This HPV Awareness Day, we are highlighting the worrying lack of awareness around the HPV vaccine. Biba blogs about her experience finding out she had HPV and cervical cell changes and the importance of getting the vaccine when you’re eligible.

I really wish I had been taught about HPV at school. I didn’t take the HPV vaccine too seriously back then, (we all thought of it as the cervical cancer vaccine) It was newly introduced and for one reason or another I didn’t get it. I had no clue what HPV was, that the vaccine protects you against multiple strains of it, how common it is to contract as soon as you become sexually active, and the types of cancer the vaccine helps protect against. I think if I had more knowledge on the subject then I would have got the vaccine without hesitation – but cervical cancer itself feels like such a distant possibility when you’re a teenager.

I know now that there are many steps taken before someone is diagnosed with cervical cancer and that means we actually have a real chance of ending cervical cancer for good, but we need more education and more awareness.

I had my first cervical screening when I was 25 years old in 2020. I wasn’t aware what they were testing me for but I was glad to have a routine check-up. It was a bit uncomfortable but afterwards I went about my day and forgot all about it. With the pandemic going on, it wasn’t top of mind. You can imagine then that when, a month or so later, I opened a letter from the hospital calling me up for something called a colposcopy procedure I went straight into panic mode. Did I have cervical cancer? Or did I have a sexually transmitted infection? Or both? What did this mean and how was I going to explain this to my boyfriend when I barely understood what was going on myself?!

I scanned the letter and spent the next few hours googling colposcopy and HPV. It seems wild thinking back that I didn’t really know the first thing about HPV when it’s such a common virus. Over the last five years I’ve read so many articles and spoken to so many other people, a similar age to me, who found out they had HPV and abnormal cells. For something so common, why did I, and so many of my friends know nothing about it?

When I went for my colposcopy, I was unsure whether I would need a LLETZ (large loop excision of the transformation zone) procedure. I was quite confused as to whether the colposcopy and the LLETZ were the same or different things. The doctor took me through everything so speedily and I didn’t ask all the questions I wanted to. Because I still didn’t quite understand what the procedure was and was scared of what it would entail, I opted for conservative management of the cells. This basically meant waiting to see what happened and seeing how the cells progressed over time as there was a chance they could go back to normal on their own.

A year and a half later, after more biopsies, I learned that the cells had not gone away and continued to progress – it was agreed that I’d have the cells removed through the LLETZ procedure. I had a local anesthetic, the medical professionals were great at making me feel comfortable and it was over so fast. If I had known this, I would have had the procedure sooner instead of waiting.

The abnormal cells are gone thanks to the LLETZ although I still have HPV so I am followed up with regularly. Knowing that I didn’t have that vaccine protection against some of the more high-risk strains of HPV now also adds to my anxiety as an adult with HPV. But I now have regular check-ups with brilliant medical professionals and more information than I did before which gives me a lot of comfort. I just wish I knew more from the start. I feel incredibly lucky to live in the UK and have access to multiple NHS preventative measures for cervical cancer – and that’s what the vaccine, cervical screening, colposcopy and LLETZ procedures are – preventative measures. 

So, if you’re reading this, please don’t skip your cervical screening appointments, encourage your friends and family to go when it’s time and make sure your children or friends get the vaccine when they can – it’s available to young people of all genders now which could make all the difference.