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Monday call Insights
Exploring the Connection Between Women’s Health and Genital Herpes: A Personal Journey and Community Insights
This week’s support group calls were deeply impactful, with both familiar faces and new members joining from all over the world. Witnessing everyone’s transformation over time has been heartwarming. We covered some crucial topics, particularly female health and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like herpes, and I’d love to share some insights from those discussions, along with personal reflections on my own health journey.
My Personal Health Journey: From Infections to Herpes
Looking …
Navigating Life With Herpes: Understanding Transmission and Embracing Parenthood
As always, I enjoy our weekly Monday support groups. We had some new members this week, and that always warms my heart. I love seeing how our community embraces new faces, offering kindness, empathy, and solidarity. One new member shared a beautiful reflection that moved me deeply: she expressed how grateful she was for finding the support group, as without it, she believed she would have been in a much darker place. She described still being in what she called the "Eeyore phase," feeling de…
Managing Herpes: What to Expect After a Diagnosis and How to Cope with Outbreaks
As you all know, I love our Monday support group calls. We had some new faces this week, and it was, of course, wonderful to welcome new people. I also love seeing the members who have been coming for years. We are all united by one thing—a microscopic virus. We are all here to learn, understand, and heal from our diagnosis. So, with that being said, let's talk a bit about being newly diagnosed since we had some new members this week.
I received some questions about what types of symptoms to …
Navigating the Emotional Waves of Herpes: Lessons from Our Community Support Call
This week’s support group call felt like a family reunion. We dove deep into conversations that stirred up some heavy emotions, especially around getting that first outbreak or experiencing one after a long period of dormancy. Herpes can bring up so many thoughts and feelings, and it’s important that we address them head-on, just like we did during the call.
One of the most profound questions raised was, "Do you ever have that moment when you think, 'I have herpes,' and feel down about it? What…
Why We Reject Our Partners First: A Deep Dive into Self-Worth and Herpes
This week on our support group call, we welcomed new members—yay! For those of you who have been with me for a while, you all know how much I love having new members in our community. What I find so important about our Secret Society is that we are made up of people from all over the world: different ages, religions, cultures, and backgrounds. In many cases, if we were put in a room, we may never have struck up a conversation, but because we’re united by one microscopic virus, we’ve come t…
Healing in Community: Why We Speak Out About Herpes
Breaking the Stigma: Why Our Herpes Support Community Matters
As always, I love our support group calls. If you're in the Secret Society Support Group and not jumping on the calls, then you are totally missing out on meeting your community friends and healing along the way. If you're not a member of the Secret Society Support Group, then you need to jump on board! We are a community of people from all over the world who are joined together by one thing: a herpes diagnosis. One of my fav…
Navigating the Fear of Transmitting Herpes: A Comprehensive Guide
This week on our support group call, we had some great conversations that went quite deep, and of course, there were some giggles and laughs. As you know, I personally love our Monday calls because we have become family. We were all brought here by the heartache of a herpes diagnosis, but through the silver lining of HSV, we've come together from all over the world to support one another and lift each other up. I truly love how we have members from all over the world—some who have had herpes f…
Embracing Your Inner Queen: How to Maintain Your Self-Worth After a Herpes Diagnosis
Elevate Your Self-Worth: Embrace Your Inner Queen (or King) with Coach Sarah Joy’s Insights
Wow, this week's conversation in the support group was nothing short of amazing. We had the privilege of having Coach Sarah Joy join our morning call, and as always, she brought a wealth of knowledge to our community. For those of you unfamiliar with Coach Sarah Joy, she’s been a recurring guest on my podcast and is an honorary member of the Secret Society. Her expertise on topics like the HSV virus,…
From Rain Clouds to Sunshine: Navigating the "Eeyore Phase" on Your Path to Acceptance
Navigating the Eeyore Phase: A Journey from Diagnosis to Acceptance
This week on our support group call, we welcomed new members. It always warms my heart to see new faces and know they are being supported by our community. We all know how lonely, lost, and scared we feel when we’re first diagnosed. Finding the Life With Herpes support group offers a place to grieve, connect, laugh, share our stories, and grow. So, welcome to the new members.
Among those joining us were individuals newly d…
Embracing Self-Worth and Acceptance: Transforming Life with Herpes through Support and Self-Discovery
This week on our support group call, we had some great conversations about acceptance, self-worth, and dating. Of course, it started off with talking about herpes and some herpes-related questions, but as we dove deeper into the conversation, I wanted to outline how getting herpes was an opportunity given to us to learn our self-worth.
Understanding Self-Worth Through the Pennies Analogy
Let's use the example of pennies. It takes 100 pennies to make one dollar. Our goal is to get to the do…