Something Positive for Positive People

*Trigger Warning* In this episode of Something Positive for Positive People, 26 year old Katie talks about her experience with HSV-2 which she contracted 3 years ago from a sexual assault. At 2:00 into the episode it is first mentioned. At 6:00 into the episode, Katie tells the story of her sexual assault. This story and conversation ends at 24:30 just before you hear me say, "Now back to the herpes".  Shortly after her diagnosis of HSV-2, she met and disclosed to her now boyfriend putting her at a 100% successful disclosure rate. Just a heads up for all the haters lol.   I would like to ask for your forgiveness for making the statement that makes Katie's sexual assault makes everyone else's means of contracting their std seem like nothing. So for that I apologize. I caught it in the moment but continued to say it anyway. My friend I had proof-listen to this episode pointed it out to me.  Follow me on Instagram @CourtneyBrame for more updates on the podcast. Episodes will be released regularly on the first of each month with bonus episodes in between. I'm always looking for guests to share their experience with stds and skin to skins (My attempt to de-stigmitize the skin to skin virus, herpes). Stay Positive!

Cassie, 29 year old St. Louis resident, food service working, heterosexual HPV & HSV2 Positive female . . . . There, I think I covered it all in a half-assed sentence (lol) shares her personal experience living with HSV2 after being diagnosed at age 17. IT, the Clown, is a perfect analogy for what stigma does to us. In IT, the clown was most powerful when the children were alone dealing with IT. Let's Replace the word IT with stigma. The stigma attacked the kids and caused physical harm UNTIL they began to talk to one another about it. When they realized they weren't alone, the stigma fought harder. The kids knew they had to hold strong and stick together. They went down there and kicked that stigma's ass! Next time you get down about herpes, just talk to someone about it. It wants us to feel alone because it draws power from that fear that comes from loneliness. The stigma loses it's power when we find ours in community (when we are ready). Let's kick this clown ass stigma's ass!!! We talk about our experiences disclosing (and sometimes not), the false sense of security condoms bring people who think that the use alone protects them from stds. Cassie has had repeated successful disclosures and often made the decision for the other person not to move forward intimately because they don't fully recognize the risks. Oftentimes because we have an std, we feel an overwhelming sense of relief when we are accepted by someone for our condition. However, we KNOW our status and don't often think to have the other person recognize the risks involved or fully understand what their own status is. The thing I found most interesting that Cassie shared with us is that in her experience, she's known women decide not to have children because of their herpes diagnosis in fear of the risks that can occur. Cassie has two healthy children she birthed vaginally and they have yet to experience any visible symptoms of HSV. The takeaway here is to REALLY find a safe place to talk about it. By safe place I mean blogs, forums, online communitiies, close friends and relatives too.  I also said Fucking a LOT. Cassie and I really clicked and I felt comfortable enough to have the free flowing conversation we had. Apologies for the offenses. Please subscribe to the podcast for new episode updates. Rate and review us on your podcast player to help more people find this content. I can be found on Instagram @CourtneyBrame I am not a medical professional and please understand this content is experience based. If you have any concerns about your medical health, please seek guidance from a licensed medical professional.

It's very rare that you hear about people disclosing and having success. I've been fortunate to have Tim come on and share his most recent success story with us. While shy at first in speaking on the podcast, you hear throughout as Tim begins to open up and get more comfortable sharing his experiences leading up to him meeting an amazing person and how that awkward conversation can potentially go if you're willing to put yourself out there. I originally wanted Tim to share with us BEFORE he disclosed to capture the emotion of leading up to it then I realized that was super selfish and I should have checked in with him to see which was best for him. Fortunately it went well. He has a pretty amazing weekend lined up for himself and his girlfriend coming up. For obvious reasons, Tim couldn't go into too much detail about his past or his situation due to his need to remain anonymous and given his previous workplaces. So a lot of the pauses are just him finding other ways to word things or me making sure we stay away from digging too much into that kind of info. For more updates on Something Positive for Positive People, follow me on Instagram @CourtneyBrame Stay Positive

This episode highlights River. River is living with HSV and had a rough time getting the medical guidance she needed after her diagnosis. Being diagnosed with herpes is one thing but not having an idea of the 'next steps' can make for a more horrific experience. Fortunately for River, she had a strong support system, her fian- I mean boyfriend was there for her the entire way. (Inside joke about the fiance part) lol. Gotta listen to get that joke  Please rate and review this episode on your podcast player to let us know what you thought. I can be found on Instagram @CourtneyBrame Stay Positive

28 year old Luna is an herbalist, blogger, ethical slut, intersectional feminist, spoonie who FINALLY gave in and made an FB account sharing her amazing work! You should listen to this episode if you're nervous about disclosing. Luna gave me confidence to share my story with those close to me. If she didn't, not near as many people would know about this podcast so I know she'd be encouraging to you. I had the pleasure of getting Luna AKA @Herbslut to meet with me again to redo our episode together. She and I can talk for hours and hours so I did my best to limit it to under 1. We stayed on topic . . . for the most part. She even did a great job covering for me while I jumped up to get the door to give my Granny the keys to my car. Just a disclaimer, she was laughing at that around the time of the knocking lol.  This woman's bravery inspired me to share the podcast with my community and then be open about my condition to those around me. Not that I run around saying I have herpes or anything like that, I just don't avoid the topic altogether anymore.  We also discuss having the conversation about stds with potential partners. Being polyamorous, Luna shares her template for disclosing to potential partners.  We touch on the sex education and how sex is portrayed in media using Wonder Woman as an example. Enjoy. Luna can be found @Herbslut on Instagram or www.herbslut.com. Twitter: @Herb_Slut Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/herbslut Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herbslut/ Thank her via Twitter and/or by leaving a review of this episode on your podcast player so more people can find this podcast. I'm @CourtneyBrame on Instagram! Stay Positive.

"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, except herpes, that happens everywhere". - Christine Seyk AKA RunnerGirl Advocate for HSV and HPV. I think it's important to share the stories of individuals who are more open about their sexual health. Not saying anyone has to rock a herpes shirt by any means, but I want more people to understand what self-harm you do to yourself emotionally by shaming yourself into loneliness.  You should listen to this if you feel like people knowing your status is going to affect how you're treated.  Without giving too much away, I'll let my girl Christine take it from here. Runnergirl can be found: (Below Links) https://www.facebook.com/cdseyk http://www.iamrunnergirl.com/iamrunnergirl-home/about/  Thank you for subscribing, rating and reviewing Something Positive for Positive People! I can be found @CourtneyBrame on Instagram. Stay Positive!

So we've decided to refer to herpes as an STS(v) Skin to skin Virus rather than an std since the herpes virus is transmitted through more means than just sexual contact. Angela Johnson of www.projectaccept.org shares with us her experience with cold sores since she was 10 years old. Now 51 years of age (and wine fine), she takes every opportunity to educate others about cold sores (which are herpes) whenever she has an outbreak. Angela has no shame... (except for what we discuss in the opening of part 2 of this episode) about her herpes. She wears it proud and does all she can to combat the stigma behind it, especially for those who contracted it by means other than sexual contact. Tune in to this episode for inspiration to shift your perspective of this STS(v) and open yourself up to the idea of becoming a lighthouse to someone by educating them about our condition and YOUR experience. Please rate and review this podcast. Subscribe as well please! I can be found on Instagram @CourtneyBrame Stay Positive

The most important takeaway from this episode depends on your own personal experiences and how you can relate. Kim shares her story having an 11 month marriage with a man who had lived with HIV for more than 8 years. Kim found out about his diagnosis when her late husband was literally on his death bed. After going through his medical history and journals, she found that Brandon, her late husband, had sought out spiritual counseling and the guidance he had received was to NOT treat himself and that his faith should lead him through his condition. Spiritual leaders and other people in positions of influence are going to give their opinion when consulted on topics based on their knowledge on the subject, even if that knowledge is minimal. We cannot stop them from doing that. What we CAN do is seek medical advice from qualified medical professionals when it comes to our health. Here's Kim's story! About the guest: Kimberly M. Knight is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina. She graduated from North Carolina Central University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Family & Consumer Sciences concentrating in Family &Community Services and is currently pursuing her Masters Degree in Social Work . She served as anAmbassador of the North Carolina AIDS Action Network Women’s Empowered Team which worksdirectly with the Greater Than AIDS program for Alicia Key’s Empowered Initiative and has volunteeredat the Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolinas since 2013. Her personal interest include her lifestyle blog,The Lux Blog™ , that discusses art, culture, entertainment, and style for North Carolina. She's anManaging Online Content Editor and Contributing Writer for Sheen Magazine​. She’s covered red carpetevents at the 2016 Black Girls Rock Awards, Sheen Magazine’s Legendary Weekend, and the LamplightAwards. Currently, she’s a Graduate Research Assistant with UNC’s 2BeatHIV Project for the GlobalHealth Infectious Disease Institute. Please rate and review this episode if you haven't already via your podcast player! Follow the show on Instagram: @CourtneyBrame

49 year old Soiesette is HSV2 positive. Our conversation more so focuses on her willingness to continue a marriage with her husband who found out he was HIV positive after going to the doctor for a foot problem he was having that didn't appear to go away. Soiesette spent the next year going to get tested every three months and by the end was negative for HIV. She accepted her husband's diagnosis and trusted in the vow she made both to the man she married and God. They went through counseling together in order to continue the marriage. With medication and research showing the reduction of risk of transmission, she was willing to go through the process for the sake of her marriage. The one thing that held them back was her husband's mindset of "If I have sex with my wife, I will kill her". For that reason, they parted ways and my homegirl Soiesette is on the market ya'll! They still have a positive relationship with one another. What I want to highlight here is her husband's mindset about killing his wife if they have sex. This is a normal fear to have. Nobody wants an STI. Nobody wants to pass on an STI to a loved one. We often block our own blessings due to our own stubbornness and we punish ourselves with exile and isolation to a degree even when we don't HAVE to do that. Love is unconditional, we shouldn't block ourselves from this type of loving energy by shutting off to those willing to take the risk with us because we are in fact worth it! I do not know what I'd do in this particular situation even given the knowledge we have now or the medication that reduces the risk. I don't think any of us can say unless we are in this situation. Soiesette obviously felt this man was worth the risk, even though her HSV-2 increased her risk of contracting HIV.  For more information on Soiesette and her involvement in the community, visit: www.agiftofpurpose.com Follow Something Positive for Positive People on Instagram @CourtneyBrame Please rate and review the show on your podcast player. Stay Positive.

Short version, we talk about HPV and the sexual assault that surrounded Chrissy contracting it. Viewer discretion advised. The number 1 takeaway here is more of a societal issue than anything. The oppositie of love is indifference! That's the word I couldn't think of in this episode when I hit that stumble point! Indifference enables nonloving situations to take place. Don't be indifferent. This episode highlights 31 year old Chrissy who was diagnosed with cancerous HPV she contracted at age 16 after a series of sexual assaults. Growing up in foster care, Chrissy had to un-learn what she thought love was from her foster family. After finding her mom, Chrissy tried to build a relationship with her. This ended when her mom chose her then boyfriend over her own daughter. The creation of Love Out Loud was brought about once Chrissy learned she needed to love herself. Once that realization was made, she was able to not only love others, but teach them to do the same. https://www.loveoutloudshow.com/ LoveOUTLoud is designed to promote self confidence, self love, while not changing who you are. Speaking at rehabs and group homes, I have a chance to relate to those who have had a rough life and want to better themselves. I have found through speaking, and telling my story, I have helped people gain the self confidence and self love they have missed out on for so long. Instagram: LoveOutLoudShow   Please rate and review on your favorite podcast player. Follow me on Instagram @CourtneyBrame