Well I went to my local Health Department this morning and had an HIV test done. And I took one of my boys along with me so that he will know what to expect when he's grown enough to handle the issues and responsibilities that come along with having sex with another person. I don't want him to be afraid to go and get tested. Of course I got the "crazy-look" when I explained why I wanted him to witness the proceedure! ANYWAY!!!
I'm really glad I decided to go, because now I can explain to others what to expect when they go the "the clinic" (of course you can go else where to be tested) and it was an educational field trip for one of my kids. In Alabama they do the Ora Quick (Real) mouth swab and it takes 20 minutes to get the results. But here in NC they do a blood draw and it takes 2-3 weeks to get the results.
An hour or two of passion and then 2- 3 weeks to find out if it was deadly or not! Wow!!
So you go in and sign a couple of consent forms and then the blood draw is done. Afterwards a councelor speaks with you and answers any questions that you might have. They ask you a few questions to help determine how high your risks of being or getting infected in the future are and they give you some information and a couple of packs of male condoms. I asked about the female condoms too and was told that they're so much more expensive than the male condoms they hardly ever have them available.:( They make sure that you understand what date your results should be ready and that's all there is to it! Now for the wait...but in the meantime...
They have FREE condoms at the front desk and friendly staff in the back!
While I was making my rounds there weren't but a few people in the HIV/AIDS clinic. But there were several young mothers in the Immunization clinic waiting to get thier babies vaccinated though. There is something backwards going on in our society, but what can we do to change it? Maybe we should do a "Take your youngster to the doctor day" where the focus is specifically on the management of thier own birth control and HIV/AIDS status? Just askin.. Because if the numbers keep rising at the current rate, the day will come when the number of people infected will out number those that are not.
When all our women are infected who is going to have the babies?
People want to act like nobody's having sex. Especially our young girls and young boys. It's as if they are not under any kind of pressure to "do it" or "give it up". But the truth is that they are and they do! And we can't always be there to protect them. I personally believe that our kids are smart enough to avoid risky behaviors that they have been educated about. For example, you tell your kids to stay in the shallow end of the pool when they don't know how to swim, right? Well I sure do! And I'm going to tell them to keep themselves protected from other peoples bodily fluids and know that they understand how to do that.
Think about it...Who taught you how to use a condom?
Just trying to practice what I preach...
