:wacko:So, you want to get tested but you want results now?

You want to know NOW if you have HIV???

You want to be able to tell your partner TONIGHT that you are clean?

You want to be able, with a clean conscious, lay with the person you love or knock boots with the fine brotha you saw at the club last week with a clear mind and heart by taking a HIV test?

Great job. I'm glad. I'm glad that you are aware to want to know your status. I'm glad you came to this blog and that when you finish this blog that you will go to your nearest HIV testing site

and get in the know.

But before you do, here's some information for you that can save you some grief. Hell, I just learned this, my damn self!

What's become a well known way to find out in a hurry is called the HIV Rapid Test or HIV Antibody Test…

This test is basically like a DNA test. You get a swab of the mouth or at some locations, a prick of the finger and the specimen is tested up to three times to detect for HIV-1 antibodies are present in the solution.

ok, let's stop and understand what an anti-body is…

antibody: an infection-fighting protein molecule in blood or bodily secretions that tags, neutralizes, and helps destroy bacteria, viruses, or toxins. Antibodies, known generally as immunoglobulins, are made and secreted by B lymphocytes.

[A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell produced in the blood, lymph nodes and lymphoid tissues… you know when you have a sore throat and go to the doctor, he places he hand up under your chin to see if “its swollen”? He's feeling your lymph nodes. If you are healthy, they are usually undetectable unless you swallow. But next time your doctor does that, ask if you can feel so you know where they are. They are primarily responsible for immune responses. ]

in response to stimulation by antigens. Each specific antibody binds only to the specific antigen that stimulated its production. (See also immunoglobulin; binding antibody; enhancing antibody; functional antibody; neutralizing antibody.)

Sorry for all the medical terminology, but when I explain, I want to be sure I know what I am saying and be able to have a way to break it down for others to understand; however if anyone can ever provide more knowledge, bring it!! Thanks! Also, go here for help with terms:

THE ABC'S OF HIV

Here's the catch with ANY HIV testing that you receive. Please do not leave this blog without committing this to memory:

There is a THREE MONTH window period in which for example you got tested today, February 8, 2007. Anything or anyone that you were exposed to will NOT be detected on this test for the previous three months you might have been exposed. That means who ever you did the freaky deeky with in January, December and up to approximately November 8, 2006 will not be detected.

Anything before those three months to when you first became sexually active is what the test reads. This is an important fact to know because in those three months you might have exposed yourself, it would be wise to be tested AGAIN in the next four to six months WITHOUT PUTTING YOURSELF AT RISK! That means NO unprotected sex, no sharing needles, no exposure to someone's bodily fluid who is infected with HIV. Once that test reads negative, along with your previous test, you can rest at ease that you are HIV free.

If you are unsure as to if you think you have been put at risk in your lifetime and are looking for a sign, go get tested if you answer YES to any of these questions:

· Have you injected drugs or steroids or shared equipment (such as needles, syringes, cotton, water) with others?

· Have you had unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex with men who have sex with men, multiple partners, or anonymous partners?

· Have you exchanged sex for drugs or money?

· Have you been diagnosed with or treated for hepatitis, tuberculosis (TB), or a sexually transmitted disease (STD), like syphilis?

· Have you received a blood transfusion or clotting factor between 1978 and 1985?

· Have you had unprotected sex with someone who could answer yes to any of the above questions?

Have you been with someone who's past you are unsure of? You can't answer these questions for them? Well, that means you don't know them that well and probably shouldn't be having sex with them, but that's like closing the door after the horses got out the barn because if you are reading this and are worried about your health, you have already made some sketchy decisions with your body.

I do NOT post these blogs to cause anyone to think less of themselves or to even insinuate that I think I am above anyone who doesn't get tested, I am just bringing the information to you. I am placing a resource in your face. I urge you, if you took the time to read this and you are concerned about yourself, your sister, your mother, your father, your friends, your baby daddy, your children… WHOEVER… Go get tested. I wish I had someone who was in my face yellin this to wake me up, but I didn't. So I am being that person. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!

I close this with a piece of my story…

The beginning…

I didn't lose my virginity until I was 19. It seems as though everything I have ever done in my life, good or bad was based on an emotion… I was raised to wait until marriage for sex and I preached it to all my friends. My high school boyfriend of three years, well, he hung in there as long as he could bless his heart until he realized I was serious. Tell me why I could hold out for three years with someone I cared about but all it took was some wild friends (ya'll still my girls, you know who you are!) and a really bad night at the club for me to just not care anymore? I call this part of my life… BEING FREAKY WITH THE JONES' (as in keeping up the Jones')…

stay tuned for the next installment to my story and for what to do if the test says yes!! or what to do if your partner refuses to get tested… the obvious answer to that before i blog is to GET AWAYYYY! RUUUUN!!!