FuturePig, you can have symptoms like the OP described with cervical cancer:
http://cancer.about.com/od/cervicalcancer/a/cervcancrsympt.htm
In 2000, I had carcinoma in situ (grade 0 cervical cancer). I was asymptomatic. I do not have the type of HPV that causes warts. Grade 0 means that cancerous cells have been found in the cervix but have not spread into deeper tissues. Grade 0 cells can be removed in the same way as a lesion of pre-cancerous cells. The affected cervical tissue was removed via LEEP. It was not a painful procedure. I was nervous but not scared. More like a sharp internal pinch. Very tolerable. I bled for about 24 hours. Not a heavy flow. I have been fine since.
Sadly, I continued to smoke cigarettes after the diagnosis. There is a link between cervical cancer and smoking.
You cannot get vaccinated once you have HPV. Once you have HPV, you have it forever.
Thanks for the link. I had read the same article and based my question from this statement:
When symptoms are present, they usually do not appear until the cancer is more advanced. This does vary from woman to woman.
...and the OP's assertion that her doctor verified she was in the early stages. Again, all women are different and as the final sentence states, symptoms of course, vary. I certainly wasn't trying to trivialize or negate her symptoms or diagnosis… just that pain and bleeding is not necessarily normal in early-stage cervical cancer... whatever "normal" is.
Also, you CAN get vaccinated with Gardasil after being diagnosed with HPV. The shot protects against four types of HPV strains, so even if you've been diagnosed with one, the shot will still help to prevent against contracting the other three. The vaccination can also help to suppress symptoms of HPV if you were already diagnosed. I myself contracted low-risk HPV a number of years ago and had the Gardasil vaccination last year. Gardasil is not a cure if you've already been diagnosed with any of the four strains it helps to prevent and does not protect against the other estimated 96+ different types.
In most cases, HPV is not a life-long condition. Though there is no treatment, your immune system often suppresses and eventually eradicates the virus. If I remember correctly, the time frame is 8 months to 2 years.
Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/STD/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm
In 90% of cases, the body’s immune system clears the HPV infection naturally within two years. This is true of both high-risk and low-risk types.
http://www.ashastd.org/hpv/hpv_learn_women.cfm
In almost all cases, the immune system will keep the virus (including the cancer-related HPV types) under control or get rid of it completely.
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/stds-hiv-safer-sex/hpv-4272.htm
Although most HPV infections go away within 8 to 13 months, some will not.
To the OP - now
I'm confused about your boyfriend's diagnosis. The HPV strains that cause genital warts are low-risk and are not the same strains that cause cervical cancer. What sort of treatment was he given?
I think you should seriously consider getting a second opinion as I stated before. Some places will let you pay out in affordable monthly payments that you determine. When I was first diagnosed with low-risk HPV, I was screened for everything and had to have pretty expensive treatment. I didn't have insurance at the time and racked up a $900 bill. I made arrangements with my doctor and paid them $50 per month - this was the amount I could afford. It was interest free and had no negative bearing on my credit.
I was diagnosed 6 years ago with low-risk HPV. About 3 years ago I went for an annual pap at a new obgyn. I informed them of my history and immediately, they were negative toward me, made me very uncomfortable and said things that really scared me. While there, they insisted I had a "spot" on my cervix that they were unable to confirm what it was and what it wasn't with vinegar solution. A few days later, I got a call to say I had high-risk HPV and I needed a colposcopy and a LEEP performed. Because the experience was so terrible with this particular doctor and because what they were suggesting was so serious (not to mention expensive), I went to, not one but TWO additional doctors for second opinions. Neither of which found this "spot" and neither of which determined I had high-risk HPV.
Please call around and see what your options are.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
When I went the last time, the nurse told me they don't generally do it on women that are under 25. Wtf? I insisted. It doesn't make sense, you can get HPV as soon as you become sexually active, and it can develop into cancer in around 5 years (I think), so really, 18-20 years old is when most women should start getting pap smears, to be on the safe side!
