Welcome to another edition of Daily Sparkz patient stories.
At Daily Sparkz, we believe that sharing personal experiences can help reduce the stigma that many people feel about getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases. We’ve collected stories from people who got tested to inspire and encourage others to take this important step in their sexual health.
Certain names and details in these stories have been changed for privacy reasons.
If you’ve had sex and are worried about sexually transmitted diseases, Daily Sparkz is here for you.
“It was a problem I had to deal with. You hear about things like this happening to other people and you think, What’s the problem? But when it happens to you, it becomes so real. Ugh.”
Izzi is not the type of person you would expect to be so open about getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases. When Daily Sparkz spoke to her for the first time via video call, she was fully made up and wearing a light blue floral dress, as if she were spending an evening with friends on a patio. She speaks quietly and her answers are curt and curt, as if she’s about to say something she’s not sure she should.
“Sorry,” she said, raising her hands to her face. “This is difficult.”
Izzi’s story began when she was in her twenties. She went on a group vacation to Amsterdam, where she met a history teacher named Rolf through one of her cousins who lived in Rotterdam. They met one evening in a bar in front of a tram stop when the fairy lights began to flicker, marking the end of the day at 6 p.m.
“He seemed really interesting. I think we had the same sense of humor. He said his uncle was an animator in Finland who worked on the Moomins. I loved the Moomins as a kid. After he told me that, we set off.”
Izzi ended up extending her vacation from four to seven days. She lived with Rolf in a small apartment overlooking a canal and a small square where an orchestra gave free concerts.
“I’ve never done anything like this before. It’s not my style. I don’t think I would ever do it again. My boss told me at work! By the end, I had this weird feeling about the whole thing and was ready to go home. Plus, after the third day, we didn’t have much left to do. There’s only so much you can get out of a situation like that.”
Izzi and Rolf stayed in touch over the next few months and always planned to meet again, but never got around to it. Eventually the trip faded from her memory and she moved on with her life.
“It was an issue I had to deal with. You hear about things like that happening to other people and you think, ‘What’s the point?’ But when it happens to you, it becomes so real.”
“I remember back then it was important to get a test to find out if I had been exposed to something. I took one, but it was negative. So I didn’t think much about it after that.”
Izzi returned to London and worked as an editorial assistant at an academic publisher. But six months into her trip she met Tim, an engineer from Flintshire.
“Tim was very adamant that we both get tested before we get (medically examined). I didn’t mind. I told him I had gotten tested recently but I could do it if (it would make him happy). He said his mother always taught him to protect himself and get tested as often as possible since she had hepatitis at some point in her life. I wasn’t worried because I was the first time was negative.”
However, Izzi’s assumptions were wrong. She got tested through a private provider and when the results came back, she was surprised to find she was positive for chlamydia.
“It was very embarrassing. I approached the whole thing so calmly. I was really shocked. There were never any symptoms, no signs that anything was wrong.”
Izzi wondered how this could have happened since she was tested after her liaison with Rolf.
“I think maybe I got tested too early? I looked into it. Apparently you can only test positive after a while. I got tested right away. Maybe I didn’t give it enough time.”
Ultimately, Izzi was happy with how things turned out. She went to her doctor to get medication that cured the infection almost instantly.
“What happened was really a stroke of luck. If I hadn’t met Tim, I probably wouldn’t have found out I had it. I would have felt terrible if I had passed it on, especially to him. And then there are the long-term health problems. I know that chlamydia can affect having children over a long period of time. I got a little stuck on Wikipedia. Luckily, I had some tests done and My family doctor said everything was fine in that regard.”
Izzi was categorical when asked what she would say to other people thinking about getting tested.
“It’s not worth putting off. I know a few people who haven’t been tested yet and probably should. It’ll take a few minutes. Done.”
When we asked if she was having children, Izzy said she was making plans.
“Right now we’re just trying to have fun and not think about it too much. Who knows what could happen?”
Don’t leave your sexual health to chance. Book an STI test at a sexual health clinic near you.
