A story of STD (Sexual Transmitted Diseases)

By Blue Rose on Wednesday, 5 of August , 2009 at 8:14 pm

When this young woman was diagnosed, there was anger, fear, and finally acceptance. With total frankness, this brave young woman tells the fateful tale of the day her life was change forever.

When you’re young, you feel invincible. But, that isn’t always the case. About 45 percent of sexually-active women ages 20 to 24 have human papilloma virus (HPV). And, many not suffer the health consequences. But unfortunately, others like this young woman aren’t that lucky. Here’s her sordid tale.

In the Dark about STD’s – She was 21 and a virgin when she moved out from home to make it on my own and launch a career as an illustrator. In the conservative community where she grew up, sex was never discussed. As for STD’s, she’d heard of herpes, yet she didn’t even know what HPV was. But then she fell for a guy, and soon they started living together, and she began her first sexual relationship.

Painful Symptoms Strike – Two months later, a mysterious genital sores developed. They were red, cent-sized blisters, with clear fluid draining from them. It hurts to touch them and even to walk or pee. She also noticed painless skin tag-liked white bumps on her vulva and vagina. Of course, she was really scared, but hoping that maybe it’s just an allergy to a new laundry detergent.

Shocking Diagnosis – No surprise, she knew that it’s not an allergy from laundry detergent. Her test gives a positive result to herpes and HPV. The blisters were herpes lesions, and the skin tags were warts, a common symptom of some strains of HPV. Sadly the doctor where she went to wasn’t especially sympathetic or helpful. She felt ashamed and embarrassed, but mostly she’s stunned. She’d never dreamed of getting not one but two STD’s, especially one she’d barely heard of.

How her guy reacted – When she told the guy about the bad news, he felt horribly guilty – he said he had no idea he had any STD’s. She believed him then and still believes him until now. Although his test results to positive of herpes and HPV, he never had the symptoms of either disease.

Why me? – In the days that followed, her self esteem plunged. Because of her upbringing, she couldn’t help thinking that STD’s were punishment for having sex before marriage. Then, she started doing research on the internet, and she found some comfort in the fact that STD’s are extremely common. That helps ease her guilt slightly.

Getting Treatment – While she was dealing with the emotional effects, she had to take care of the physical symptoms. The herpes sores went away within two weeks, after which her doctor prescribed a lotion for the warts. But the lotion didn’t work, she undergo treatments with an acid-based topical solution. She also had laser surgery to remove the warts from inside the vagina and, as it turns out, in her cervix. Both treatments were painful, but thankfully, the warts soon disappeared. A few weeks later, they could have sex again, no signs of herpes or warts, even though, she still felt dirty, and then life returned to normal.

A Killer Consequence – Since some types of HPV can cause cervical cancer, she had to see her gyne for frequent pap tests. Unfortunately, one came back suspicious; more tests confirmed her worst fear: she had cancer cells in her cervix. She had contracted one HPV type that triggers warts and two others linked to cancer, terrifying. She honestly thought she was going to die, even though the cancer was in an early stage.

Her Mother’s Harsh Words – Even though she didn’t share her STD condition to her family, she couldn’t keep the cancer diagnosis from them. Her mom looked at her with a blank face, then coldly asked, “How did you get it?” when she told her how, she said she wanted to kill her boyfriend. Then, she remarked that cancer was actually the result of her choices. In a sense it’s true, but to triumph over the disease, she needed to keep distance with that thinking. She told her brother and sister too, who’d also moved away from their conservative home and they understood where she was coming from. That helped her.

Cancer and Couple Stress – While she was undergoing treatment with laser surgery, her boyfriend wigged out. They were fighting more. She blamed him for the situation she was in, and felt that he didn’t understand what she was going through. He started seeing therapist, because it was so hard for him to accept that he was the cause of her cancer. She started seeing a counselor too, to work out the anger and all that had happened, it was a tense time for her.

Moving On – Luckily the laser surgery removed all the cancer from her cervix, and didn’t need any more treatment; though always have to be checked because it can come back at any time. She and her boyfriend are getting along again. Two years later, they had a baby boy, they also get married, but it didn’t last – just for three months.

Dating with STD’s – She’d like to start meeting men again, but she’s really not sure how to tell the guys that she has herpes and HPV. But she said, she will definitely inform them early on. She thought, if they appalled on her diagnosis, then she doesn’t need them at all.

No Longer Feeling Guilty – She’s still cancer free, and hasn’t had an outbreak of herpes or warts since the very first one. It sounds crazy, but the main thing she regrets is wasting all the time feeling ashamed and dirty. What happened to her was unlucky, yes, but she’d no longer plagued on the idea that she brought it upon herself.

Comments (14) Category: Featured Entries, Health and Sex
Tags: allergy, blisters, cancer, cerxiz, disease, herpes, human papillomavirus, laser surgery, sexual relationship, STD, vagina, warts
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