Visiting the doctor

[Sarpedon]

So I've had one of those "Oh No" moments where I was getting interactive with a woman and the protection broke. Now I'm not a paranoid individual by nature but I'd like to pay a visit to the local hospital and get tested.

My Chinese is not that great, but I can manage day to day living after 6 months of studying here. When I go to the hospital, what should I expect? And what do I say? Last time I went for a case of strep throat, I had a friend take me. This time I'd prefer to go alone for privacy reasons. Obviously my first step will be the good old "Do you speak English?" line but after that I'm expecting plenty of stares and a lot of people finding out what I'm there for.

Also, if it turns out that against all odds I'm positive for HIV, will they cancel my visa and kick me out?

Any experiences/suggestions/anecdotes that are helpful would be appreciated.

[skylee]

Go to a place that caters for English speakers. Take a look at this thread -> http://www.chinese-f...-near-wudaokou/

[Sarpedon]

Thanks for the link, but I forgot to mention I'm not in Beijing or Shanghai. Will do a Google search for foreigner clinics in my area though.

[rezaf]

Your body needs 1 to 3 months to produce HIV antibodies that can show up in an HIV test. So I suggest that you go to 性病科 and tell the doctor to test you for syphilis(梅毒mei2du2）then wait for another 12 weeks and do the HIV test. If you have caught other stuff like herpes, HPV etc they might show themselves on your genital area in days weeks or months. So check your genital area regularly and if something appears have the doctor take a sample of it for biopsy(做活组织检查）. Hepatitis B(乙型肝炎） also may take some time to appear on the tests(something like 4 weeks to 3 months). So if you are not vaccinated against it you might as well want to test it in a few weeks. Anyway you should test yourself once 3 months after the exposure and once after 6 months after the exposure for big things like HIV and hepatitis B. In the meantime I suggest that you use condom so that you won't infect other people but don't worry chances are very low for catching things like HIV.

[jbradfor]

if it turns out that against all odds I'm positive for HIV, will they cancel my visa and kick me out?

If you find out that you are HIV positive, is that status of your visa really going to be that important?

[Sarpedon]

Thanks rezaf, I am aware of all that already which is why I waited so long to make this thread.

jbradfor, Of course that'd be the least of my worries, I just don't want to be one of those stories that shows up on ChinaSmack for whatever reason.

[roddy]

Google the name of your city and 艾滋病检测 or similar and see what comes up. Head for the biggest, or maybe one that specializes in 性病s or a 疾病预防控制中心. There's an old description of the process here, although obviously it's going to vary.

Another possibility might be to go for some kind of general check up which will include a bunch of checks. Likely to be needing one of those foreigner medicals any time soon? A 婚前检查, maybe?

Also, if it turns out that against all odds I'm positive for HIV, will they cancel my visa and kick me out?

Either that, or tell your employer and colleagues, and then send a TV crew round to interview you about how sensitively China treats 外国艾滋病朋友。

[tooironic]

First I wanna say it's really great to come across someone like yourself Sarpedon who has an educated and proactive stance when it comes to safer sex and testing. In fact I think it's laudable. I've met quite a number of people (both in China and not in China) who seem so apathetic about it, especially those who have sex with women and think an unwanted pregnancy is the only possible outcome (!).

I'd wish you good luck though I'm sure you'll be fine.

On a side note, I'm surprised/disturbed that "艾滋病朋友" gets 3,330 hits on Google!

[rezaf]

When I go to the hospital, what should I expect? And what do I say?

First you should register and pay the fee which is called 挂号. Before registration you should fill in a form that you will find over there. Your name(you can fake a Chinese name), your sex and your age would suffice. Give the form to the 挂号 nurse and tell her that you want to go to 性病科普通门诊. Tell the doctor 我要验血(xie3)检查HIV、梅毒和乙型肝炎(or whatever other diseases that you want to get tested for). Then you should go back to the 挂号place and pay for the tests .

I don't know about an HIV test but as far as I have seen no one really cares who gets tested for what. Usually you can get the results in one or two days. Worst case scenario if it's positive(阳性） for HIV and they start making problems, you can tell them that you are getting the results for your friend. Since they only have a fake Chinese name on the 报告（report) they won't really know who you are. This is as much as my imagination works for you case!

Go to a place that caters for English speakers.

Don't go to that kind of place as it costs 10 to 30 times more for the same thing! And as much as I understand you don't really need a doctor, you just need to get tested at this stage.

[Don_Horhe]

I recommend you also ask to get tested for Chlamydia trachomatis (沙眼衣原体) and Trichomonas vaginalis (阴道毛滴虫), since they are what cause two of the most common STD's one can contract by having unprotected sex - Chlamydial infection and Trichomoniasis.

Good luck!