If my body rids HPV then the virus is gone for good right?

So, I went to the dr. and got a physical (pap smear and all) and was diagnosed with genital warts. She prescribed some cream. But didn't really give me any detail about my problem. I've looked up info on the net but am still confused, what i am getting is: My body can fight off HPV-if i am lucky, so I will no longer have the virus- right? How does the virus affect me other than having the warts?

First of all HPV and genital warts are two different things... that are very often linked together. Your body can hopefully fight off HPV... that is not uncommon... HPV is serious because it can lead to cervical cancer. I know a lady who had cervical cancer bc of HPV she got chemo and is doing well. Genital warts are a little bit different it is a virus and can be in remission... meaning you may go a year w/o an out break... but still have it... the best thing is to go to the doctor keep getting retested... even if they say "here just take this you'll be fine" keep going to make sure you are cured. Doctors sometimes treat people w/ STDS like they have no brains... so see someone who will take the time and show you the respect you deserve. I wish you the best.

you will always have the virus, the warts can be removed, they are usually lasered off, but you can still pass the virus to your partner

HPV or Human Papilloma Virus is a very common virus that is spread through skin to skin contact. Once you contract the virus, you will always have it, but it can become dormant which means it isn't currently causing problems. HPV can be responsible for genital warts, cervical dysplasia which could result in cervical cancer if left untreated, warts on other areas of the body & skin tags. Just like people who have Herpes & get cold sores, they can get cold sores again b/c the virus never leaves the body. There are more than 100 types of HPV & some of them are classifed as high risk b/c they are more likely to cause cervical cancer, so that is why they test for it.
OB/GYN RN

You should definitely do some research on this, just spend a little bit of time googling HPV and genital warts. Some good websites to name a few are:

http://www.gardasil.com/
http://0-www.nlm.nih.gov.catalog.llu.edu...
http://www.cdc.gov/STD/HPV/STDFact-HPV.h...

Your doctor really should have explained it to you in better detail. Genital warts are a form of HPV, however, because there are so many strains not all strains of HPV involve genital warts. You will ALWAYS have the virus in your system even if you never get another genital wart, which is why you must be very careful with future sexual partners. Make sure you inform them before becoming sexually involved because they will be at risk of also becoming infected.

Other than having the warts really the only affect it will have on you is that you will be at higher risk for getting cervical cancer, as well as dealing with potential future wart treatments (there are different treatments, only a few are painful but usually the painful ones are more effective like trichloracetic acid and/or freezing). However that is it, really of all the STI's to get, this one isn't that bad symptom-wise.