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I too had tested positive for the Herpes simplex virus later that week. Shivani wasn’t talking
to me and I was as blank and helpless as I never had been in my life.
We had an appointment scheduled with the doctor the next day so I thought I will remind her about it, but since I wasn’t able to speak to her directly I messaged her on WhatsApp.
Shivani we have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow at 4 pm. Hope you’d be having no engagements then.
She immediately replied- Yeah right, I just wish I wasn’t in an engagement last month as
well. You know, too much positivity in life ruins the fun of everything too. She was witty, but
this sarcastic, I didn’t know.
I chose to keep shut and carry on with the guilt silently. I had no defences and this was the best I could do, to not argue when I was clearly wrong. Just some moments pleasure had resulted in turning our lives upside down, something that was totally unprecedented at the time.
We reached the doctor’s clinic next day. She told us that HSV was something that can not be
cured, we have to carry it with us for our whole lives. However, the frequency and severity of
the outbreaks lessens over time. She suggested that if we see that ours is a worse case of the
HSV, we could go for a suppressive therapy as the identification of prodromal symptoms can
assist in the early recognition and treatment of the recurrences. That was quite reassuring and relieved our fears significantly.
Shivani was worried about the virus getting transmitted to the baby if she gets pregnant in the future, to which the doctor said that had she contracted HSV at the time of her pregnancy and especially in the last trimester, it could have been a cause for concern. But mothers who acquire HSV before getting pregnant develop antibodies by the time they have to give birth to their baby mostly. Also, if required the doctors can give the suppression therapy during pregnancy till the time of delivery so as to decrease the viral shedding of the HSV. Another option can be to go for a caesarean surgery to prevent the baby from getting in contact with a possible active lesion.
As we walked out of the clinic, my wife held my hand and said to me that although she was
disappointed in me for being so irresponsible and putting us in a state of jeopardy, what really was worrying her was the future and the adverse effects it could have on our children. And now she finally felt relieved and forgave me.
