Comments | wheeloffire: FYI- AIDS testing in the Brown area

wheeloffire

FYI- AIDS testing in the Brown area

Nov 30, 2005 19:48

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Comments 7

lily_shrike December 1 2005, 02:25:29 UTC

I'd only had one partner and we used condoms every time, so I'd considered myself pretty safe.

Then a friend who had only had one partner and used condoms every time went to her yearly gyno checkup and was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer from a very aggressive strain of HPV she'd gotten, despite the condoms, from her boyfriend, who had cheated on her while they were together.

At my next gyno exam I asked to be tested for STDs.

aumshantih December 1 2005, 17:05:50 UTC

Ugh that's awful. You do know there is now a Vaccine for HPV - I wonder if the University will offer it to their students.

funwithrage December 1 2005, 04:37:01 UTC

Holy God, they can do it with an oral swab now? Last time I got The Test, it involved my arm and a needle the size of a harpoon, and that was only a year ago. (Then again, Health Services may just be behind. Or hate me.)

aumshantih December 1 2005, 17:07:59 UTC

Yeah they total have the oral swab technology working these days. It's not *quite* as accurate as a blood sample (I think it has more false positives), but not having to wait for results for days/weeks/etc is awesome-tastic.

psychotropek December 1 2005, 08:02:29 UTC

I'd consider not having sex or even kissing someone since my last HIV test to make it pretty safe.

But as for people who think they are safe, if they have ever had sex, at all, even with the Virgin Mary or something since their last test, they should get tested. Because people lie n cheat n stuff.

aumshantih December 1 2005, 17:04:38 UTC

Condoms do work. And there is plenty you can do sexually that is at minimal risk. But it's best to be tested in any case.

arianhwyvar December 1 2005, 13:42:40 UTC

Really, just everyone should get tested. Don't even worry about whether you have to worry. It's free, painless, and half an hour out of your day -- if social expectation was that people would just go en masse without trying to decide whether they 'needed' to, I think a lot more people would get tested. So I'm in favor of encouraging that new social expectation however possible. :-)

Basically, 'only get tested if you have reason to believe you might be positive' stigmatizes getting tested itself. And that's no good.