Hi doctor,i already wrote to you and you've been so kind with me that you made me cry with your reply.I'm writing to you cause i can't go on with my life,i am the girl who had the transvaginal scan and the doctor told me that 7 days before a woman with hiv and epatitis was there. yesterday i red in a magazine that a not very common simptom is tiny red dots or spots and i had that,my arms were full of tiny tiny little red dots,it's been 7 weeks since that day, i had that like two weeks ago.by now i am almost ready to live with hiv. my mum tries to confort me everyday she tells me that even if that woman did the same thing i did,even if that doctor as we think didn't sterilize and didn't put a protection on that tool to take the scan after 7 days i don't run the risk of being infected.is it true?? but i wonder,i think on that toll there are a few holes,so maybe the virus wasn't totally in the open air,plus if vaginal liquids of all of us kept on coming on the tool maybe the virus already there had the chance to survive. the only good thing is that on saturday and on sunday the clinic was closed so for two days it dried in peace. on monday i just had a woman an hour before me who had the same exam i had i hope she was ok.I thought i was going to have the test in 6 months but my life is so difficult now i'll have it in just 3 months,so i have 6 weeks to go,my mum joked that she wants to be exilieted on an island since i talk non stop about this. i have migrains,i cry a lot,i find it hard to cope with this.this happened on the 26th of jenuary on the 27th of april after 13 weeks i'll get the test and if i'll have the miracle of being healthy i wanna help others if my fears are true then i'll be the one who will need lot of help,i am already thinking of the daily meds.I wish i didn't go there.i wish all of this will soon end,what i know is this is the most traumatic thing i 've ever lived and nothing will be like it was before,i feel so grown up after all this pain.Doctor i thank u so much i trust you a lot and i'll let u know the result of the test. a big hug and a kiss from alice!

Buon Giorno Alice,

You can't go on with your life??? What? Alice, aren't you being just a wee bit overdramatic considering your HIV-acquisition risk is completely nonexistent? My assessment and advice remain unchanged. See below. In addition I'd recommend you see a psychiatrist or psychotherapist to help you confront and conquer your irrational and unwarranted fears of being HIV infected. You obviously are having problems with clinical depression and anxiety. These are very treatable medical conditions. HIV is not your problem. No way. No how. I have nothing else to offer you Alice, but I do hope you will follow my advice and seek psychiatric care.

Ciao,

Dr. Bob

at the gynecologist Mar 1, 2009

hi doctor i am writing from italy. i went to the gynecologist to have an ecocography. the doctor did a transvaginal ecography and she asked me if i had hiv cause 7 days before a woman with hiv and epatitis didn't tell her but she found it out herself since she was pretty sick. i think she didn't put a protection on the tool that she put inside my vagina cause i didn't see her doing it,within a week is it still possible to be infected if the worst scenario of that toll went in and out of our two vaginas? i am really scared. one hour before me another woman had the same medical test i had i don't know about her health.i was taking some antibiotics called bassado to treat an uroplasma infection,and i had like 3 days of diharrea cought and a cold like a week after that accident.now i feel my vagina burning and i immagine all kind of bacteria hpv being trasmetted tru'that tool. but as i told u what is scarring me the most is the risk of hiv. i thank u so much for taking your time and i apologize if u may think my question is stupid i know doctors are supposed to be professional but that female doctor didn't give me a good feeling.i am really scarred the only thing that keep me going is faith and the fact that i promised myself in 6 months i ll have the test and if it's gonna be negative i'll volounteer for people on weelchairs and when the pain is too much with my worries i see weelchairs everywhere i turn my face,i hope it is a sign from God.I thank you so much what u do with this site... your work is really amazing! alice from italy

Response from Dr. Frascino

Hello Alice from Italy,

Relax Alice, your fears are unwarranted. The tools used for gynecological examinations are sterilized (autoclaved) after each use. Protective coverings (like a condom on a sex toy) are not necessary for medical and dental instruments that are sterilized. If you didn't have a good feeling about your recent visit to the gynecologist, don't go back. Find a new gynecologist whom you trust. If you're having ongoing vaginal symptoms now, your new gynecologist can evaluate those symptoms for you. I'm very confident your HIV test will be negative, which is good news for you and all those folks in wheelchairs whom you've been seeing of late.

Be well. Ciao.

Dr. Bob