Nov
5
Yes, I’ve been able to talk to people about herpes ever since I was diagnosed. I have to tell you though, it is a process because when I was first diagnosed I swore to myself I would not share what had happened to me with anybody. Later, after having had a chance to digest everything I decided it was time to take what had happened and make a good thing come from it.
For starters, there were no herpes support groups where I live. So I tried to see if I could find a way to make that happen. In the late 90’s I started the Omaha HELP herpes support group back up and we began to meet regularly. Once a month for several years we met up until last year. Today we don’t meet on a regular basis face-to-face because the need is just not all that great. So I continue the goals of the Omaha HELP group by answering your questions through e-mail and taking support calls on my telephone.
I must insist that I don’t do long distance support calls. I will only call you back if you are local to me and if you leave a detailed message as to how I can reach you. Other than that, I’ve made the most impact helping people over the internet.
Do I tell everybody that I meet that I have herpes? No, I don’t. Quite frankly it really is none of their business. But, if the opportunity presents itself I’m not afraid to speak up about it. Sometimes I might happen upon a conversation about STDS or Herpes and find myself either correcting the information being shared or just sharing my story because the situation warrants that my story be shared.
If you are struggling with who should know about your status, don’t. It’s a worry that you shouldn’t fret over. The only people that need to know are those that you plan on being intimate with and preferably BEFORE that intimacy takes place. Then there are those “safe” people, like your best friend, that love you unconditionally that might make a good sounding board that you know are not going to diminish what you are going through OR make fun of you.
Eventually you will get to a point where herpes is a non-issue. In the meantime be kind to yourself and soak up any accurate information you can get your hands on about herpes. The more you know about herpes the better off you will be. Lastly, allow yourself time to grieve about your diagnosis. It’s completely normal and natural to feel upset, angry, pissed, OR depressed. Just know that having herpes doesn’t define who you are and if it helps, share your story with somebody that you trust OR a counselor of sorts.
Speaking of stories, I have a ton of them that were sent to me here
If you would like to share your story I hope you will send it to me so I can post it on my site. You can even share it anonymously if you’d like. I love pictures to go with the story but it’s not mandatory. It’s whatever you feel comfortable doing.
If you’d like to share your story with me so I can post it do so here
Comments
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You know, I meant to post this over on my Sexual Health Buzz blog and then I got to thinking about it.. so I’m going to go ahead and leave it here. Who knows, somebody might stumble on it and since this is a primarily health related blog network, people might find the help on this subject that they didn’t know they needed. Enjoy!
[...] I put the wrong post on the wrong blog. [...]