Thanks, Amy.....I did ask for an HPV test to be done when I had my last PAP smear done. My dr. looked askance at me, but he said ok. His nurse reminded him that they had received a notice that for the separate HPV test, they need to do a separate smear. He still didn't know for sure that he was doing the right thing, but he did it, and I got a report saying that both tests were negative.

I didn't know if this was the right kind of test or if I needed some sort of blood test.

If this was adequate, then I guess that my negative results give me the information I needed to know that my OC wasn't caused by the HPV virus.

As a virtual non-drinker, who hasn't smoked for 37 years, and who has NO cancer whatever in my family history, I am at a loss for determining a cause for my cancer. My surgeon feels that the smoking, even that long ago, must be the cause. It seems like a stretch to me.


Colleen--T-2N0M0 SCC dx'd 12/28/05...Hemi-maxillectomy, partial palatectomy, neck dissection 1/4/06....clear margins, neg. nodes....no radiation, no chemo....Cancer-free at 4 years!