Sometimes Negative is Good

[errantember]

True to their word, I got my tSTD results today, and I'm still negative for all 7 things they test for! They don't test for HPV, and God knows we need better screening for that. Hopefully with all the recent hooplah surrounding it, they'll add it soon.

Some people had requested more details on the experience. I went online to find the nearest sampling station and pay my $250. I was given my confidential PIN, and then had to make a brief phone call to tSTD. They confirmed my payment and let me know that the clinic I was going to required a name, but I could use any name I wanted. I gave them a name, and they faxed the request directly to the clinic. Two hours later, I was at the clinic having my blood drawn and peeing in a cup. I'm fairly certain they use the same network of clinics/labs that many doctors use. The place I went was on James Casey. It was a little run-down looking, but otherwise the experience was fine. After 2-3 business days, they either call or e-mail you to let you know your results are available. At that point, you have to call them to get the results verbally first, before they release them onto the website. The results are delivered by a counselor who presumably knows what to say if you test positive for something. Both times on the phone the wait was less than 5 minutes. After the phone call, the results are released on the website (indexed only by your PIN) for printing and framing.

Comments

[jb-27.livejournal.com]

I love tSTD and find it to be a fantastic value for the money.

Regarding HPV screening, isn't it the case that the virus is so prevalent that doctors essentially use it as a marker of sexual activity? In other words, doctors assume that if you're fucking, you have HPV, and vice versa. If that's true, then there wouldn't be much of a point in getting an HPV test, right? What am I missing?

HPV causes most types of cervical cancer...

[errantember.livejournal.com]

...and there are reasons to think it might be linked to throat cancer (dammit! dammit!) Almost everybody has it at one time in their life or another, and most people's immune system fights it off in about a year. Only a few of the many, many strains are known to be cancer-causing, and it would definitely be helpful to know who has those.