she had a LEEP procedure earlier that week and suffered serious cramping and bleeding after riding the bike.

Women who have abnormal pap smears as a result of the sexually-transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) often times have a LEEP procedure, which essentially removes cancerous or pre-cancerous cells from the cervix. Turns out you should avoid some types of exercise for awhile until your cervix has had time to heal. And, no sex or tampons.

After hearing Julie’s scary story I’ve been online trying to learn more about HPV, the LEEP procedure itself, and what to do afterwards. There is a lot to learn and I think all of us should educate ourselves, so ask your doctor and do research.

As for some of the facts, get this: 20 million people are infected with HPV and by age 50, 80 percent of women will have the infection.

Fortunately for Julie she has had frequent enough treatment that she will most likely avoid cancer, however, for the last three years she’s had more doctors and nurses up her hoo-ha than she’d like to think about. And it’s not over. She has what’s called a colposcopy scheduled every three months for the next year.

Most of us have heard about HPV because of the vaccine Gardasil that is advertised on TV and online, but it seems to me that what’s really important is to have regular pap smears. Compared to the colposcopy, the LEEP and all the rest, a pap is walk in the park.

Ladies, there’s no reason not to get in there and spread em’.