Cancer survivor from Lebanon champions HPV vaccine - Terre Haute Tribune Star

LEBANON — Melissa Beeson fought hard to survive a cancer that is now preventable by vaccine.

Diagnosed with Stage 3B cervical cancer in 2012 at the age of 32, Beeson, of Lebanon, wanted to live for her sons, then 8 and 10 years old.

She endured 285 days of treatment that included a radical hysterectomy, two rounds of chemotherapy and 37 radiation treatments that permanently damaged tissue while saving her life.

Along the way, she suffered a pelvic abscess and lower main vein blood clot, and she lost her hair.

Beeson’s cancer is in remission now, at age 39, but “cancer never 100% leaves your life,” she said. “I am now left with conditions resulting from the treatments that saved my life.”

The hysterectomy plunged her into immediate full perimenopause complete with hot flashes, night sweats and mood swings. Radiation treatments damaged her lymphatic system and caused neuropathy. She swells and holds fluid. Some of her muscles harden and tense and she has to take care to keep tissues pliable to prevent further damage. Sometimes her leg goes numb.

“But, I’m here and I’m living and breathing for a reason,” she said.

Beeson is spreading awareness of the highly contagious human papilloma virus, HPV, and battling the stigma associated with the sexually transmitted disease early.

HPV caused her cancer, and a new vaccine prevents 90% of the cancers HPV causes in males and females, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

HPV is so common that nearly all men and women will get at least one type of it in their lives, according to the CDC. Nearly 80 million Americans are currently infected with some type of HPV, and about 14 million Americans, including teens, become infected each year.

Infections with HPV types that cause the most cancers and genital warts among teen girls dropped 86%, and among women by 71%, since the HPV vaccination came into use in 2006.

And, among adult women who are vaccinated, the percentage of cervical precancers caused by HPV dropped by 40%, according to the CDC.

The vaccine was first offered in 2006 but is not required for children to attend school, some doctors don’t automatically offer it, and many parents skip it. Adults can also receive the vaccine.

Beeson is haunted by the thought that some children are going without a vaccine that, when they are adults, could spare them the heartache and pain she has suffered.

“Your cancer doesn’t ever go away,” she said. “I’m in remission and so thankful, but every time I go to the doctor the fear is there. Every time I feel something with my body, the fear is immediately there that I’m going to have cancer again. No one should have to feel this way.”

Part of the problem, Beeson thinks, is that healthcare providers recommend the vaccine at an early age, not because they think all young children are sexually active, but because the vaccine is most effective at building immunity in younger bodies.

“It’s given at a younger age just because the immune system is more effective to produce that antibody,” Lisa Younts, Boone County Health Department public health nurse, said. “As you get older, your immune response wanes a little bit and it won’t respond as strongly.”

Beeson’s sons, who are now both teens, were vaccinated and she urges other parents to vaccinate their children.

She said some parents believe they will have to explain the vaccination to their children and the explanation will require having a “sex talk."

“Why should you have a sex talk,” she said. “Do you explain measles, mumps and chicken pox vaccinations? No, you just say, ‘You’re here and it’s time to get a vaccination,’ and you go on.

“This is a way to put in a safeguard for your children so that when they are old enough to make those decision, this is just an extra protection you can give them.”

Beeson applauds parents who encourage abstinence and the values that go with it, but still urges them to have their children vaccinated against HPV because some children and young adults are forced or coerced into sex.

“It’s not just about them making the choice to have sex,” she said.

More than 10 years of monitoring and research have shown the HPV vaccine to be safe, according to the CDC. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the vaccine, considers it safe, and it is continuously monitored for safety, as are all vaccines.

The CDC and U.S. Food and Drug Administration agree the current vaccine supply is the safest in history. For more information on vaccine safety, visit the website at www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/index.html.

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