My Experience with STI - Ken 21

"The It Couple"

I had never gotten an STI before and couldn't be happier. Unfortunately, my friend cannot say the same. They are uncomfortable, painful, and unfortunate experiences all around. My friend Ann went through a nasty breakup about a year ago. She loved the guy she was dating, and they had even planned their future together even though they were young and still in college. They thought they were each other's endgame. They were a couple, and we all admired them.

"Not so perfect."

Until one day when Ann found out that her "perfect" cheated on her, I don't know how she found out, but you know, ladies, they always find things out. She is angry and hurt; she has put everything into this relationship. There were no signs that would have warned her. It was a tough time for her. She also felt embarrassed by what people would say and think about this breakup. There is always someone ready to be mean to someone already going through a hard time.

"Casual relationships"

She swore off any serious relationships. She wanted to keep things casual. I cautioned her to be careful, even as she is with this. She seemed happier when she met different guys casually, went on dates, and slept with one or two. I constantly reminded her to be careful and use protection and contraception because things can go south quickly. Everything was going well until Ann admitted that something was wrong. 

"Something didn't feel right."

She says that her vagina was not feeling right. She had been feeling itchy for like three days, and the discharge she saw was not "normal." She also said there was an unusual and foul smell, and she also had some rashes and felt pain when urinating. As she described all these symptoms, I knew it was an STI. What do I do? She started panicking. I wanted to say I told you so, but I didn't because I wasn't there to judge her. 

She admitted that she had been seeing this guy, and when they decided to have sex, they did not use a condom; she just used P2 to prevent pregnancy.

"Our shared lesson"

We went to the hospital to get tests done, and soon enough, the results were out. It was gonorrhoea. We got the medicine and went home. Ann now vowed to stay away from sex for a while and always use a condom, regardless of the situation, when she was ready to have sex again. It was a painful experience that she didn't want to relive again. I also learned the same lesson from this experience; I will always emphasize the importance of condom use because you never know who could be infected.