My HPV Story

I was diagnosed with HPV over 3 years ago. I freaked out because I've only been with one partner. My partner and I had our warts show their ugly faces at the same time and I was so sure that he cheated on me. Before I was diagnosed, I found 3 warts (I didn't know what they were at that moment but knew it couldn't be anything good). I looked up STDs on the web and read many articles and saw a picture of genital warts, and was pretty sure that's what I had.

After I researched, I cried and then talked to my boyfriend. I told him I found 3 sores or lesions in my genital area and after a lot of research, I was sure it was warts. He knew he was the only partner I've ever had. I started freaking out because of the shock and knowing it was not my fault. I'm like, so you cheated on me - when? Who with? We had already had our 1st child.

Anyway, I went to the local health department and was told, yes, it's genital warts, also known as HPV. I was given a doctor's name that could give me treatment. I scheduled an appointment immediately. I had them frozen off and in the process of the doctor doing this we talked about it. And he told me it did not mean my boyfriend cheated on me. That's when I learned that HPV can be in your system for many years and you never know because it doesn't show any symptoms.

After finding this out I felt much better about my relationship. Don't get me wrong, I was really upset because I had only been with one partner.  I was upset for a couple of months about this. I was asking the question "Why me???" I knew he had quite a sexual history before me. After more extensive research and finding message boards where there were many other people with HPV, I realized that HPV wasn't the end of the world. I was not alone after all. I'm only 24, but I find myself preaching to the girls younger than me about HPV and HSV being an STD that many people have, most of them just don't know it yet.

After my warts were frozen off, I have not had a reoccurrence. My boyfriend's disappeared on their own. I'm no longer ashamed. Women can still have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. I had my second daughter 7 months ago. I thought my raging hormones would trigger a new outbreak during my second pregnancy. I remember reading about pregnancy aggravating the virus somewhere.

Well, that's my story. I just wanted to share it so others with the viruses HPV and HSV will know that life will go on. You can live a normal life and even have a normal, healthy sex life. You just have to know your body, inspect it and take care of it.

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