Thursday, October 11, 2012

Email 63: A Letter from the Middle East


Hi Sir,

Good Day,

How are you sir, I hope everything's fine. My name is XXX. I'm presently working in XXX (a middle east country) as XXX, since XXX.

I am gay who is having sex with men especially Arab guys. I was infected with STD last XXX. Sa atin tawag nila "TULO" (In our country, we call this "Tulo"). I never went to a doctor to seek for advice and treatment on what to do, since I'm afraid what might happen to me especially my career is at stake and this is a very strict country. 

So, I asked my friend for advice who work as a nurse in the country. He prescribed me an antibiotic that can be purchased over the counter. With God's grace my "TULO" was gone in a period of 1 week. I am regretting that I f***d an old Yemini guy and a Syrian young guy with out a condom.. I just realized how important using condom for the safe sex to avoid any problems that may arise. 

 Every 2 years we need to renew our residence permits, and medical exam is one of the basic requirement (exam includes x-ray and lab tests such as hiv etc.). At that time my residence permit was about to expire by XXX so i needed to renew before the said date. I went to the diagnostic center for the medical exam last XXX, and thanks to God my laboratory exam was negative. I was infected last XXX and had my medical exam last XXX.

My question is..Ang TULO ba ay isa sa mga dahilan sa pag ka HIV?.. (Is STD a reason for one to have HIV?)

I  had my lab test after six months, when I got STD, and the result was negative and fit to work. Does it mean I'm not infected with any diseases including HIV.?  

Last year, the Ministry of Interior did not require medical exam for the renewal of residence visas. Until now I continuously am working. I never had any medical exam since the last time. However, I want to undergo exam but I'm afraid since this is a very strict country..

I hope u can give me advice on the above questions...

I'm looking forward of ur reply..

Thank you and more power,
XXX


POZZIEPINOY'S REPLY

Hi XXX,

Thank you for the email. Thank you for reading my blog entries. I am glad that I am able to reach people all over the world through it.

I have received a lot of emails coming from the country where you are working right now and I do feel your concern when it comes to having HIV and how strict the law is there when it comes to it.

Let me answer your question. Having STD in particular doesn't mean that you will also have HIV since there are different diseases under STD or sexually transmitted diseases (e.g., syphillis, gonorrhea, etc). However, the means of contracting both diseases, that is, having unprotected sex can increase the risk of you getting both (and or transmitting both, if you already have both or any). Since you claimed that you are having unprotected sex, you are exposing yourself to the possibility of contracting HIV also.

 Getting tested for the first time with a negative result doesn't mean that you are safe from HIV. It just means that there was no detectable virus in your blood. The protocol that is being advised by HIV doctors here is to have another test, 3 months after the first test and have another test after 6 months or 1 year post exposure. If you still are having unprotected sex, make it a point to have an HIV test on a regular basis.

 I know you are scared because of your job and how your host country will do once it finds out in case you have HIV. But really, the only way for you to have peace of mind is to be proactive, first, not have unprotected sex any more  and second, to have a regular HIV test. I know it may not sound easy for you but it is the right thing to do. 

 If you are so scared to have a test there, do it when you come home to the Philippines so you can plan what to do next. But still, the best advise that I can give you is for you to get another test ASAP, no matter where you are. 

 I know you love your job but getting sick with HIV not only will make you lose your job there but will burden you and your family financially and emotionally.

 I hope I was able to answer your question. Feel free to email me again if you have other concerns.
Stay healthy,
Pozziepinoy


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