It was only one night,
only 12 margaritas, and
only 5 first kisses
that led to five fresh fingers flowing down my spine
in a dark room; which led to an even darker consequence.
I can’t help but feel her waves crash against the shore and
then rush back to find whom her wrath desires.
She finds nothing.
She is me.
Nothing is him.
His name? Well he doesn’t have one,
but he left her, I mean she, I mean me with an STD.
So now what am I to do?
I could lay here with a bleeding heart and unkind eyes
or I could watch the daggers fly towards me
as fast as their words spread and chip away at my self-esteem.
No! I am still that beautiful, butterfly in the summer breeze.
I am that strong queen to which deserves admiration.
My mistake has been made,
and my lesson has been learned.
This poem is for all the girls that may have had a one night stand and realized that it was a mistake or even contracted an STD. Statistically one out of every four college students will contract an STD during the duration of their college years. That does not go to say that a person should be careless and not make responsible decisions; however, it is important that they do not start to think lower of themselves or let society place a label on you because of that mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, and there will be many more to come but always remember that the most important part is that you learn from each mistake that you make and make a promise to yourself to do better in the future. If you have experienced being diagnosed with an STD it is important that you take the necessary steps.
1) See a Doctor
If you already know that you have an STD it is assumed that you have already been to the doctors; however, when you are talking with the doctor make sure to be completely honest with them about how you feel or how your body is reacting. It is important for your doctor to be aware of everything for you to have the fastest recovery possible. Being completely honest with your doctor and asking them any questions that you have is not only better for your health, but it will give you a peace of mind.
2) Start treatment right away
It is very important to get your prescribed medication right away, curable or not! if not treated ASAP, some STD’s could lead to serious health problems such as fertility. Also make sure that the medication is taken as prescribed for the entire duration of time that your doctor has prescribed. Your symptoms may lessen or even completely disappear, but that doesn’t mean that the STD is gone so.
3) Tell any other sexual companion
Whether you are single or not, it is important that everyone that you are intimate with from that point forward knows that you have an STD. It may be a hard conversation to have, but it isn’t fair to them to be left in the dark when it comes to this issue. This way you and your partner can protect yourself by practicing safe sex or following through with any other precautions.
4) Tell someone
In this world, it is hard to open up to anyone at times due to the fear of being judged. With that said, it can be very hard for a person to go through a process like this alone. Take a chance and find a family member that you feel will be supportive and listen to how you feel about the entire ordeal. If you don’t really want to share that kind of information with your family remember that there is nothing wrong with going to a therapist to unload the emotional stress that can come from handling a situation such as this.