Get TESTED!

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 9:16am

Hey guys,
On Monday, I went to the Callan-Lorde Health Clinic in Chelsea and got the full gauntlet of STI tests run on me. I'm still waiting on the results of two of them, but I'm happy to know that I am all clear.
It's frightening to read the literature on the number of HIV infections in this city. I'm trying to collate some data from this year but I did read a few things that point to an ALARMING rate of infection in the gay community in the first half of 2006 alone! That same article mentioned the growing rises in the Latino communities in New York (heterosexual) and the continuing rises in rates of infection in black men and women.
Go get tested! Callan-Lorde takes health care, offers a sliding scale based on income if you're uninsured, and the HIV test costs a whopping $10. There are plenty of places to get free HIV tests, too, including anonymous testing at city health clinics and even a plethora of sites in and around the city. In Chelsea, the BioScrip pharmacy has free testing several times a week and, last time I was nearby, I noticed that Rainbows and Triangles was offering it a few days a week.
But don't just stop at HIV. There are MANY STIs and almost all of them are more contagious and transmittable than HIV, including Hepatitis, and there are vaccines for two of the Hep strains.
Just because you don't have symptoms doesn't mean you're not infected, either. Many STIs cause almost immediate outward symptoms before they begin causing the kind of damage that can hurt you for life or kill you, but they just as often do not.
Sorry to go all PSA on you, but it's very important that you, in addition to taking preventative steps, check yourself out medically periodically so that you may correct a problem before it becomes too much to handle.
Be safe!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 9:18am

Good job, bway.

[Kringas]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 9:26am

I don't understand why more sexually active people (gay and straight) don't get regular tests. Well, I guess I do understand why, but it never ceases to amaze me how reckless people will be with their health and the health of others. I'm all for screwing to your heart's content; I just think that you should take some semblance of responsibility for it.

I get tested three to four times a year, even though I tend to stick to lower-risk activities. Some people think that's excessive, but it's one little thing I can do to try and retain some sanity.

You can get all your tests done for free at one of the various clinics here in Chicago - and if you know which one to go to, you don't even have to wait all day!

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 9:30am

Smart move, Kringas. I tend to get tested a LOT less when I'm in an actual relationship, as I am now, but that doesn't mean I'll cut it out completely. I think most health care professionals recommend HIV tests twice a year and, while you're there, why not get all the tests done? It's just good, common sense.
I get the fear, too. I KNEW I had no reason to worry about my HIV status, and yet I feared it. We approach these things with dread - if we approach them at all. Given the flippant attitude most guys under 30 whom I know in the city seem to have regarding STIs, if you have an ounce of intelligence in your brain, you'll get tested.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 9:38am

I get a quarterly HIV test and get tested for the rest usually once a year.

Or as I like to say, "An informed ho, is a happy ho." Now if I could just get past my new fear of Mercury poisoning, I'd really be a happy ho.




Updated On: 11/29/06 at 09:38 AM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 9:39am

Just don't have tuna for lunch on the day of your flu shot.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 9:43am

Or Salmon.
But I don't think Somms likes fish.

But it's a smart move to test the way you do, SOMMS! Since I finally have health insurance, I'm shopping for a good doctor who can provide me some good guidance on developing a screening regimen so I will always know I'm healthy.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 9:58am

FYI, if your doctor is good, they'll offer the testing as part of a full physical. I get a physical once a year (I'm still young), and I get my tests done one other time as well. Although I've been relatively celibate over the last couple of years, testing is too important to ignore.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:00am

Touchme, thanks for that reminder. A regular physical is offered (and required) to me through work but it does not include sexual testing, so I forgot that, with most private practices, they'll bring up that kind of testing, too. Don't say no to them!

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:01am

That's exactly what I do for the tests other than HIV. The prostate exam by my hunky doc is all the insentive that I needed.

[KelRel]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:04am

My female doctor requires all of her patients be tested at their yearly visit. If you decline the tests then she declines to be your doctor. It is so funny to hear these little old ladies in their 80's talking about getting the results back from their STI tests in the waiting room, but I am so glad the doctor does that. At least her patients get tested once a year, if not more.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:10am

Well, and some STIs, like Hep, are transmittable and still contagious enough through non-sexual activities that it makes sense to require your patients get these tests.

[Kringas]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:13am

With Friday being World AIDS Day, this is a timely message. I'll be hounding everyone I know to find out their status. It's pretty easy and (relatively) painless. Just a little needle prick, a little pee in the cup and the occasional swabbing. Swabbing's no fun, but neither is NGU, kids!


Edited to correct my day

Updated On: 11/29/06 at 10:13 AM

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:23am

I just got tested for a bevy of things at the expo a few weekends ago. It's been WAY too long, I'm embarrassed to say.

I'm supposed to call and get my results today. I always hate making that phone call.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:25am

Awww, would you like Auntie to call for you, dear?

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:26am

I love the word bevy! A bevy of men is one of my favorite things.

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:28am

Aww, would you? And then lie to me, like they do on soap operas? Perhaps that wicked Sami Brady switched my test samples!

Side note: Carrying and trying to conceal a cup of pee as I walked through the Javits Center was not the most pleasant experience of my life. You would think the booth would have been set up close to the bathroom, not on the opposite side of the convention hall from it.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:28am

They have to have their fun too, Calvin.

[RobbO]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:28am

while you're getting tested, also get the first of the three in the hep vaccine series.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:29am

I guess they were just using a little touch of levity to lighten up the situation.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:29am

Calvin you just discovered my favorite thing about being an event planner. Mwahahahahahahaha!

[Kringas]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:30am

Will they give you HIV results over the phone?

[RobbO]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:33am

Updated On: 11/29/06 at 10:33 AM

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:33am

Kringas, I didn't think they would. I know they'll give you most other results over the phone but I thought they required the HIV test results be given in person by a doctor or counselor.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/29/06 at 10:34am

Oh, Daddy, tell us that STORY!