[Music]
You can close the door to cancer.
HPV vaccine is cancer prevention.
Vaccinate your kids at 11 or 12.
To tell a patient that they have cancer,
particularly a cancer that could have been entirely prevented
is terribly depressing.
I've shared tears, we've cried and it's something that, that's,
that's not easy to do.
This March we had a 23 year old who had an abnormal PAP smear
that suggested cancer.
Well, unfortunately when she came in
and we tried to find her cervix.
We couldn't.
Everything on the inside was cancer.
By October she was dead and she left a five year old child alone
to be raised.
So it's devastating not only for the risk of potential death,
but the morbidity associated with biopsies,
with surgical procedures and the real threat
of potential inability to have children there after.
Having more children was definitely in our plan.
We had, my husband and I had always talked
about three being a nice number.
I am one of three and I thought it was a lovely way to grow up
and my son was just a year old when I was diagnosed with cancer
and learned that I would have to have a radical hysterectomy.
So that was really, really difficult for us.
I feel very, very fortunate for the family that we have
but it took us a long time to accept the fact
that we would not have the family we envisioned.
What I would tell moms who are facing the decision
to give their children the HPV vaccination is please do
not hesitate.
It offers such great protection
and if you can spare your children the pain and um,
the pain and just the constant worry that comes
with a cancer diagnosis.
I would say absolutely do it.
HPV is so pervasive that it can really can effect anyone
at any time.
This is something that my husband and I think
about all the time, every time I go to the doctor,
every time I have another scan or another test,
it's in the back of my mind,
when or if this will ever come back.
I see this HPV vaccine as cancer prevention
and I will do everything I can to prevent my kids from having
to go through what I went through.
They have their whole lives ahead of them
and I can't protect them from everything
but I will protect them from HPV related cancer.
I always tell my parents I give the vaccine
to both of my daughters.
One is 14 now, one is 21 and I really do not want them to come
to me 20 years from now and say, "Mom, I have cervical cancer
and you did nothing to protect me".
Studies have found that the provider recommendation is
usually the strongest motivator to getting a parent
to get the child vaccinated.
And it's so easy to just say with conviction and same
to them, "This is a safe vaccine,
it's an effective vaccine, I give it to my kids,
I feel that it's important for you to protect your children
at this young age with this vaccine."
There's no reason for us to wait
and miss an opportunity to vaccinate.
As a pediatrician I want to go to bed
at night comfortable knowing that I'm helping
to prevent cervical cancer or anal cancer later
on in the lives of my patients.
I don't want to see them ending
up in an oncologists office 20 years from now
when I could have done something to prevent it.
This is something that we can prevent.
This is a vaccine that is safe, is effective
and it can prevent cancer.
We need to use it.
So now we have a vaccine that can prevent cancer
and why it's not given to so many young individuals
to prevent these horrible things from happening, I have no idea.
So it's very important that we follow the recommendations
and vaccinate people early.
And, not only vaccinate them early,
but it's critically important that they return
for the second dose and also the third dose.
Please don't hesitate.
Get them to roll up the sleeves and vaccinate.
The only question in this whole issue, if a patient comes in
and has questions about the vaccine.
The only question is which arm do you want it in?