newly diagnosed high-risk HPV and lots of ???

I have been having regular exams and paps for more than 25 years. I am married to my second husband for 3.5 years now, and we've been together for 4.5 years exclusively. I was just informed by my doctor that my pap indicated high-risk HPV and he wants me to go for follow-up and probably a colposcopy. I have no visible genital warts, but I have had other types of warts I was a little girl, which come and go (legs, hand, face), and I have no other "symptoms" of HPV.

Looking up information on HPV on medical websites I have more questions now than answers and am much more worried than before about the possibly ramifications of this. First of all, my husband thinks I may have cheated on him. He wonders if I have infected him. I wonder, has he infected me? Can we be re-infecting each other? Should we not have sex for some length of time? Should we ignore it and carry on as usual?

I have to wait about 2 1/2 week for my follow-up tests and not knowing what I should do or not do is killing me, not to mention the prospect of potentially ending up with cervical cancer is weighing on me. I know it's rare for even high-risk HPV to go toward cancer, but I know two women who have had it, and one died of it. I've seen the doctors' answers to some of the men's questions here and it seems to say "don't worry about it." Should we not worry about (re-) transmission between the two of us at this point? Just make sure my situation is medically okay and forget about it?

[roses711]

HPV can lay dormant  for decades W/ NO SYMPTOMS (cell change)..it's NOT a sign of infidelity. You'll never know if you gave it to him OR if he gave it to you (no test for men and very RARELY has any symptoms for men) You can't reinfect each other w/ the same strain..but you can still get another strain if you two have future partners. You can continue to have sex but should avoid recieving oral when you know that you've got an "active" infection. 80% of sexually active pple have HPV and the majority don't know it..most infections "clear"/suppress themselves in the body from 6 months to 2yrs..if you can strengthen your immune system you can help your body to fight the virus into dormancy. Take multi w/ folic acid (at leats 800mg), L-lysine, veggies/fruits (esp.dark leafy vegg), no smoking/drinking (if hubby smokes use condoms since the toxins from cigarettes acclerate the virus and the cell mutation) reduce stress, and exercise. Your hubby is probably scared for you and for himself..regular PAPs and taking care of yourself is the first step..try to remember that the majority of women who have hpv don't progress to cancer..hope this helps