1 in 5 has Herpes, but not Everyone deserves them…

A while back I posted about herpes. You can read that post here. The point of my post was not that people make mistakes, my outrage was in the fact that the magazine made it sound like if you got the disease it was no big deal. However, I know when I wrote the post I definitely was not as sensitive as I should have been as some people get herpes by not fault of their own.

The reason I am writing this today is because I got an email that prompted me to give an apology to Deby, a woman that wrote me this:

Please be careful about information you discover on the internet, particularly something as important as medical info. Check out WEBMD.com, type in STD (sexually transmitted disease) to get accurate info. (By the way, genital warts are human papillomavirus, or HPV.) I ran into this website while doing some research for a paper. As a retired grandmother living with Herpes for 35 years, I was really disappointed at some of the mean-spirited and judgmental comments. Not everyone gets these things because of their behavior. I was married and didn’t know the husband (now ex-) was messing around. Fortunately, my outbreaks are mild. So mild, in fact, that at first I wasn’t even aware that I had it. (Most people don’t have the horrifying symptoms mentioned in the magazine.)

I was pregnant when the ex- left and, because he didn’t tell me about the Herpes, I actually put my baby in danger by having a vaginal birth. I have known several other women who trusted the men they were with and ended up with similar – and worse -problems. So, I could be judgmental, too, and say all men are dicks, but I wouldn’t do that. A little kind-heartedness and understanding goes a long way. Thanks. Deby

What a horrible thing to have to live through. First the betrayal and then the disease that keeps the memory of the betrayal fresh year after year. My heart hurts for people who are in Deby’s position.

So to Deby, I do apologize if my post, or the comments sounded judgemental. I always try to be sensitive to others in my posts, but sometimes I fail to do so. I wish you the best and thanks for opening my eyes and helping me to be more understanding and less insensitive about a very sensitive subject.