Hi there! I'm KDaddy23 and I have come here today to share that cancers caused by the HPV virus... are real. Back in September last year, I experienced a sharp pain my throat and specifically in my right tonsil. I happened to be eating something that could have cut my tonsil but I didn't see any blood and the pain went away. The next thing I know, my neck is swelling and a trip to an ENT - and subsequent biopsies taken after the doctor looked at a CAT scan I had done and said, "That's cancer." I will admit that I rolled my eyes upon hearing this because, fresh in my memory, is a urologist telling me in no uncertain terms that I had bladder cancer and put me through some shit that revealed... no cancer. But I believed the ENT doc and more so after I read the biopsy results myself and, well, ain't that about a bitch and more so when my mom and older sister both had breast cancer; they survived it only to be taken out by different blood cancers so it wasn't like I didn't take this seriously because I did - there was no point in losing my shit over it because now is the time to fight this. On October 27, I was about to climb into bed when I coughed and a glob of blood flew out of my mouth! I hustled to the bathroom and one of the things I remember was having my face in the sink, spitting out blood and some seriously big blood clots; the next thing was a paramedic talking to me; my next memory was arriving in the ER and being told that they were going to take good care of me. I died twice in the ER; once due to respiratory failure and again because I had bled out. My next memory was "waking up" and... I knew I had died but from here, my memory has huge gaps in it and I didn't fully "wake up" until November 13. One of the things I remember was crying out as loudly as I could for someone to help me but no one came - and the only reason somebody did come was when I started yanking and pulling on the machines around me and, I was told, trying to remove my IVs and... the tracheostomy I didn't know had been done but, later, explained why no one could hear me. I remember seeing my lady and stepdaughter, my stepson and his wife, my son and his fiancée - I was looking right at him when he asked, "Is it really that bad?" and someone said, "Yeah, it's that bad..." Jump ahead to getting out of the hospital and going home on November 18 and getting deep into chemotherapy and 35 straight days of radiation, which I'm happy and proud to say that my last day of radiation was February 27 and chemo had ended the week before. What I learned was that my cancer was caused by HPV and the P16 variant, which means I caught the virus... from having oral sex. All I could do was laugh about that since, um, giving head is one of my all-time favorite sexual acts - and the realization that I probably contracted the virus... from my lady since she's been the only one I've been giving head to for the last 10 years and I haven't mentioned this to her because it would just add stress onto her and after all she went through - and including not letting the hospital pull the plug on me - yeah, I'll just keep that to myself since there's nothing to be done for it. The cancer is real; chemo and radiation were a major thing for me to go through; I had my trach removed because after changing it out for a smaller device without a ball, man, I was going through a bit of hell with the trach and before I forget, I have a PEG feeding tube and I remember being taken somewhere so they could get me some nourishment - and I remember breaking some poor girl's hand while they were trying to shove something into my nose and... I guess they knocked me the hell out and installed the PEG. Which I still have because the radiation destroyed my throat, making it hard to swallow and I had to eat and drink on my own but I get fed via the tube at times. Anyone who thinks that HPV isn't real, I'm here to let you know that it is and it's not something to take lightly and if you feel a really sharp pain in your tonsils - and then see a swelling in your neck, get it checked out in a damned hurry and don't let happen to you what happened to me in the ER.
Cancers are not directly caused by a virus, but any viral infection that your body is not fighting can cause the tissues to become malignant in their attempt to survive. These tissues can then spread all over your body with obvious consequences. Fortunately your treatment was correct, using target beam radiotherapy to hit the culprit tissues and chemotherapy to kill off any wandering malignant cells, which could have been hiding anywhere in your digestive or raspatory system. This would not have been possible a decade ago. For the future. If any apparent viral infections persist for longer than 3 days, go straight to your cancer consultant to get them checked out. If they cause the affected area to start producing malignant cells, the sooner that they are correctly treated the better. NEVER take antibiotics, assuming a bacterial infection without your consultants consent. If you do, they will not be there to save you if the infection leads to septicaemia or renal failure. I am not trying to scare you, just giving you a better understanding of how it all works.
I died. Twice. Nothing scares me after this happened. I have a whole team who's going to have me under a microscope for the next five years, so I won't be able to sneeze without them finding out about it... and wanting to run a lot of tests.
It is good that you have a caring health service, rather than one that has abandoned you once their part was done
Wow, what you had to endure, and you're still here! Thanks for sharing this important information! I hope people here read this and learn more about the virus. Lots of ppl on HF like oral apparently.
What had happened when I coughed, I was told later, was that the tumor in my neck was apparently frangible and it "disintegrated" and started bleeding profusely. One fragment of memory was a nurse telling me that they were just checking where they went into my groin, which I heard but didn't understand but, later, I was told it was the only way they could get to the site of the bleeding to cauterize it and, apparently, that's when I died from respiratory failure and when I guess I got the tracheostomy but I remember moments of awareness where I was throwing up blood and... that's when I momentarily died from bleeding out, I was told. I don't remember much of what happened and it's probably for the best and the people who do know what happened keep saying that considering all that I went through, I'm doing amazingly well. I remember seeing my oldest son and him asking, "Is it that bad?" and someone saying, "Yes - it's that bad." It wasn't until November 13th when I regained full consciousness and awareness of my surroundings and, honestly, it pissed me off that the doctors and nurses were tap-dancing around me and dodged a lot of my "what the hell happened" questions but once I found out, I can understand why they would say, "Let's just focus on getting you better!" and that's what they did until I finally got to go home on November 18th. Indeed, I didn't find out that I had died until I went to my PCP for my post-discharge checkup and... it's in my file. Wow. Nothign about this cancer scares me after what happened - nothing. The rest is a story of enduring chemo and radiation, problems with my trach, and truly understanding what they meant when they said that things will get worse before they get better, and they were right. It's been one thing after the other but throughout it all, I've kept my sense of humor and my head screwed on correctly so I can get through all of this. My mantra has been that I don't have to like it; I just have to do it.
Using target beam radiotherapy to hit the culprit tissues and chemotherapy to kill off any wandering malignant cells is saving countless lives today. The new units at the Royal Marsden are like something out of a sci-fi movie, but they cost tens of millions.
I don't know how much the Infinity machines the cancer center has costs, but I thought they were kinda cool, until I got masked and locked down on that narrow-assed table! I'm surprised that I didn't fall off of it and my feet dangled over the short foot of the table. I allowed that I'm not claustrophobic, but I could easily see how someone who is could freak out. My treatments were only ten minutes long but when you're lying there, can't move your head (and your nose starts to itch), it feels like a very long time. I had 35 days of radiation and I had resolved to just get in there, get zapped, go home - but I did have fun giving my radiation techs 'da bizness' and having fun with them and making them laugh because all they see all day, every day, are cancer patients...
You've been through a lot. I'm sorry this happened but I'm glad you got through. I think the HPV virus can cause cervical cancers, so if she doesn't know if she's got HPV she should probably get tested. There's an HPV vaccine. It isn't going to do any good if you've already been infected, but if you're not HPV positive but at risk, it's probably worth looking into. You can use dental dams to help prevent the spread of disease when giving oral. This has been a public service announcement.
