Timelies, all. I'm afraid I skipped-&-skimmed, but I caught enough to say {{{Bev}}} and congratulations to Teacup guy!
Thank you all for your kind thoughts, both here and back channel. I'm back at work today, after spending 8/4-8/10 with my family. Luckily, my sister was able to come down from Michigan in time for Mom to have her whole family with her at the end. My friends and coworkers have been incredibly supportive. Amyth and some other friends drove over from the Triangle (~75 miles) to be there for me at the viewing, a third of my officemates showed up at the funeral, and I've been overwhelmed with cards and kindness.
Next Friday I'll be going up to Michigan with my dad. Mom asked for her ashes to be interred in her family's plot, so I'll be seeing Saginaw for the first time in over 20 years. Well, a small part of it, anyway.
I'm glad you're taken care of, Calli.
In other news, shit. I just found out a friend of mine tested positive for HPV. She doesn't yet know whether she has cervical cancer.
She's 25.
My condolences to you and your whole family, on the loss of your mother. I wish you peace and strength. I'm glad your whole family was able to be there, and love your mother on her way.
Polter, I tested positive for HPV several years ago, and the result for me was just more frequent Pap smears until I stopped testing positive. HPV can go away. Your friend probably gets to have a
camera shoved up places non-kinky people generally don't like to have one shoved,
but it could well turn out fine in the end.
The percentage of sexually active women who've tested positive for HPV at some point is ridiculous. It's like 80%.
It can? Yay!!
There are a whole lot of public service announcements running about HPV on TV. An Internet search will probably give you all the worst case scenarios, but there is good news.
I've seen the ads about the vaccine.
I tested positive 20 years ago or so. They
froze my cervix
which was no biggee. No issue after that. I think it is one of those things that if caught on a YEARLY checkup is quite treatable. When you neglect to get checked for decades on end (I'm looking at you MIL) then little issues become big issues.
{{Calli}} Good to see you back dear. I'm glad that your mother was surrounded by love and that you have had loving support. I'm so sorry for your loss.
Just to add a "what they said" -- although there are a couple of strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer, there are a whole lot more that don't. It's one of those weird things that until you first hear about it, it might as well not exist, but as soon as you start looking into it, it turns out everyone and her sister's had it.
In other news, it's official. My computer's frelled. I'm going to take them my external hard drive and they'll give me my data, but I'm gonna have to get a new computer. Which I can totally afford, right?
