I got tested y'all!!!

Earlier this week I got tested for HIV. I did it because I have been promoting World AIDS Day (December  1st) on Twitter and Facebook and "Know your Status" but I have not been tested since last year. I know my status; I do not have unprotected sex nor do I have multiple sexual partners. Despite all of this I felt I needed to get tested AGAIN as a sexually active adult.
I see a lot of my peers saying "Yeah, I know my status" but have not been tested in years.

Every sexually active adult should get tested at least once a year. 

Once, that is all. I do not think that is to much. We can take time to buy the new purse, new car, go on the "Girl's Night" or "Boy's Night"  trips, concerts but we can not take at least an hour to get tested.

In the early years, we would get the blood test by needle and have to wait at least a week for the results. During that week of waiting we would be on edge; thinking about all of our sexual partners over the years. We would think about all the times we did not use a condom or the times the condom broke. We are on edge for those days as our sexual life flash before your eyes. Introduce the 20 minutes oral test (Ora-Quick).

Oral tests can be performed in a doctor's office or clinic. To use an oral HIV test, the inside of the mouth is gently scraped and the saliva is tested for the presence of HIV antibodies. The result is as accurate as the blood tests because the saliva is tested using an EIA test and then a Western blot test if necessary.

While you are waiting for your test results the counselor will discuss with you your sexual history:

• How many people have you slept with?
• What are their gender? male/female?
• Have you ever had anal? oral? vaginal sex?
• Do you use condoms? How often?

Now getting tested has become even more convenient. The new test is called Uni-Gold Recombigen HIV (Rapid Testing). 

This test produces very quick results, usually in 10 minutes, much faster that the standard HIV tests (EIA and ELISA) that are not available for one to two weeks. These rapid tests are increasingly being used because of the faster turnaround time.

This was the test I took on Monday. In the time it took for the counselor to ask me about my sexual history the test was done and I knew my results- NEGATIVE. It was a sigh of relief but I already knew what my results were going to be.

As I mentioned, the counselor asked me how often I used condoms. For the most part 95% of the time I have had sex (in my 10 years of sex) I have used condoms. The counselor told me with that percentage and my other factors the chances of me contracting HIV are low and I tend to keep it this way. Hopefully the older you get (if you are actually maturing and growing) the more you take responsibility for your sexuality by using protection. I admit in my early 20s/late teens I did not ALWAYS use condoms. As I have gotten older, condom usage is a MUST.

I got tested to accurately promote "Know Your Status... Get tested, Stay Protected. Know your status today, if you are sexually active; not what you tested 5 years ago.

Overall HIV/AIDS is a serious disease. Be careful. Know your status, Get tested, more importantly STAY PROTECTED!!!!! 

I want to share one more thing with you. Does anyone remember Rae Lewis Thornton? She was diagnosed with HIV at the tender age of 23 and is a 27 year survivor. I was going through my tweets (My name is StacyAustralia and I am a Twitter addict) and I came across a tweet that led to this site. It was re-tweeted into my timeline and it is an account of one of Miss. Thornton's worse days living with AIDS.

HIV IS NO JOKE; GET TESTED, STAY PROTECTED!!!

WORLD AIDS DAY
DECEMBER 1ST

Sources:
 Oral Test,
RapidTesting,
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