Blog #4

This week I went to get my HIV test for Module 3. I had actually just went for a test on my own before I found out that we had to do it for an assignment so I will talk about that first since it was my very first HIV test. I went into the place (I think it was called Hope & Help) and waited to be called in. A lady called me in, explained how the test works, and asked me some personal questions about my sexual history, if i used drugs, etc. Then she gave me the OraQuick test in which you take a testing stick and rub it between your gums and your lips. Then she puts it into a solution and sends you outside to wait. 20 minutes later, she called me back and informed me that my results were negative. I was actually really nervous while waiting in the waiting room. I thought about all the ways I could have got HIV and what would happen if I did have it. I felt very relieved when I found out my results and it was all over with.

For my second test for the assignment I had to take the OraSure test. For that test, you have to wait 2-3 weeks for your test to be sent to a lab and your results to come back. It was pretty much the same as my other test. I was asked the same questions, given the same information, etc. The only difference in the procedure was that instead of rubbing your gums you just hold the test stick against your cheek. I was not nervous for this test because I already knew what to expect. I will not be nervous about going back to get my results either because I already know from my other test that I do not have HIV. I feel like if I had not taken the first test, I would be worried about it for 2-3 weeks. It would have probably crossed my mind at least a few times every day until I got my results back.

Did you Know -
In 2005, 65% of men who have ever had sex with men also reported sex with women. However, in another study, very small percentages of women who were having sex with MSM (men who have sex with men) reported having a bisexual partner which means most women are unaware that they are having sex with MSM. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009)
I learned about an experiment in my sociology class in which a man pretended to be a restroom attendent on one of the restrooms on the side of the highway. Many men go in those bathrooms to have sex with other men and he would record their license place numbers as they left. Then, he tracked each one of them down and found that most of them either had a girlfriend or a wife and were living seemingly straight lifestyles.
As a woman, if I had a boyfriend or a husband, I would feel secure that they were not having sex with men, but as this study shows, some men have sex with other men secretly. These are things to consider when choosing to have sex without a condom.

Works Cited:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008, August 3). HIV/AIDS Among Women. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/women/resources/factsheets/women.htm.

Week #3

This week's Question of the Week was a really interesting one. I liked being able to look at other people's opinions and conceptions about HIV and AIDS. One thing that really caught my attention when I was questioning my family was when I asked them if they would treat someone who had HIV differently than someone who did not. My mom said that even though she knew that you cannot catch HIV from a toilet seat, she would still try not to use the bathroom after them. She was not being ignorant, she knew you could not catch it that way, it was just something that would make her feel more comfortable. This really made me think about the views some people have about people with HIV. They look at them as people who are infected almost as if they have a plague and people that they should avoid. When watching one of the videos for assignment 4, I remember a part about a joke Eddie Murphy told. "It petrifies me 'cos girls be hanging out with [gay men]. One night they could be in the club having fun with their gay friend, give them a little kiss. And go home with AIDS on their lips !" (Gowers 1983). I'm not sure if Eddie Murphy actually knew that you cannot catch AIDS this way, but either way I think the joke was extremely distasteful. I can understand why the gay community was outraged at this joke. It is not fair to treat people with HIV or AIDS as if you can't come in contact with them, and it hurts peoples' feelings.

Did You Know - that in the USA, heterosexual transmission accounts for 72% of female HIV infections. (Avert, 2009) I think this is why it is so important to educate people about HIV and AIDS. I am still in shock that we are taught so little about HIV and AIDS in school and in the media. I mean, sure, I've heard about it, I know how you can get it but I had no idea how common it was. Also, I didn't really know much about what it was like for someone to be sick with HIV, I have never seen any examples or stories. It wasn't really something that ever entered my mind when making decisions. If I had taken this class, or been given a little bit of education similar to this in school, I think I would have taken the risk much more seriously.

Avert. (2009, September 18). Women, HIV and AIDS. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from http://www.avert.org/women-hiv-aids.htm.

Gowers, B. (Producer). 1983. Delirious. [Film]. Entertainment Studio.

Week 2

For my topic I picked HIV and women. This is a subject of interest to me because I am a woman so I would like to learn about other women who have been diagnosed with HIV. The first thing I looked up on the internet was white women and HIV. Since most cases of HIV in women are among blacks and hispanics, white women are often overlooked. Terri L. Wilder says in her article The Hidden Epidemic: White Women and HIV, "I just finished pulling up the May 2001 NIH Fact Sheet labeled "HIV Infection in Women" and it does not even mention white or Caucasian women." (2001) In the article, she also talks about how nobody believes her when she tells them she has HIV and how even though she went to the doctor often she had never been suggested an HIV test. Every time she ever took one it was because she asked for it. I found this to be true when my doctor thought I had oral thrush. She never suggested I be tested for HIV, she just assumed that I might have diabetes. I don't know if this was just to keep me from being worried, but you would think that since oral thrush is an HIV related illness, the doctor would suggest being tested for it.

For my organization outside of the state I found AIDSAlabama, an AIDS organization located in Birmingham, Alabama. They do things like give free HIV testing, provide housing for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS, and prevention education programs. One of the interesting things I found on their website was the "BratMobile", a large motorhome which they use to drive around and give out free HIV tests.

Works Cited:
Wilder, Terri L. The Body: The Complete HIV/AIDS Resource. (2001, September). The Hidden Epidemic: White Women and HIV. Retrieved September 14, 2009, fromhttp://www.thebody.com/content/art32215.html.

Week 1

Hi, my name is Holly. I'm 20 years old and in my junior year of college, going to school for social work. For my topic about HIV that I'm interested in I picked oral thrush. The reason I'm interested in this topic is because I found out about it when a doctor told me that she thought I had it. She had kind of a worried tone to her voice when she told me and said that it was no big deal but they needed to take some blood and test me for diabetes. She said that there was no real reason why a healthy, young person who wasn't on antibiotics should have thrush. I wasn't too worried about anything but when I got home I looked up oral thrush on the internet just to see what it was all about. Pretty much every website I went to said something about HIV and AIDS so I got really worried. The doctor had referred me to the throat specialist so I went there and it turned out that I did not have oral thrush but the scare of thinking that I could have HIV definitely made me decide to be more careful and not take any more chances of getting HIV. This experience was really my first introduction into sicknesses that might indicate HIV or go along with it. It was also the thing that really caused me to think more about HIV and fueled my interest in it.

So when I did my first assignment on oral thrush I already knew a lot about it. Thankfully, since I did not have oral thrush, I had never experienced the dryness and difficulty of eating the crackers and drinking the water with cotton in my mouth. I thought it was a good activity that helped us understand oral thrush and how it would feel to have it.