Family exposure

[WorriedMom]

Hi Terri,
Thank you so incredibly much for writing the book “The Good News About the Bad News”! It has helped me more than any other book I’ve ever read (except the Bible and Judy Blume’s “Are You There God, It’s me, Margaret” LOL).
Back around 1999, I dated a man who cheated on me and I suspect it was then that I contracted HSV2. I was misdiagnosed (by negative blood tests) as not having herpes (even though in my heart of hearts I knew it was). After that, I met a wonderful man, married, had my healthy daughter by vaginal birth in July of 2002. During my ob appointments, I mentioned I thought I had herpes but was told I didn’t. My OB never gave me any kind of test for it. I don’t recall having any kind of outbreak during my pregnancy. But my outbreaks have always been very small and nearly non noticeable. I had my daughter with no complications. But now I’m worried that I could have passed the virus on to her during birth. She is 13 now and has never shown any signs of having HSV2. She was very sick with pneumonia and an abscessed lung in 2005 and hospitalized for 5 days. It seems that since her body was to taxed if she had herpes, would it have shown then? She’s never had any lesions anywhere, thank the Lord.
My question is, could she have gotten it during birth, and if she did, would it show now? Should I get her tested?
Also, what are the risks for someone hopping on the toilet seat right after I get off it? My mom does this. Every time we are out together and I go to the bathroom, she’ll say “Oh don’t flush yet, let me use it first” and literally push me off the toilet so she can sit down.
Thank you so much, Terri. I really appreciate it!

[WorriedMom]

I forgot to add that I did get another doctor in 2011to look at an outbreak I had and she said it did look like herpes, swabbed it (negative), gave me a blood test (positive for both HSV1 and 2) and put me on Valtrex to manage my outbreaks.

[Terri Warren]

If your daughter is well now, I think you can feel completely reassured that she did not contract your herpes at birth. If she had, she would have likely been very sick at birth and I take it that she wasn’t. Please don’t get her tested – there are many false positives in children and she is just at the age of being a child vs. being an adult.

Herpes is not transmitted via toilet seats so I would not give that another thought.

Also, do you have access to the index values (number) that went with your positive HSV 2 antibody test?

Terri

[WorriedMom]

Thank you so much for your answers to my questions! Oh, you don’t know how relieved I am to hear that about my daughter! She was a perfectly healthy baby and now a perfectly healthy tween! Whew!

I don’t know my actual values. The test was done at a clinic that I no longer go to, but I do remember the doctor specifically saying “you tested very, very positive for HSV 2”. I’ve never had a cold sore, but she also stated I tested positive for HSV1, too.

If I haven’t yet exhausted my questions, I do have one more:

I am scheduled for an abdominal hysterectomy next Wednesday, the 22nd. I have very large fibroids and horrendous periods. I am almost 43 years old, caucasian, and a non-drinker, non-smoker.
I haven’t had an outbreak in a very long time, but of course now I have one. I started taking my Valtrex 500mg 2x a day, and now it seems to be going away. My question is, during my ob’s, I tend to have a little itchy spot, tingling in my urethra (no pain) and a slight vaginal discharge so I assume my cervix is involved. If I have my cervix removed during the hysterectomy, how will that affect future outbreaks? By the way, I notified my doctor of my outbreak out of fear it would postpone the surgery, but he said everything should be ok and to continue taking the Valtrex. I do know that surgeries tend to trigger ob’s, so I plan on taking my Valtrex daily to stave that off.

Thank you so much!

[Terri Warren]

Taking your cervix should have no impact on your herpes outbreak patterns. The virus is living in the sacral nerve group which supplies that whole area, so taking the cervix will leave you with your herpes ;-(. Good idea to continue taking your Valtrex suppressively for a while – maybe a good two weeks past the surgery I think.

Terri

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