STD's, Condom Use, and Pregnancy part 1

Ok so on the weekend I was having a chat with my friends and we got on the topic of STD's and they were throwing around the old stereotpes (which is fine) but I quickly realized that some of them really didn't know what some of them were and probably have no idea the prevalence of occurance. I just took a Moral Ed. Class last semester and I have learned alot about sex ed. so I will pass on some of my knowledge.

HPV (humanpapillomavirus) or Genital Warts is present in 80% of all sexually active people. Yes I said 80%. This means that if you've slept with 3 or more people, chances are you've been exposed at some point in your life. It is the most common STD to catch, but here's the catch; condoms will not prevent it easily. It is a skin to skin contact contraction so since more than just the penis has contact with the skin, it is possible to spread even with "protection". The best way of preventing it's spread is for the male to wear their boxers and a condom to limit skin to skin contact. This method is of course not fool proof but it helps.

People can carry and spread the virus even though they show no symptoms or visible warts. Some people will never have a problem with HPV for their whole life even though they carry it.
There are 100 different types of HPV some are worse than others. Some are linked to cervixial cancer, but many are just a nuisance.

HPV will clear up on it's own because our immune systems are pretty amazing things. Eventually your body will develop an anit-body and kill the virus off, and you'll be immune to that strain.

There is a vaccine being developed for a few of the cancer causing strains, as well as, some non-cancerous strains it should be released in 2006/2007.
As far as STDs go this isn't the worst you could have even though it's most common.

HSV1-2 (Herpes Simlex Virus types 1 (cold sores) type 2 (genital sores)
Not the most pleasent of STDs to have. The sores sting and look awful when flaring up. Again some people can live with Herpes for years without any signs of infection and then have a sudden flare up. A person with no signs of infection can spread HSV to another person. Again like HPV condoms are pretty much useless at preventing the disease.

It's estimated that about 30% of sexually active adults have one type of Herpes or the other.
Herpes is treatable with drugs like Valtrex with lower flare-ups.

That's all for now
More to come later
peace and be safe out there

An End, and a New Beginning

Ok it's been a month since I blogged but there have been some crazy things going on in my life thus far. The biggest thing is the break-up between me and Rhonda. This was the person I was going to resolve my life to, she was going to be my last gf ever. I fell hard for this girl and I did love her. So where did everything go wrong? I think it all started when we moved in together. I've never lived with a gf before let alone a gf with a kid. It took some getting used to but we were on a good track. I think though looking back...we should have waited and taken smaller steps. We basically went from being a long distance relationship where I might see her for a night or 2 per week to being all Rhonda and Tai, all the time. I missed my friends, and when they came down the few times to visit, shit was weird. None of the the houses we lived in were home either. Although the second house was promising for the first month we were there when her dad stayed with us. When Gord left, he left us high and dry, no vehicles, and no extra support. I really liked Rhonda's dad, he was someone I could talk about "guy" stuff with.
When he left, meals were rarely served at the table anymore...and well I'll be honest supper time has always been family time to me. "Grazing" as R puts it just doesn't do it for me, and it also take away the control you have over your childs diet. I wasnt' getting consistency on her part especially if she was tired from work and didn't want to deal with Tai. I was also getting tired of being in the dog house whenever I wanted to visit my freinds or co-workers. R has been so jealous of my close-tight friends and family too. We also had an arguement that really made me see her immature side and I really lost alot of respect for her and didn't see her the same anymore. I urge to flee, came sudden. When I returned, I went to talk with her and get everything out about our relationship. Which we did and I really wanted to take the girl back....but then Tai-shows up at close to 10:00pm at night, after riding her bike unsupervised. It was pitch black out by that time and a 6 year old has no business being out that late without a parent....and that was the kicker. I don't want this person raising my children and that is the bottom line. This isnt' something that can be worked on very easily and it requires her to help me out...I want consistancy for a child but I wasnt' getting that on her end. She's not the worst mother in the world so don't think that anything that I'm saying points to that. But we have different views on parenting, and what it means to be family.

so I left.

I'm sad...because everything was going so well....I had stability, and could have had a family. But I think she was lacking some key qualities that I need in a life partner.

It would have been so easy to go back to her. It's always easy to fall back on the comfortable. But when would all these issues raise their ugly heads again? It was like every 3 months with Kristie and then slowly they worked their way down to 3 weeks and then 3 days....(but I dont' want to compare apples and oranges). Shawna gave me the best piece of advice and said not to give into guilt or those tough sad emotions because they will betray you. After you make-up and get into a new honeymoon period, how long till that fades and the next cycle begins.

I stopped the cycle...but I'm still sad, and don't get me wrong I miss her deeply I loved her for a year of my life. She has many endearing qualities.