Monogamy is No Failsafe: HPV and Cervical Cancer
Editor's note: This post deals with sexual matters, including non-consensual sexual assault and may not be suited for all audiences. I will always advocate for…
Updates Galore from ACIP and D.C.
The past few weeks have been active in the vaccine advocacy world--and in the anti-vaccine activist movement. Normal things, such as the ACIP (Advisory Committee…
What’s Up with HPV Vaccine Refusal?
The HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine lags far behind other adolescent vaccines when it comes to immunization rates. In 2016, 60% of adolescents received at…
Fighting HPV and Cancer
The past three years have been grueling. During that time, I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Adenocarcinoma at age 36. I was a single mother…
An Uncomplicated, Straightforward Choice
1 Week Prior to Doctor Appointment Zoe: “I don’t want to get a shot. Will I have to get a shot?” Me: “Yes, you will…
Cancer Prevention for Boys and Girls
Who's your favorite Superman? Christopher Reeve? Dean Cain? Henry Cavill? Ours is Jason Mendelsohn, the unassuming father of three who defeated Stage IV HPV throat…
My Friend Al: An HPV Story
When he turned sixty, my friend Al went for his yearly physical and mentioned to the attending physician that he had a small lump on…
I Survived What Was Supposed to Kill Me
A few years before my diagnosis, I had seen many doctors for irregular bleeding and cramping. Sometimes my paps would come back abnormal and doctors…
A Survivor Who Reminds Us to Prevent Cancer
Every parents' life has been touched in some way by cancer. Whether they or their friends or their grandmothers or someone else has beaten or…
What’s up with All These Outbreaks?
A few months ago, I came across an article claiming that we can blame the anti-vaccine movement for the mumps cases popping up in college…