Straight Talk With Sha - BTS: Some Facts
This BTS scene was confusing in that it was about
Broke Straight Boys-TV yet from the get go there was suppose to be a wall of separation between
Broke Straight Boys and
Broke Straight Boys-TV. So now it's okay that they be co-mingled? Who knew? And forget the canned applause unless you are in a bigger venue.
But as a proponent of barebacking on
Broke Straight Boys, I was really disappointed in the discussion of the testing procedure employed. Too many things were said and not explained fully. I know that if I weren't knowledgeable about AIDS testing I wouldn't have walked away from this with a great deal more of solid information. I had wanted to dispense this information on the bareback thread, but thought it would be a waste of time trying to present facts in the face of entrenched opinion and oftimes hostile and mean spirited rhetoric. God forbid that facts should help in the formation of opinions!
But this video scene gives me the opportunity to explain what I know about AIDS testing and evaluation. What are my bona fides? Well, I'm a long term AIDS survivor, having been diagnosed with HIV in 1987 and AIDS diagnosed in 1992. I have had more tests and taken more drugs than you can imagine. But more importantly I have had great doctors. For the last 13 years I have been a patient at the Pittsburgh AIDS Center for Treatment (PACT) at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. This is among the top ten AIDS research, educational, and treatment centers in the country. The doctors at PACT are all researchers who have spent most of their careers on AIDS. That is their primary job and they see and treat patients through the PACT Clinic. My dr. for instances sees patients on Monday and Tuesdays and is involved in research the rest of the time.
This past Tuesday I had one of my regular quarterly visits with her. I spent some time talking with her about the whole testing regimen, especially as it relates to
Broke Straight Boys I wanted to make sure what I knew in my own mind was the most current information available. She corrected and updated me so here's the info:
1. The original test to detect HIV was not really a test to detect the virus, but to test for the antibodies which the immune system creates to fight HIV. (Of course what makes HIV so insidious is that it not only attacks and destroys the immune system, but also the antibodies which the immune syatem develops to fight the virus.) It use to take about 10 days or so to get the results, but since it can take anywhere from 3 months to 6 months for antibodies to appear in the blood, it was recommended that if you get a negative test result back, you should not engage in risky behavior and come back in 3 months for another test. If that test is negative, it is recommended to be really safe that you come back in another 3 months for another test. If that test proves negative, than you are almost certainly out of the woods. But it has known not to be totally accurate. All this presupposes that during this period of time, you do not engage in any risky behavior. If you do, then the cycle just gets perpetuated. Thus, the early emphasis on condom use, because other than abstinence, condom use was the best bet to protect oneself from possible negative effects of risky behavior.
2. Then in the early 90's a new test was discovered and approved. It is the PRC (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test. In popular parlance, it is known as the viral load test. This test detects the presence of the virus itself in your blood. It can pick up the lowest of markers for the virus and tells you how many copies per/ml is in your blood. This test is very sensitive and very expensive, although not as high as it was at the beginning, but still much higher than the antibody test. That is why it is NOT used routinely in situations where you are testing to see if a person is positive or negative. In fact when the PCR test was first on the market, Medicare, Medicaid, and thus most insurance companies didn't cover it. I had my first one done at Dr. Gallo's lab at his AIDS Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center through a mutual friend and did not have to pay. It showed my viral load was about 250,000 copies per/ml. That helped my doctors in developing a course of treatment under the HAART guidelines. Once the government approved this test followed by private insurance companies, it made the HAART treatment guidelines a common treatment methodology and saved millions of lives.
3. This PCR test is the one which
Broke Straight Boys uses. It is worth the money they have to pay in exchange not only for the fastest turn around in results, but also in the safety of its models. The test itself takes about 6 hours to do, so in a best case scenario you could get the blood drawn at 9am and have the results by 3 or 4 pm the same day. Now that presupposes that blood sample being given highest priority at the testing lab which I'm sure is a premium cost and is warranted only under situations of extreme emergency. Now Sha mentioned 7 days. So I'm guessing that the blood is sent to the lab and is queued under normal circumstances and the results available in that time frame. Also, we know that a battery of tests is also given for other STD's, so I'm sure all that is part of the seven day turnaround.
4. Because the PCR test is still significantly more expensive than the antibody test, that's why most clinics and drs don't use it as a detection test. Once a person is diagnosed as positive, then most medical professionals will use both tests.
5. Let's take me as an example. When I had my first test which detected the antibodies in my sytem, my CD4 count (which measures the antibodies in my system) was 600. Over the years it has been as low as 75. Now it has been relatively stable in the 250-425 range. This is still low. But some people just don't have a high CD4 count while still being relatively healthy. My viral load as measured by the PCR test has been below 50 copies per/ml for the past 12 years, which means it is classified as undetectable. These tests are being constantly improved and made more sensitive. Now it can detect as little as 1 copy. In fact, just recently another medical problem arose which necessitated my taking a new medication. This caused havoc (more than usual) with my gastro-intestinal system which is also heavily impacted by my AIDS meds, the protease inhibitor primarily. I skipped just a few doses of the protease for a few intermittent days. When I had the PCR test done on Feb. 7 for my Feb, 19th appointment, the viral load was 328 copies. Nothing major, but a break from the past many years of undetectable. But I had been back on the protease for a few weeks, so when I went to my drs. appointment on Feb. 19, she ordered a new PCR test to see where the viral load stood. I retook it, and the results which I had the next day showed ONE copy per /ml. That's how senitive this test is now.
6. So
Broke Straight Boys is using the PCR test. It is a more accurate test than the antibody test because it tests for the virus itself which shows up virtually immediately in the blood, as opposed to the antibody test which measures the antibodies for the virus and takes signifcantly longer to get conclusive data with high certitude. That is why it uses this test despite its higher costs. Because it can detect if there is even 1 copy of the virus in the blood virtually from the minutes it is introduced into the body.
7. I present this info not in the hopes of changing minds as to bbacking. If someone is against it, then I could care less. But we owe it to ourselves to know the facts of the situation. I know people who know and understand the facts I've discussed but will still use a condom. That is their choice and I respect it. But those who oppose bbacking should not cast those who support it as people who are threatening the lives of the models here and beginning civilization down the road to ruin. The facts just don't bear that out.
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I love Sha!
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