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I am a 32 year old mother of one. I was diagnosed with genital herpes on Valentine's Day, 2001. Imagine that. I had taken, what I thought, were the right precautions. What they don't test for is integrity. The guy, that I thought I was in love with, cheated on me and gave me the gift that keeps on giving. I was mortified and heartbroken. He had cheated on me a number of times apparently and contracted the disease.

I would give anything for a cure. Unfortunately, even if they come out with a vaccine, it will be of no use to us. Vaccines are to prevent the contraction of the disease. If you already have it, a vaccine will not help you. Researchers would have to come up with a cure and, so far, there are no cures for most (if not all) viruses. Hopefully, they will find a safe vaccine for herpes so that we can protect our children. My daughter does not have hsv-1 or hsv-2; for that I am thankful.

I have experienced all of the feelings you are feeling...all of them. Eight years later, I still feel many of them. However, life has gotten better; my outbreaks are less often and not as bad, but I feel like it is a day to day battle to live a healthy lifestyle. One glass of wine or a chocolate bar and I am on the road to an outbreak. It sucks. Some people hardly experience an outbreak and some of us experience them more often.

You have every right to vent. Vent loud and often. There is so much stigma associated with this disease that no one wants to talk about it. Therefore, it is going undiscussed and people are not telling their partners. It is socially acceptable to get cold sores, but genital herpes is another story. The funny thing is, they are very similar in DNA structure; almost the same disease.

If society wants to change this, they need to start educating and allowing people to talk about this disease without shame and embarrassment.

I am sorry you have run into this monster. It is the worst betrayal ever.