January 20, 2020
When you’re told you have cancer, you ask yourself a lot of questions. How did this happen? Is there a reason? Why me? But when I was diagnosed with cervical cancer when I was 44, I faced another, unexpected question: how was I going to tell everyone I had cancer because of a virus I got through sex?The first time I had ever heard of HPV was when the doctors told me I had cancer. HPV is a really common virus, usually passed on through sexual contact. My cancer was staged at 4b, meaning I was diagnosed very late, meaning that the cancer had already spread to one of my ovaries. I was devastated and convinced I was going to die, yet while I was trying to process the idea of having cancer, I was trying to understand what HPV even meant. At least I had heard of cancer before.I knew about smear tests and cell changes which can be cancerous, but beyond that I had no idea what HPV was, or meant. Immediately, I believed I was going to be judged or ridiculed, thanks to those three little letters.Honestly, I was scared of having sex – I knew HPV could be passed through sex but didn’t really know how it all workedI experienced that stigma first-hand, sooner than I expected. When I told my partner of my diagnosis, needing his support and love, I instead heard back: “that’s an STD. I’ve not given you that. Who gave you that?”  In the back of my mind I was wondering if he had given it to me too, but the truth is I was going through the toughest time of my life… and yet my partner and I were arguing about whether one of us had cheated. That’s what HPV stigma looks like.Neither of us could make sense of what was happening, and my condition put a huge strain on not just our relationship but our sex life. Honestly, I was scared of having sex – I knew HPV could be passed through sex but didn’t really know how it all worked. The last thing I wanted to do was put my husband at risk.From that point – going through the hardest time of my life – instead of turning to others, I shut myself away. I was scared of the questions, scared of how people would react. Lots of patients meet friends or get mutual support from the people that they meet during cancer treatment, but the shame I felt about my condition meant I kept myself to myself out of fear of what people would think. I wish I hadn’t kept all my feelings bottled up. I felt so alone. Looking back, I wish I had spoken to people more instead of keeping it all to myself. I found it hard to even tell my children. Related... What You Need To Know About HPV – And What You're Getting Wrong Calls For 'Life Saving' HPV Jab To Be Given To Older Teenage Boys I had a radical hysterectomy, which removed my womb, my cervix and ovaries. But, as my cancer had spread, I also had radiotherapy, chemotherapy and brachytherapy (internal radiotherapy), which took place over the course of two months. A friend told me recently I was “quietly dignified” through my treatment. But in reality, that wasn’t how it felt – inside, I was screaming and shouting. Even though I’ve returned to some normality, I struggle with depression. I felt like I didn’t recognise myself, mentally or physically. The emotional impact of cancer is something you don’t think about when you are diagnosed. This hit me quite a long time after the diagnosis, which made recovery even more complicated. It’s still hard to talk about, but I’m trying thanks to some counselling. I try to talk especially with important people in my life, asking them what they know about the virus and whether they know it can lead to cervical cancer. 
HPV Stigma Made Me Feel Alone When I Had Cervical Cancer. That Has To Change
I’ve seen first-hand how so many people don’t know anything about HPV, and I know we need to get the facts out there, so no one has to feel as isolated as I did. It shouldn’t be the case that the first time you hear about what it means to live with HPV is when you’re being diagnosed with cancer, and face being blindsided by both of these things, just like me. If I’ve learned anything from my experience, it’s that you are told you have HPV, please don’t panic. And please don’t blame yourself.Although I was able to beat my cancer, I can’t say I feel totally at ease with my post-cancer body. I’ve gone through the early menopause due to my surgery, which forced me to get used to a lot of changes, and I still don’t have all the answers to the complicated questions HPV brings up, such as whether or not I can still pass it on. Not to mention the thought of cancer returning is never far from my mind. It would have been that bit easier if I hadn’t had to contend with HPV stigma throughout my experience with cancer. It totally changed me emotionally and physically. I had no idea how I was going to get through it at times. If I had felt able to be open, I might have been able to talk to people who understood what I was going through and share the burden. Thankfully my story is rare, and most people will get rid of HPV infection without it doing the body any harm. Smear tests mean that any changes caused by HPV can be treated before they have a chance to turn into cancer. But if I’ve learned anything from my experience, it’s that you are told you have HPV, please don’t panic. And please don’t blame yourself. It’s not dirty, it’s not embarrassing and it’s definitely nothing to be ashamed of.
20-26 January is Cervical Cancer Prevention Week and Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust is running its #SmearForSmear campaign to smear the myths and stigma around HPV and smear tests and get the facts out. Search for #SmearForSmear or visittheir website to find out how to get involved.
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.comMore from HuffPost UK Personal Why Corrie's Cervical Cancer Storyline Matters For Survivors Like Me I Wasn’t Ready For How Cancer Treatment Changed My Sense Of Femininity Black And Brown Mums Like Me Are Judged Differently. Here's How I Know
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'Trump tax': MSNBC host Chris Hayes shows how Trump winning would increase costs
Mar 28, 2024
How much would former President Donald Trump's proposed 10 percent tariff plan actually cost the average American household?The wave of tariffs Trump enacted when he was last president caused chaos, but there are many complexities that muddy this somewhat. However, MSNBC's Chris Hayes took an educated and simple guess at just how badly the country would be hit in the pocketbook under Trump's second-term plans."We don't know exactly how much everything would cost," said Hayes, but "just add 10 percent on the back of the napkin. Here's the cost of living under the Trump Tax."ALSO READ: ‘Don't have enough’: Wealthy Trump allies balk at helping Donald pay legal bills"Start with groceries," he said. "A dozen eggs cost about $3. Once you apply the Trump Tax, that is up to $3.30, with the U.S. importing over 4 million eggs a year, but cost consumers over $1.2 million. If you like oranges, they currently go for about $1.53 per pound. With the Trump Tax, that would be $1.68 per pound, which would cost American consumers almost $71 million for the nearly half a billion pounds of the import. Bananas. We don't really grow them in the U.S., do we? They average about $.63 per pound and going up to $.69 per pound with the Trump Tax, thanks to the U.S. importing more than 10 million pounds per year, that could cost Americans at $609 million and that's a $609 million tax on American consumers. Then there's tomatoes. They go for about $2.13 per pound. Apply the 10 percent Trump Tax. They would be $2.34 per pound, potentially costing Americans $3.5 million thanks to the 6.8 million pounds we import per year. If you are spending $1,200 on groceries, add another $120 to the bill. That's more than the peak of inflation in 2022, which topped off at 9 percent. This is 10 percent."Groceries are just the start, he continued."How about the refrigerator?" said Hayes. "You need to keep the groceries fresh. The average cost of a new fridge is about $1,300. With the Trump Tax, that could go up to $1,430, costing Americans $1.95 billion for the 15 million refrigerators that we import. Again, $1.95 billion of new taxes. What about the car that you need to drive to the grocery store? On average, a new car costs about $48,808 today. With Trump Tax, it costs $53,684, with Americans potentially taking a $66.3 billion hit across the board on the 13 million cars we import. That's not including the 50 percent tariff which would make it another $25,000. Even the smartphone in your pocket cost on average about $940 right now. With Trump Tax, it can go up to $1,034, with Americans potentially paying an extra $13.2 billion for the nearly 141 million smartphones that we import per year.""Everyone hates when you have to pay more for things," he added. "Inflation is one of the biggest liabilities for a sitting president. Yet here is Donald Trump, in the Year of our Lord 2024, running against President Biden, promising to make things more expensive for every American."Watch the video below or click here. Chris Hayes breaks down "Trump Tax" www.youtube.com
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'Some prosecutor should be looking into' Trump's latest legal defense scam: expert
Mar 28, 2024
Former President Donald Trump's sprawling network of ostensibly independent political groups raising money for him, much of it in service of paying legal expenses, seems to walk right up to the line of breaking the law, former prosecutor Kristy Greenberg told MSNBC's Alex Wagner — and may in fact cross it."Kristy, how is this legal?" asked Wagner. "How can he keep saying this one thing and doing another?""Well, I think the big question here will be looking behind all of this as to who is coordinating it," said Greenberg. "If Donald Trump is coordinating between his campaign and these PACs that are supposed to be third parties and independent — the Save America PAC is independent, even though he directs it, independent third-party — if there is sufficient coordination, you could prove that, then maybe you would have something to say these expenditures are not purely personal, these are really campaign contributions. And therefore they should be subject to the limits of $5,000 that campaign contributions are subject to."ALSO READ: ‘Don't have enough’: Wealthy Trump allies balk at helping Donald pay legal billsWhat it looks like, Greenberg went on, is that Trump and his allies are "just trying to do an end-run around these various regulations, and it seems so transparent.""[Special counsel] Jack Smith ... had served some subpoenas in connection with that nonexistent, as it turns out, election defense fund," Greenberg said. "He served some subpoenas and then he withdrew them and it was unclear why, because that seemed like such a clear-cut fraud. I questioned why that happened. Perhaps it was optics. Perhaps he thought like he had such strong cases, the January 6 case and the national security case, that he didn't want to seem as though he was trying to drain Trump of the ability to legally defend against those cases. Hard to say. But I questioned it at that time because that seemed like such a clear wire fraud case that it seemed like it should be looked into, but maybe they just had limited resources and didn't like the optics of it.""But I agree with you, this raises a lot of questions," she added. "Someone, somewhere, even if not the special counsel's office, because they are pretty busy — some prosecutors should be looking into this."Watch the video below or at the link. Kristy Greenberg on the legality of Trump's PACs www.youtube.com
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