From: Brant 12
To: Nancy 211
Date: 11-13-91 20:19:27
Subject: HIV testing

     I agree people these days should be tested.....and the best
way to motivate that is for women (ever the sexually responsible
gender) to require their men to get tested, and a couple thinking about
going ballistic, I mean starting a sexual relationship, could show
each other their....negative results.

    I've been tested.....a mere few months ago, and no new sexual
partners since then, gosh ding it.....the Public Health Lab of the
Orange County Health Care Agency does it for free......it's a walk
in, 5 mins to take a blood sample (they open a new needle container
in front of you, and wear a new pair of rubber gloves), and you get
a numbered receipt......

    Two weeks later, you call and get an appointment time, and walk
in, 5 mins in a private room to give you the results, and you walk
out.....happily armed with your ticket to ride.....heh

    When I got my results, there was a very finely groomed young
man in the waiting area, big studly guy, crying his eyes out behind
sun glasses........after all, being HIV positive IS a death sentence,
10 years tops, 2 or 3 average.  If you test positive on the first ELISA test,
they repeat it, and if that is positive as well, they do the more
expensive (and far less false positives) test...I forget what it's
called.....

   OC Health is located at 1729 W. 17th St, in Santa Ana....it's
just west of Bristol on 17th, right across the street from Santa
Ana college (now called Rancho Santiago college, ha)....the section
that does the testing is the Special Diseases lab...ask at the Info
desk and they'll direct you what color line on the floor to follow....

    They recommend that anyone who has had unprotected sex (they
mean without a condom, not paternity insurance!) in the last 7 or
8 years get tested......or shared needles.....and they mean hypo's,
not biting repartee....

    There's a hotline number : 1-800-922-2437

           Spanish Speaking  : 1-800-222-7432

      Hearing Impaired / TDD : 1-800-553-2437



     Oh ya, if you were captured in suspense, my results were NEGATIVE
("HIV antibody NOT detected.")

                                 Your neighborhood Clean Machine,

                                                TasT Rex