Serious Issue (539 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 0 on 1 review (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by <candy.at.hotmail.com> (View user info) at 2002-10-30 02:32:04 EST
Ok, so a few years ago when I was young and naive I was involved with an older guy. Seemed cool at the time. Yeah he screwed around on me, and yeah he was an asshole, but it was so 'in' at the time to be with someone older. Anyway, thats beside the point. Fast track to now, six years later. I was sick, some bug I couldn't kick. Went to the doctor, went through four blood tests, until he wanted me to do a HIV test. I felt like I'd been kicked in the guts. Not me, how could I have that dirty disease? I'm clean living, happly, healthy for the most part and have been married for three years. I reluctantly had the test. It was a 48 hour wait for the results. Never have I been more scared in my life. I prayed so hard, I promised things to God that I never thought I would, I grovelled, I cried, I couldn't tell anyone why I was so on edge. I didn't even tell my husband. I couldn't bare the thought that I may have put him at risk of such a huge thing. So this morning I went to the Doctor for the result. My stomach was churning. I hadn't eaten for two days. I hadn't slept. My eyes were still puffy from crying. My heart was pounding. All I could think about was Tom Hanks in Philadelphia and those horrible sores he got over his face. The doctor smiled and welcomed me in, but I was sure I could see a look of sadness in his eyes. I sat down and began sobbing. I actually said to him "I'm going to die because I'm such an idiot". He let me cry on his shoulder for a while. Then he gently patted my back and said "Not from HIV you arent." I looked at him and he smiled. "You are negative". Then I cried even more. So I can tell you now, that by going through that horrible ordeal that I will never ever ever again put myself at risk. Even though I am now married, if for any reason in the future I am single again, I will never ever put others needs before my own health. It's a big lesson people. Even if you think you have no reason to think you are at risk of having HIV, go get a test done. That wait will put you off any unsafe practices you consider doing for the rest of your life.
User Reviews
Submitted by Fisher (user info) at 2002-10-30 03:31:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
HIV will never be cured. It has an 0.85 mutation rate. That means only 15 of every 100 HIV copies are ever the same. If you know a little about evolution you would understand what that means. Maybe some of you highschoolers should think about evolutionary medicine. It should be a big field opening up as we speak.
Matter of fact, there are two strands of it now because of different life styles. Highly dense areas tend to get HIV II, a quicker killing strand, while less dense areas get the old HIV I which lets you live a little longer.
I know how you feel. I got that way when my girlfriend skipped her period a few years back. Funny thing was, we were still virgins. It took me a few days to figure out why she kept calling me retarded for worrying about it.