negative culture, still terrified

[skeerd]

sorry this is long.

about 2 days after a sexual encounted during which the condom broke, i felt feverish. then i noticed about 3 or 4 small, red bumps, looking just like ingrown hairs or irritated follicles. i went as soon as possible to have them cultured. the nurse said they didn't look like herpes. she also found a piece of condom inside me which she said could account for the fever, as my body could have been reacting to the foreign material inside me. she said i had some bacteria and gave me antibiotics for that. the skin on the bottom of my vagina remained itchy. and ever since noticing the bumps i became convinced i had herpes and obsessed over looking at them all day every day and pulling at my skin trying to get a better look. the bumps never hurt, never oozed, never opened. they went away in under a week. i still feel mildly itchy like a yeast infection but nothing severe at all. i had to wait about a month for the results, kept experiencing delay from the lab. finally, the nurse told me today that the culture was negative. however, i had also ordered a blood test and she said that when they send the samples to the lab, the lab won't do a blood test if there is a culture too! isn't that crazy? i am very very worried because i know that cultures can result in false negatives and i was feverish. at the same time the sex was very rough and i was traveling and there was the issue of the ripped condom piece. any ideas? i know i need to get another blood test. am i right in being suspicious of the culture results?

[skeerd]

i forgot to say this forum is great

i forgot to say, because i was so self involved in my fear, that this place is a good resource and i can tell a lot of people care about giving thoughtful, helpful feedback