Hi, I just read your post from 11/9 on the pornography thread, about the available sex in Korea. Just wanted to say, you're doing the right thing to stay away from those prostitutes. Of course I'm against it morally. But you are correct about the health hazards. My husband was in Korea in 1973-74, while we were engaged. (We got married 3 months after he returned.) When he had been there for 4 months, he got drunk one night at one of the bars and ended up having sex with one of the prostitutes. He says he used a condom. A couple of months later, I asked in a letter if he was being faithful to me, and he admitted what had happened. He decided to take a month's leave and come home for a visit. He promised it would never happen again, and I immediately forgave him. <br>Fast forward to 1991. After having three children (and three miscarriages), I suddenly had an abnormal pap smear. After six months of testing, cryosurgery, etc, I was diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer and had a radical hysterectomy a week later. Our boys were 9,6, and 3 at the time. Fortunately, the cancer had not spread to the lymph nodes. If it had, this particular type of cancer was 100% fatal within 5 years, even after radiation therapy. I work in a major medical center and had done a lot of reading in our medical library, and knew that most cervical cancers are caused by human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease (which can show up as genital warts). However, I did not have the most common type of cervical cancer. My husband had asked my gynecologist (not the gynecologic oncologist who did my hysterectomy)if my type of cancer was caused by HPV. She said no. (I probably should note that I have only ever had intercourse with one person - my husband.)<p>Fast forward again to 1996. My husband confessed to an almost-3-year-long affair. In the aftermath, I insisted on total honesty. He then confessed that during his last month in Korea he had TWICE gotten drunk and spent the night with prostitutes. He says, again, that he used condoms. Did he ever check them for breakage? Well, no. He had told the OW about the prostitutes, so I think he was afraid she would tell me (I had thought she was my best friend). Two months later, I saw an article in the Washington Post about unfaithful husbands infecting their wives with HPV and causing cervical cancer. According to this article, all forms of cervical cancer have now been associated with HPV. In November 1996, when I saw my oncologist the next time, I asked him about this (this is a man who is renowned in his field for his research on cervical cancer). He said that, yes, they had found that at least 80% of my type of cancer was known to be associated with HPV, and that they suspected that 100% were. <p>I guess I am fortunate that my husband was in Korea before the spread of AIDS. I am also fortunate that I had a great gynecologist who checked me often over that six months because she wasn't sure what the pathology results were leading to. And I am fortunate to have had care by an excellent oncology team. I have been cancer free for almost 7 years.<p>I know it's been a long story, but if it makes even one person decide they don't need sex bad enough to risk their wife's (or future wife's) life, then it was worth it.

Yikes, Emma, this is soooo scary ... Does anyone know what the "incubation" period for HPV might be - I mean before it might cause abnormal Pap smears? I think I'll do a web search on this tonight ...<p>I had been remiss and not had my annual checkups for several years, and in the Fall of 1997 had an abnormal pap smear. They had me come in for a special test (I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head) and that came back with a positive pre-pre-pre-cancer. The woman who did the test believes that she actually removed all the bad tissue during the biopsy she performed during that test. A subsequent pap smear was fine and I'm due for another one.<p>If there is no particular time range for HPV to show up in an abnormal Pap smear, then it is possible that my H gave it to me. And that's scary to me. I don't believe he's been with anyone else since our marriage but the first OW (and I was getting check-ups regularly then), the current slug, and me. And I know he didn't get it from me.<p>Can HPV cause problems in males?<p>ACK! time to get online and find out everything I can! Thank you for sharing this information - it's made me aware that I have to get back in and have my exam done asap!<p>terri

From http://www.nau.edu/~fronske/warts.html<p> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>"...scientists have found an association between several types of HPV and the development of cervical cancer, vulvar cancer, anal cancer, and cancer of the penis (a rare cancer)."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><p>So, there you have it. This article also indicates that there is typically three months between infection and the appearance of genital or venereal warts, so I'd imagine that kind of time frame could be used when considering how long till it might cause an abnormal pap smear.<p>And it is incurable. No treatment for the virus, just for the symptoms.<p>This makes me feel a little sick...<p>terri

Terri, according to what I've read, the "incubation" period between infection and cell changes showing up on pap smears can be 10, 15, or even more years. In my case, it would have been 17 years, since I really believe that my husband was faithful during the first 19 years of our marriage. My oncologist said that usually the males are just carriers and pass the virus along to the females. I never had any other symptoms prior to the abnormal pap smear, no warts, etc.