.png)
The teens -- young women in my church -- and I were chatting and frosting sugar cookies.One mentioned that her arm hurt -- she'd gotten the last phase of the HPV vaccine that day.
I was surprised to hear that these girls, so young, so innocent (I had to explain "chastity" to our newest the other day) were getting injected.
Another said that her mom had refused it for her and her sisters, ages 13 and 14.
We continued frosting away, on our noses, on the clothes, and some actually making it to the cookies. Who doesn't love a little purple buttercream frosting?
Gardisil is sold as a shot to prevent cervical cancer -- the girls on the TV saying "I chose to get vaccinated to be 'one less.'"
I guess these girls are taking the unpopular "one less" sexual partner route -- the one and only meets the one and only.
I recently had a similar prob with my doc too at the annual. "I'll send the nurse into administer the HPV vaccine, looks like you haven't had it yet."
"Wait just a second, I'm married. Isn't that a vaccine that mostly prevents STDs?"
He stopped. Said I had a right to say no -- and that my risk was minimal if I knew the full extent of my husband's sexual history and my own. He put away the needle and for me, confirmed what the commercials won't.
Now though -- I don't know if I made the right choice (I don't like extra chemicals in my body if I haven't researched) or if one of the mothers have.
After all -- teenage years can be hard. One never knows what the future may bring.
Because after all, I had to explain chastity.
But I feel like the marketing is off. The commercials never say anything about sex. Do they just assume that the average 20-something is going to be unsafe in their picking of partners? That seems unfair. Is no one a virgin until they are married anymore?
Our cookies were devoured and are not pictured. These yummy ones are from Field of Cake's flickr photostream.
But I feel like the marketing is off. The commercials never say anything about sex. Do they just assume that the average 20-something is going to be unsafe in their picking of partners? That seems unfair. Is no one a virgin until they are married anymore?
Except these girls, with an eye to marriage in the temple. I assure you they will make mistakes, but I also assure you that many will make it to marriage as a nervous bride.
If Yaz has to redo all of their marketing because they advertised birth control as an attitude adjustment, why not Gardisil have to say more about only protecting the strains of HPV that are sexually transmitted
All aside, my cookies were delish.
If Yaz has to redo all of their marketing because they advertised birth control as an attitude adjustment, why not Gardisil have to say more about only protecting the strains of HPV that are sexually transmitted
All aside, my cookies were delish.
UPDATE: I've done a little more research and I think I'll go back and get the shot. But I think it is interesting to me how our society has simply accepted STDs as a way of life that we must protect through shots instead of other means.
Our cookies were devoured and are not pictured. These yummy ones are from Field of Cake's flickr photostream.
15 comments:
Just because a girl makes the choice to remain abstinent until marriage does not mean that her future husband will have made the same choice. Or perhaps one or both will have been married before, and that person's previous partner may have had HPV.
The decision to be vaccinated against a disease that causes cancer is a responsible one, not one that promotes sexual promiscuity.
Kids don't always tell their parents everything and in a lot of ways I feel like your better safe than sorry. By 50 80% of women have HPV (some studies say the numbers could be higher). The reality of the situation is that while parents would all like to think their children won't have sex until marriage, it's pretty unlikely and their chances of contracting HPV are really high. If you can help limit that then why wouldn't you? I think having open honest relationships with your kids about making smart sexual decisions is far smarter than living in the dark and pretending it will never happen.
I told my doctor "no" on the vaccine, too. Like you I don't like the idea of extra chemicals hanging out in my blood stream and my risk of contracting the disease is pretty low. But when it comes to my own daughters I might have other thoughts. By then we'll know if there are any side effects to the vaccine right? I agree with Nicole ... a girl's choice to be abstinent doesn't mean her husband will have been. I hope so. But there's no guarantees. I think I'll ultimately leave the decision up to her. At 13, I wasn't a fan of needles and I won't blame my entirely hypothetical daughter one bit if she opts out of it. But I'll understand if she wants it, too. Good post, Natalie! You sparked a lot of thought.
Very interesting post. I'm feeling really torn about this vaccine, but your post made me realize I haven't researched it must. Just like any vaccine, I plan to do my homework, and never just accept what I'm told to do by society.
I didn't even know that they were suggesting that ALL women get the vaccine. Isn't it just marketed to young women (well, I guess we are pretty young).
I'm not sure if Nicole is LDS, but I think her comment brings up something that I think isn't emphasized in the Church enough. Although we believe that sins are in the past, etc, etc, it's important to know if your future sexual partner has "repented" of something in the past that could affect you. It's something that I think most girls don't even think to ask!
First, this isn't just about being abstinent. HPV only reguires sexual or genital contact, not actual intercourse which isn't something partners talk about since it isn't "going all the way". So someone could be a virgin and still have HPV... even worse, without even knowing! I would hope that nobody would refuse the vaccine because they "know" they or their partner don't have it when in fact they really have no idea. I'm not a candidate for the vaccine but I will be ensuring that my future daughters get it. I fully believe in teaching them to abstane but you can't control their future partners and I would do anything to prevent my children from getting any disease, especially one that can lead to cancer. As the previous poster said, it's important to do your research in all cases before you allow something to be put in your body and make an educated decision based off of the facts.
Wow I had no idea that it only protected againist STD strains or whatever. My doctor just recommended it and it was covered by my insurance so I figured why not, better safe than sorry. Knowing what I know now I still would get it, even though I'm married. I know it's a messed up thought but I always think about things like "what if I was raped" or "what if my husband dies and I remarry". HPV will be last on my thought list if either of those things happen so I would want to have already taken care of it.
I would recommend it to my daughter too for those same reasons and the ones Nikki and Nicole stated above.
btw, I can't comment on your blog using my google account for some reason.
I know this has has less to do with me because i am a man, but I would like to add my voice to the "take caution" side of the debate. This injection DOES NOT, prevent all types of cervical cancer, so it is not a "take and forget" drug. however, neither has it been studied in great depth. I think we are vaccinated to death some times. I was injected over 30 times as a requirement to go on a mission for my church to foreign countries. I appreciated the precaution, but I also know those vaccines had been tried and tested. Before we load another virus inside our bodies with the promise of it creating antibodies, maybe we should wait and see how it works. If you re-marry, or change sexual partners for any reason, then talk to your potential partner before sex, and get the vaccine if it necessary to be safe. Otherwise, lets make sure we know what we are dealing with here. There have been plenty of multi billion dollar law suits because the FDA did not wait long enough and people died
I think that Melissa brings up the excellent point that HPV is not only transmitted through sexual intercourse, but plain old skin to skin contact as well! Girls can be unknowingly infected with HPV while still remaining a virgin.
Adam- there have been NO known reports of someone dying from Gardasil. But there are millions of reports of people dying from cervical cancer. I know which side of that coin I'd rather be on.
The woman I work for is one of the leading experts on Gardasil. She is a gynecologic oncologist at UCSD.
Here is a video of her talking about it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTP98q11a6E
I second Nicole.
There has been no one who has died yet, thankfully, and hopefully there never will be. All i am saying is, we need to be careful. We dont need to be letting the doctor inject us with something until we are sure what it is and it is actually safe.
Even though this vaccine is supposed to prevent HPV it's also supposed to help prevent cervical cancer, therefore since I'm not a huge fan of cancer I had it and it hurts like a monkey. What I hope is that girls don't think it's some sort of contraception or something that will be a superdrug. I work at a doctor's office and am constantly amazed at the things I see everyday -- saddened is more like it.
Better safe than sorry. My daughter got the shot because I don't know everything she does, and she thought it was important But then again, I have an 18 yo. As for being married, one of the fastest growing segment of new HIV cases is married boomer women. Seems like married, especially long time, can offer an unrealistic sense of security and risk.
I think that the best patient is an active, informed one who participates in her own care.
Great to find you via 31DBBB
we didn't vaccinate our kids so needless to say, none of us have the HPV vaccine. i guess i'm one of the lucky ladies whose hubby saved more than his virginity for me...we had our first kiss at the altar.
i think it's crazy how many vaccines they require for kids - and newborns. the vitamin k shot is silly and potentially dangerous, possibly causing leukemia.
who knows if my kids will ever encounter the diseases the vaccines are supposed to "prevent". i kinda like the old school way of building their immunities and relying on God instead of injecting them with things when only God knows what is in them and what major side effects they may cause...
There is a new book on the HPV vaccine: The HPV Vaccine Controversy- Sex, Cancer, God and Politics which gives an overview of HPV infections and an unbiased opinion of the vaccines, and if the vaccine is for you. It is authored by Shobha S. Krishnan, M.D, Barnard college, Columbia University. The book is available at amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com and is written without the influence of any pharmaceutical company or special interest groups. Link to the book: http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C35011.aspx
The more comments I read the more I realize how completely un-educated I am on this. Scary. I was sort of raised to just trust the doc but with all the access to information we have these days it seems like we need to become our own health advocates. great. one MORE thing to think about.
Post a Comment