Letters to the Editor: Trust survivors: You do not want an HPV-caused cancer. Get vaccinated

To the editor: In 2009 I underwent a cancer ordeal very similar to that of Paul Thornton’s wife. (“This cancer vaccine should spare future generations from ordeals like my wife’s,” Opinion, Dec. 28)

Mine began as a lump under my jawline that turned out to be the largest of several metastases from the base of my tongue. It was also caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV.

The treatment was brutal and basically robbed me of a year of life: no solid food; pain, nausea and choking (this is not fun). There are permanent side effects to nerves, my tongue and salivary glands.

Regardless of what certain politicians may believe, there’s an easy way to prevent all of this: the Gardasil and Cervarix vaccines. Administered before a child risks exposure through sex, they not only protect against the diseases that Thornton’s wife and I had, but also against cervical, vaginal, penile and anal cancers.

I consider myself fortunate to have been treated by some of L.A.’s finest physicians and with the cutting-edge technology of the time. It was a huge price to pay for a lifetime of normal adult behavior, but I’m alive.

I urge parents to have their kids vaccinated against this awful scourge, because, believe me, you do not want it.

David Reskin, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I was glad to read Thornton’s piece sharing his wife’s experience and about the vaccine that prevents cancers caused by the HPV virus. Like him, I worry about a vaccine skeptic heading the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

As a nurse practitioner, I see the consequences of HPV in my practice. HPV can cause pre-cancers, requiring uncomfortable diagnostic and treatment procedures for patients. Sometimes, pre-cancers progress to cancer.

Many do not know that the rate of throat cancers caused by HPV in the U.S. has surpassed the rate of cervical and other genital cancers. We are fortunate to have a safe vaccine that effectively prevents most pre-cancers and cancers caused by HPV, sparing people the ordeals and anguish that come with it.

I counsel my patients daily and highly recommend the HPV vaccine.

Simone Cox, Rolling Hills Estates