Hi all,
This is a mild worry compared to many cases but I'm not sure where else to ask.
My husband has recently had his second surgery to remove several skin lesions from the penis. Although the doctor has told him that he does have HPV, we aren't clear on the strain or if it's high-risk or low-risk and, as a male, he doesn't seem have any way to follow up on this which is causing him a lot of stress and worry. My assumption is that this is HPV type 6 or 11 but how do we know? Is there a way to find out? How likely is it that this will become something more serious and how will we be able to keep track? It seems much easier for women to check with regular cervical screening!
My second question is about immunity and how to prevent the HPV from recurring and potentially developing into something more serious. I've read that it is very common for warts to reappear around 6 months after the first surgery/removal (which it did) but it seems to be an ongoing issue. He has other health issues which may be linked with immunity, has a vitamin D deficiency and is under a lot of stress with family, work and finances and now, of course, this is adding a whole extra layer. Has anyone been successful with ways to boost immunity to lower the chance of recurrence?
Thanks in advance and I wish you all well.
Hi blueceleste and welcome to the Online Community but sorry to see you joining us and to read about your concerns.
None of the community members are medical experts and only have our lived experience with living with our cancers or supporting family and friends on their cancer journeys.
But you may want to copy your post and put your questions to our nurse team in our Ask an Expert section but do allow a few working days for a reply.
If you would like to talk with someone do use our Support Line teams who are available 7 days a week, 8am-8pm on freephone 0808 808 00 00, email or live webchat where you will find one of team there to help you out.
The Nurse Team should be able to search out some information for you to help you understand this better….. but it may be into next week before you hear from them ((hugs))
This is a mild worry compared to many cases but I'm not sure where else to ask.
Hi blueceleste.
I'm Dani and I know a little about HPV having had oropharyngeal cancer because of it. Mike's suggestion to ask an expert is a good start but you really should tackle your husbands tertiary care doctors and insist on an explanation. His GP will only bet able to repeat what he has seen in your husband's clinic letters.
There is no screening test for HPV in men and the only one for women is for high risk 16/18
Hope you get an answer
Dani
Base of tongue cancer. T2N0M0 6 weeks Radiotherapy finished January 2019
