After not responding to Mrs K’s SMS on Friday, I was just waiting for her to send me another “desperate” SMS on Saturday or Sunday, as they needed to move house on Sunday and needed to pay for the transport. Well, she didn’t make any further attempts to borrow from me, so I guess she managed to harass somebody else for it.
Came Monday, an SMS came from Mrs K. Aik? Dah pindah pun nak pinjam lagi? Or at least that was on my mind when I saw Mrs K’s name as the sender. But no, this time her SMS had nothing to do with money.
Mrs K asked me if she should go for HIV screening. Those who had been following their story from the beginning may remember that Mrs K had been spared from HIV despite being pregnant when Mr K was first diagnosed positive. Even the doctor told her to go for a second screening when the first test showed negative results. They wanted to be sure the baby would be protected from the virus. All tests showed negative results.
Since then, Mr and Mrs K have been practicing safe sex ie by using the condom. Mr K must avoid passing the virus to his wife. But yesterday they panicked. And although she felt rather embarrassed, Mrs K finally decided to send me a text message. You see, after having sex they realized that… ALAMAK! CONDOM BOCOR!
Oops! Why am I telling all these “cerita dalam kelambu”? Aren’t these confidential issues? Well yes, they are. But these are amongst the issues involved in their day to day life. These are the things that go through their minds. These are the matters that matter a lot to them although may not matter so much to us. (Besides, I don’t use real names in my blog, so you don’t know who I’m talking about except their blog names.)
Some people tend to relate condoms to immoral activities. But here’s an example where the condom needs to be used by a legally-wed couple. And some people tend to take for granted they know how to use the condom properly. I mean, when I give talks on HIV to youths for example, and I asked if they knew how to use the condom properly, their answer was, “Sarung sajalah!” They didn’t see the importance of things such as expiry date, how to wear, how to take it off safely etc.
I don’t really know what went wrong with the condom Mr K was using, but Mrs K is now at risk.
And despite having explained to the PLHIVs about the do’s and don’ts of HIV, about window period and what not, Mrs K was so panicky she asked if she should go for blood tests immediately. She forgot all about the window period. Chances are if she goes for blood test now, even if she is infected, it is too early to be detected.
All I could tell her was to wait for at least 2 weeks before she goes for HIV screening. And if the results turn out negative, she’d need to go for another test after 3 months.
Looks like Mrs K may not be able to sleep well for the next few months, until she can be sure of her HIV status.
Came Monday, an SMS came from Mrs K. Aik? Dah pindah pun nak pinjam lagi? Or at least that was on my mind when I saw Mrs K’s name as the sender. But no, this time her SMS had nothing to do with money.
Mrs K asked me if she should go for HIV screening. Those who had been following their story from the beginning may remember that Mrs K had been spared from HIV despite being pregnant when Mr K was first diagnosed positive. Even the doctor told her to go for a second screening when the first test showed negative results. They wanted to be sure the baby would be protected from the virus. All tests showed negative results.
Since then, Mr and Mrs K have been practicing safe sex ie by using the condom. Mr K must avoid passing the virus to his wife. But yesterday they panicked. And although she felt rather embarrassed, Mrs K finally decided to send me a text message. You see, after having sex they realized that… ALAMAK! CONDOM BOCOR!
Oops! Why am I telling all these “cerita dalam kelambu”? Aren’t these confidential issues? Well yes, they are. But these are amongst the issues involved in their day to day life. These are the things that go through their minds. These are the matters that matter a lot to them although may not matter so much to us. (Besides, I don’t use real names in my blog, so you don’t know who I’m talking about except their blog names.)
Some people tend to relate condoms to immoral activities. But here’s an example where the condom needs to be used by a legally-wed couple. And some people tend to take for granted they know how to use the condom properly. I mean, when I give talks on HIV to youths for example, and I asked if they knew how to use the condom properly, their answer was, “Sarung sajalah!” They didn’t see the importance of things such as expiry date, how to wear, how to take it off safely etc.
I don’t really know what went wrong with the condom Mr K was using, but Mrs K is now at risk.
And despite having explained to the PLHIVs about the do’s and don’ts of HIV, about window period and what not, Mrs K was so panicky she asked if she should go for blood tests immediately. She forgot all about the window period. Chances are if she goes for blood test now, even if she is infected, it is too early to be detected.
All I could tell her was to wait for at least 2 weeks before she goes for HIV screening. And if the results turn out negative, she’d need to go for another test after 3 months.
Looks like Mrs K may not be able to sleep well for the next few months, until she can be sure of her HIV status.
8 comments:
Aunty Pi,
Ouch! Bocor? Double ouch!!! Kesian pulak kat dia...hopefully when she's done her test she'll turn out OK. Maybe you'll have to show her the proper way...you know, the banana thingy... purrr....meow!
C-i-S,
Ni kes bersuka-suka dahulu, berduka-duka kemudian...
hey it matters a lot as this is one way awareness is created. And i bet many still require proper instruction on how to put on a condom the right way.
Lets hope her test result turns out negative, as she has had enough on-going problem to deal with.
Kerp,
Yes, things like this matters a lot. But too many remeh-temeh things we tend to take for granted.
I too hope she's not infected. Otherwise lagi banyaklah SMS I terima dari dia...
kesian mrs k! i hope she'll still turn out negative.
pi, perhaps women with HIV partners should also use female condoms for extra protection.
i know it's the ugliest of sh*t and the mind boggles abt how any couple could stay in the mood after one look at the dash thing, but it's better than sleepless nights. esp when it's a matter of life and death, as in mrs k's case.
Mekyam,
Oh yes... that ugly thingy called the female condom. Frankly, I'm not even sure if it's easily available in the market. The ones I have are those collected at the conference in Bali last year... meant for demo and awareness purposes only, not for distribution. Nasib baik immigrations tak check I punya beg. Sure terbeliak biji mata masing-masing tengok mak aji ni bawak female condom punyalah banyak. Confirm kena soal siasat kaw kaw punya!!
oh yes, i remember your telling abt that. i can just imagine the headlines if those were found in your luggage... "MAK AJI KE MAK SIAT?" :D
Mekyam,
Mak aji or mak ayam (oops, bukan mekyam ok?) is more like it... ;)
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