Grace - my intentions are not to confuse anyone, so I don't understand why you're blasting me for asking for clarification on her post and recurrence. To insinuate that my objective is to confuse people is ridiculous and unprofessional.
Cultures are highly reliable, but nothing is 100% because there is margin for error in the handling of your swab (although it's probably very low). Plus, it seems like you had a culture swabbed immediately during your recurrence, and it came back negative, which is strange. I'm not completely convinced you have it, and there are no certified experts in this forum, so I think it would be best for you to consult with leading herpes expert, Terri Warren, who is on MedHelp as well in the Herpes Expert Forum. If it turns out you do have HSV-1, don't be too hard on yourself about it since 50%+ percent of people in the U.S. have it and that percentage increases with age. By the time we're in our 70s, 90% of us will test positive for HSV-1, so more than likely you were bound to get HSV-1 at some point or another.
Here's a link to Terri Warren's forum if you choose to follow up on this issue. You can also become a patient of her clinic.
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Herpes/show/339