Living with HPV

Shortly after my HPV article, Living with HPV, was published on thephoenix.com yesterday morning, I started recieving an amazing amount of positive (all positive so far!) responses via email. I'm still getting tons of email today now that the story hit the newsstands and I want to thank everyone for supporting me and reinforcing my belief that not enough is said about this disease that affects about 75 percent of all sexually active Americans.

All these women, and men, who emailed me had interesting stories of strength and I admire all of them for their courage in sharing their stories with me. One woman, Katie "Megaphone" Diamond even sent me images from a comic strip she developed after getting diagnosed. They are fun and educational, but Katie's perspective as a lesbian also highlights the fact that this virus does not discriminate -- everyone is vulnerable no matter what kind of sex you are having (even "safe" sex-ers are not 100% safe).

I'm hoping more people will speak out and speak up after reading my story to help dispel the taboos and stigmas attached to the virus.

Thank you to everyone again for their support and for sharing. Here are some of Katie's comics, for more of them (and to view them bigger), visit our online slideshow.