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You guys should do it. There are tons of places that test for free and you will have a weight lifted off your shoulders.
or not...
Fair enough.
Edit: Dammit! The point was to convince these guys to do it! I didn't get my first test until maybe 4 years ago. I used to get stressed out on it and now I never worry. I have been tested 3 times and it becomes less of a stressful ordeal every time.
I get tested all the time, it makes sense, I mean why wouldnt you?
I went to get tested last June, it's somewhat long and not sexually awkward in the classical sense, but this is what happened:
I went to my medical center in early June for a respiratory issue and was prescribed antibiotics. They told me to call if I was still experiencing issues. A week passes by, I'm still congested so I call, get checked out + X-Rays in case of bronchitis, and am prescribed steroids. At this juncture they also schedule me for a yearly check-up two weeks later, at which point they'll ask me how I've been with the respiratory stuff unless it worsened and had to come in sooner. Those first two times were with the same doctor.
Two weeks later I go in, I'm breathing just fine, and the new doctor comes in. He asked me how I was doing, I replied I was feeling better, but then he said my X-rays worried him; it looked like mild lung disease. A blank canvas stretches over my eyes as I ask him how that's possible, and he quizzes me on how I feel, what my symptoms were like, a bunch of those types of questions. Five minutes later he's relieved that I'm feeling well, and said something along the lines of the oxygenation in my cells in the X-Ray disprove any form of disease anyway. He also didn't know when this X-Ray was taken, and was under the impression that I had it done yesterday. I don't know how he was unaware of that fact; I'm pretty sure I saw the date on the scan or the folder it came in. Either way, I'm so confused at this point that I don't know if I should be pissed off yet because I was just so relieved. Then we get on with the usual check-up shit.
A few minutes into it, I decide to just brave it and ask for a STD test. He pauses and asks if I'm been sexually active lately and reply that I haven't been. He then asks me if I'm worried about a certain individual, and I mull it over and reply with a shrugging, "Naahh." He starts to chuckle and asks, "What do you want to get tested for then?" My face turns to stone and I tell him, very slowly, "Peace.. Of.. Mind.." He straightens up and starts typing, while I'm thinking that I must be on some suburban localized version of Punk'd, or Indian version of Doctor Ben is just here to fuck with me. After some minutes of typing, he asks, "And you want to get tested for HIV?," to which I reply "Yes" before I can let anything abusive formulate in my head to do to him. Of course I want to get fucking tested for HIV, most STDs pop up within six months of the last sexual encounter, that shit can hide for years! A little bit later he brings up a situation to me and we have this conversation:
Dr: "Sooo.. I'm not sure if your health plan covers this, so I'm just going to put down that you have an Unspecified Venereal Disease."
Me: "Why, so it'll be cheaper?"
Dr: "Yes."
Me: "How long is it going to say in my records that I have an 'Unspecified Venereal Disease?'"
Dr: He waves his hand at the screen as if shooing a fly, "Oh, I'll get rid of it once the test results come in, so about two weeks."
Me: "I don't want that in my records,
at all. So how about I call my insurance company to see if they cover it, and reschedule for a test." All the while I'm thinking, 'I know I can get this done at a free clinic. What the fuck is this nonsense?'
Dr: He chuckles to himself again and says, "Yeah, [more chuckling] that's probably a good idea." And deletes the request.
Annnd I haven't looked into it since. There was also some shit about getting tested for food allergies, but I've written enough. This doctor is a fuckhead.