Taking the Test: What's Your Experience?

My plan to later get tested was thwarted when Ann called me out; she said "Come with me -- you are the HIV program coordinator here (at my place of employment); you are going to get tested NOW!"!

So she took me by my arm and walked me to the room where the tester was sitting. Yep, this was at a health fair that I helped to organized for my employer. As I sat in the chair, I felt like my heart was pounding so LOUD and FAST that it scared me. After she gave me the swab and swabbed my cheeks, I felt like saying, "OK, let's hear it." As she was talking to me about HIV prevention, I was trying to peep behind her to see if I could read the results before she officially gave them to me. Now, talk about being nervous. She said to me, "I know what you are trying to do! But don't worry. It's negative." I was relieved and decided that I would use this opportunity to get as many people as I can to get tested.