I just had an hiv test done, as I have not had one since my early teens (used to have to get blood transfusions) and I'll be getting my results next Thursday.

But I have a question. I have not shown any of the usual symptoms of hiv, but it has only been 2 years since the last time I could have potentially had an exposure (tattoos). My immune system as it is is not normal due to a rare genetic medical problem that makes it very very hard for me to heal and infact I have an open wound that I've had since birth that has never healed. If I indeed am infected with hiv, chances are given taht my immune system is already not normal I would be showing symptoms wouldn't I? My wound only gets infected every few months, I'd assume if my immune system was further impaired due to hiv I would have a lot more problems with infections wouldn't I? I did as a child when my immune system was way worse, I had infections every month. In the last 4 years I've only been getting infections about 4 times a year roughly. And my wound is pretty big, about 4 inches by 8 inches and the other one is about the size of a quarter. And the wound has not gotten worse, infact it is still slowly getting smaller and small over the last 4 or 5 years.

Sorry to be so long winded, just trying to give a bit of background on my medical problem. Anyway, my question is pretty much if I am infected with hiv even if it has only been 2 years since I became infected I would be having more problems with my other medical problem wouldn't I? considering that my immune system is already impaired?

Also, my husband gets a yearly hiv test, what are the chances that he could still be negative if I'm positive? we have never used any protection (been together 6 years but for a small period of time 3 years ago we were fooling around with another couple, never had sex but me and the other wife performed oral sex on each others husbands once).

I'm just really really scared of the test coming back positive given my medical problems already. I keep telling myself that I know my immune system is the healthiest it has ever been, but I keep getting that voice in the back of my head saying yeah but what if...

hello fairydust, put your fears to rest, i would have to tell you that getting hiv the way you discribe is extremely rare if at all possible. i don't think that its ever been recorded its happened that way so i would say you are fine.
for the one partner positive and the other neg yes it has happened alot even after many years of unprotected sex. also the sex you had with the other couple is about the lowest risk out there the odds are very much in your favor for that. i would almost tell you not to worry you should be negative when you get your test back.
good luck:)

thanks for replying! I don't know why I keep thinking "omg what if" and stuff. I have been having some problems, but all of them have been found to be other things (hormonal imbalance was causing menstrual and some stomach problems, and acid reflux was causing coughing and sore throat), but for some reason i just can't get it out of my head now. I have a friend who used to do a lot of work with hiv+ and aids people (she eventually got burned out emotionally and changed professions) and she keeps telling me my risk is really low given all my sexual history (not much of it, hahaha), but she convinced me to get tested so that I will know for sure. but now i am absolutely scared to get the results next week.

one other thing I forgot to mention. in my late teens they were using a product on me to dissolve blood clots in my iv implant that was giving out on me. I can't remember the name of it right now, but it was pulled off the market because it was being manufactured in Mexico and they weren't testing it for diseases that could be transmitted such as hiv, hepetitis, etc. i never got tested though to make sure i didn't get anything from it. but since that was nearly 10 years ago, i'd surely be showing symptoms or something i'd assume?

thank you again for replying. i've been stressing myself out over this for at least a week now. i don't have good luck when it comes to things (picked up a high risk strain of hpv from my first sexual partner for example. thats my kind of luck), so i kinda feel like if there's a 1 out of 100,000 chance i'd be the one that would hit that 1 chance that one time. I know thats a bad way of thinking of things, but I just have not been able to gt my mind off it lately.

the last risk you discribed would be the highest of them all, some people have been known to go 10yrs with no symptoms but thats pretty rare for the most part.
i would still think that your ok and your fears are for nothing.

the way i was infected was considered a very low risk but i ended being that "one" so it does happen. in the year i've been around here i can only remember one person who found out they were infected that was worried sick but they were a very high risk and they had found out thier partner was infected before they were tested. after that for the most part,most peoples fears are for nothing.
good luck with your test,you should be ok!

thanks again I really do appreciate your advice, and I think its wonderful that you post here to help other people out. I post mainly in the cervical cancer section because of my hpv, mainly to help answer questions and whatnot.

From what I've read it sounds like people can lead very normal live's, I guess my biggest fear is my other medical problem because I still hope and pray someday this wound heals so I can lead a more normal life (can't work because of it and it limits a lot of other things for me) and I'm afraid if I do test positive that my wound may never heal. and also of course I'd be so petrified of ever risking passing it on to my husband, that would be the worst thing for me. which makes me wish I had thought about it and been tested sooner, but I know I can't change the past and getting tested now is the best thing to do to make sure I'm not endangering him and for my own health obviously.

thank you fairydust and i feel its great that you do the same thing.
its ironic i noticed that you live about a 20 min drive away from me.
you are correct in saying you can live a normal life,i have done pretty good for being pos for 10 years.i even take it a step further as i'm enrolled or have gone thru quite a few hiv studies, they have done about everything you could imagine and i have the access to some advice of some of the best docs that are studying this.alot of their findings have been published in the new england medical journal and my case has also been used there. and if i really need to know i can get answers 24hrs a day as i have become good friends with some of the people who are behind these studies.
hiv puts alot of unnecessary fears into people mostly because they are un educated and also because alot of false info is floating around out there.
anyway thanks again and good luck you will be ok no matter what the outcome is but i think myself you will have a good one.

I noticed you were from the same state and I wondered how close you lived, but didn't want to be nosy lol. I just moved here a year and a half ago, so I'm still learning the area. I have definitely noticed that there is better access to some pretty good doctors and researchers here compared to back home (WA). Which I am very thankful for. So far for my medical problems it hasn't helped much, but it has been nice to get new opinions and stuff though.

I think it is so wonderful that you've participated in studies, I used to participate a lot when i was younger, but unfortunately everything always made my wound worse so I eventually stopped when I was in my teens. I had a lot of the misconceptions about hiv/aids also until I did some research to better understand it recently. Obviously I'm praying with every fiber in me that my test comes back negative, but I do know now that it isn't as bad as people tend to think. it's just my other health problems combined with hiv is what scares me so bad.

i think you will be ok,prayers or not,from what you have said,you are at a very lowww risk. you will find the best doctors and or care more towards the cities then around here.
here is a hint, if you don't have satisfaction or closure with your care, head towards a university hospital in the city like penn or robert wood johnson or cornell if you go, you will see they are alot more through and meticulious
then most if not all of the places near here.
good luck :wave:

I'm seen at Univ of Penn, no one local knows what to do with me lol. I haven't been to Cornell or Robert Wood Johnson, no one has suggested it before actually. At my next Univ of Penn appt I'll ask about those two places.

Thanks again so much! I'll update with my results next Thursday.

penn is one of the best and one of the places i go to. the other 2 have very good reputations from family and friends and are towards n.y. if i got really sick i would go to one of those before somewhere local. if you have been to a few different ones its not hard to see the difference between them. :)

Yeah I've only been to the base clinics at McGuire, been hospitalized at Virtua (nightmare) and been seen at a few off base clinics for various things. I have definitely noticed a difference between places here and Univ of Penn. Although I hate driving around Univ of Penn lol. I've been scheduled for an endoscopy at Virtua in Mt Holly next month, wish me luck lol. I was not thrilled with Virtua the time i was there. I did find a pretty good doctor (ID doctor) while I was there though and he treats me for my infections now. So one good thing came of it.

I received my test results today and I am negative.

thats some good news for you!
i'm glad that you are past that and are ok !

yeah i definitely am, i've been very stressed and depressed this week (my dog who was my life almost passed away from heart problems) and so i'm pretty sure if there was anything else wrong with me i'd be sick by now.

i hope your dog is ok
its wierd how much they can mean to you.
mine passed about a year ago and
i took that harder then alot of other bad things that have happened to me.

she didn't suffer much at all and passed away in my arms at home, which is something i always prayed for. she was just this tiny 3lb chihuahua that had one health problem after another and was so fragile yet always so strong. she just always amazed me and had enough love and gentleness in her little heart to fill 50 mastiffs. everyone that ever met her always commented on how sweet and loving she was for a chihuahua, she was not the typical yappy nippy chi. her little heart just finally wore out. our dogs are like our children since we can't have children and she was obviously very very spoiled and we called her the Empress of the house, and because of all her health problems we spent a lot of time on her and now its just so weird and empty without her. we have 5 dogs still (used to do lots of rescue work), but it seems like everything revolved around here at home. even the other dogs are moping and the other little one is very very quiet and clingy now, she always depended on Sable to know she was safe and stuff.

sorry to ramble, but yeah obviously she meant a lot to us so its been hard coping with her being gone.

you don't have to be sorry, you never realize what they mean to you until they are gone.:angel: my girl was by my side for 14 yrs and the past year has been real tough without her.