YOUR BRAIN IS SPINNING!
What should I do first?
What call should I make right now?
What will they ask me?
How ready am I to tell a complete stranger about my sex life, and disclose the names of all my partners?
Why should I tell all their names when one of them gave this to me?
What if I can’t remember all their names? Will I go to jail?
How prepared am I to hear details and treatment options about my diagnosis?
How willing am I to do what my doctor, Case Manager, or councilor advises me to do about the STI I have?
What if someone sees me go in there? Won’t they know what is wrong with me?
What will I do if I know someone who is sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office when I get there?
I didn’t do anything so bad that I deserve this, did i?
how much is this going to cost & how am I going to pay for it?
Am I going to die?
My insurance is going to know now, so won’t my premiums go up? Then what will I do?
What is going to happen at my job when they find out? Do I even have to tell them?
Will I have to quit work? NOW? Later? Before I ever planned to?
How sick am I going to get?
How am I going to tell the ones I had sex with – Past & Present?
Can I EVER figure out who gave this to me?
What am I going to do if my “significant other” leaves when they find out?
What if my “significant other” is also positive for an STD?
There is too much to do, learn and so on…I have a busy life, how will I ever do this?
I already feel like I am losing it…How am I going to keep from going crazy?
Who will understand, and who will be able to support me through this?
Which of my friends and Family can I really count on? Trust? Will hold my confidence?
Why did THIS happen to ME?
Will there ever be a real CURE for HIV?
How do I tell…My parents, employer, children/grand children, the church, my other doctors, the pharmacist, the lady at the Food Court at the Mall, who wants to help me stop the bleeding on the finger I sliced open on her soda machine, just now?
We, the NRRC Members – Know What You Are Going Through
The HIV+ members of the NRRC (Nebraska Red Ribbon community) already know how you feel, and all of the questions listed above were ones we heard in our heads the minute we received our HIV diagnosis.
Believe us when we say you can do this but it won’t always be easy. Living today with HIV is not a “death sentence” like it used to be, thanks to decades of research and medicines becoming more tolerable giving us reason to be more compliant, so less of life will be spent juggling meds and treatments leaving more life for LIVING!
Got Results? Now what?
After receiving the results from your STI tests, the next responsible thing to do is get into a doctor’s office for treatment and follow-up care.
Treatment for STD’s varies depending on which one you have, and some STD’s, like HIV and herpes, have no real cure, but medicines can be prescribed to help slow down HIV virus replication in your body if taken exactly as directed, and as soon as you notice the tell-tale signs of a Herpes outbreak, meds can be given to reduce the severity of the lesions , for instance.
Only a doctor knows how best to treat you and your STI, and only they can comprehensively get you “back on the Wellness Road”.
MAKE THIS CALL! Don’t wait to act, since you might not know how long you have been infected or infectious. In the meantime, you could be putting your current lover at risk, which isn’t the most loving way of saying, “I Love You.” Now is it?
Case Managers are your Number 1 Link to Care
Doctors and Case Managers who help negotiate people newly diagnosed through services and resources available to them, can also begin to educate the HIV+ on how to reduce risk, helping to prevent more STD transmission in the future.
When one more person in a community knows their STD status, gets connected to treatment & care, and armed with proven prevention strategies designed to reduce risk, an entire community realizes the benefits!
START Right Now - It's Your Life!