Here's the thing. If you knew a way to keep from getting cancer, you'd do it (or not do it) right?
Right, I know, smoking is hard to quit. Cry me a river. I quit smoking 22 years ago. But, I mean, if you could do ONE thing, ONE time, like get a vaccine to prevent a type of cancer?
Would you?
I thought so. AND, if it were something that could prevent your pre-teen son or daughter from having cancer one day, you'd run-not-walk, right?
Okay. So the vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV) helps prevent cervical cancer in women, and it helps prevent head and neck cancer in men. Because HPV is the LEADING cause of head and neck cancer in men.
I have no experience with cervical cancer, but since my husband's just been through treatment for throat cancer (though it was not due to HPV or to smoking either), let me tell you something:
You do not want to go through cancer treatment. No, you do not, and you certainly do not want your child to go through it.
Get with me if you need details or more convincing on this. For professional info, check out the CDC.
As I told friend Julie, Rick Perry's mandate that all girls be vaccinated (hey, it was a start) was the only thing he ever did that I agreed with. And he backed down. Figures.
