angry health rant

I feel so angry with the health service for not adequately informing me when I was young enough to potentially protect myself. Did you know the Pill increases your chances of cervical cancer? Yes, women, you did. They tell you that. But they don’t tell you why, do they? They just say, “Well, it’s a negligible increase” and prescribe it anyway.

Let me now clear up WHY you’re more at risk of cervical cancer if you are on the Pill, ladies.

Most women I know are not slappers. They don’t sleep around. We are far too conscious of the prevalence of Chlamydia and the Clap to not use condoms with our partners. But many women go on the Pill for a secondary measure, peace of mind. If the condom splits, ok, a simple STI swap will rule out any infections, and the Pill will prevent pregnancy.

It’s not rocket science. It’s common sense.

But what about all those committed relationships. Several months down the line when you feel real trust in your partner. You care about each other, you have “the talk”. If there are any doubts, you get checked out. When you get the all clear, given that you are in a committed relationship you ditch the rubbers. I mean, you’re both clean and monogamous. The only worry now is an unwanted kiddy winkle – which the Pill prevents.

Except when you do go to the charmingly named GUM clinic and get told you are all clear – even if you have bloods taken – it could be crap. They don’t test for HPV, this silent and generally harmless virus (incidentally, it isn’t just transmitted by sexual contact, but that is the most common way of passing it on). Why not?

Well, everyone has it. What is the point? It’s generally harmless.

Generally, yes.

Apart from those women like me who are the “unlucky ones”. For whatever reason, be it that we get a “high risk” strain (there are over 100 strains and you may have any number in your system at any one time) or that we have low immune systems. The virus fucks up our cells.

Ah, but that is what the routine smear is for.

BULL CRAP! If you had educated me at age 14 when I had sex ed that this virus even exists at all, I might have stood a fucking chance.

I am not the kind of girl to sleep around without using protection, no matter how much I joke about being a slapper. It is my sense of humour. I know in my heart that I am not like that. I have had four longterm relationships in my life and a few others that looked promising but were snuffed out earlier than perhaps I had expected them to be. And just because we were monogamous, doesn’t mean that somewhere along the line, one of my partners didn’t pick it up. All it takes is that one person. It doesn’t matter if you save yourself until marriage. Your husband may love you with all his soul but may be carrying this virus and then you get it too. It doesn’t matter how pure you are, or whether you are a little harlot, this virus attacks all ages, races, socio-economic backgrounds.

There are generations of women out there who are totally unaware of this. I only know because I am one of the unlucky ones. I cried to my doctor back in Little City when the first smear came back with mild changes: “why has this happened to me?” He patted my hand and told me it was nothing to be concerned about. He didn’t mention any cause, he said that sometimes it just happens and not to worry.

At my MRI scan, while I was shaking before they put me in the tube, the consultant said that “HPV is very common, cervical cancer isn’t” but even then that was all she said.

And now people are up in arms about giving this vaccine to young girls, saying it will promote promiscuity and sex at a young age. There is a stigma attached to this because so often it is related to sex. What? Are we supposed to forever snigger about it because it is a dirty word?! For goodness sake, what century are we living in?! It just shows that we really haven’t progressed far at all. People are condemning girls like me to futures of pain and distress and ultimately an aggressive cancer simply because we did the dirty deed. Misogynistic bastards.

Let me tell you, when I was younger, it never crossed my mind that having sex could potentially lead to any of this. I knew to “wrap up” to protect against the STIs that were well-known, but when I got into a longterm relationship with a lad I loved, well, we were both “clean”. But were we? And which one was it? If I had known about all of this, maybe I would have said “no, love you to bits, but we’re still using condoms.”

It is imperative that they add this to the sex education agenda. Our children need to learn about it. They need the chance to protect themselves.

Underage sex is a whole other issue. If our kids are fucking each other earlier, we need to look at the societal reasons why. Withholding vital information will not stop these kids shagging in bus shelters. Are we really so foolish to believe that education about sex will lead to them doing it? They all know about it anyway!!! You let your sons and daughters watch Hollyoaks and Eastenders for crying out loud. They are bombarded with it day in, day out by the media. If the little blighters are going to have sex, they are going to bloody well do it, so you might as well help them be safe.

God this makes me so angry!!! I was legal when I “lost it”. It was with a guy I was head over heels for. It was just what it should have been. I have been relatively sensible in the 8 years since I “became a woman”. And still I am in this fucking mess now. The media’s decision to hype up stories about this “sex jab” is totally irresponsible and an insult to women like me everywhere. This is a serious issue, which should have been covered with gravity and sense. I still feel undereducated about it and have so many questions for the consultant on the day of my op. And don’t get me started on the ignorant fuckwits on the discussion boards.

<end rant>