A cervical cancer survivor wrote an article on commercialappeal.com. It was published on Mother’s Day and encourages women to get tested for HPV, whether the woman has had the HPV vaccine or not.

Michelle Whitlock, who wrote “My thoughts: Simple tests can help reduce rates of cervical cancer,” mentions briefly that she was lucky enough to harvest her eggs before her treatment began.

One of the issues we have to deal with in Oncofertility is communication and dissemination of information – to have a doctor explain to you about your fertility options at such a crucial moment, when you might be running out of time to start treatment, is not very common and this must change.

Or perhaps Michelle took the initiative to find out the information on her own, which is commendable. But if you are a young child, or haven’t thought about a baby, much less a boyfriend or girlfriend, and all you are thinking about is fighting for your own life, it would be helpful to have your doctor talk to you or your family about the options available to you.

Check out the article here: HPV tests.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital is hosting a half-day conference on Saturday, May 17th called ”State-of-the-Art Hysterectomy: The Robotic Surgical Option.”

Dr. Patrick Lowe will be one of the speakers at this event. He was one of the doctors who participated in the Oncofertility Saturday Academy, teaching students from the Young Women’s Leadership Charter School about oncofertility and surgery. Those who attended Dr. Lowe’s module were given the opportunity to operate a Da Vinci robotic surgery machine – the same machine used to perform minimally-invasive hysterectomies.

Dr. Patrick Lowe from Northwestern Memorial Hospital stands by as a student from the Oncofertility Saturday Academy tries her hands at the Da Vinci robotic surgery machine, sometimes used to perform hysterectomies. Photo by Tara S. Kerpelman

The event at the hospital will include lectures, demonstrations and a talk by a patient who underwent robotic surgery.

The conference start at 8:30am and it costs $20.

For more information, go to Northwestern Memorial’s site: Robotic Hysterectomy Event.