Six months ago, I helped a man who showed up on my back porch spurting blood from a severe cut on his wrist. Crazy kid's hand went right through a glass window pane (accident, of course). Only after tightly wrapping him up with a very adorable green hand towel, (one of two that I bought from an Anthropologie gift certificate I had) and only after I was covered in his blood, did he mention he was HIV positive. Little late for latex gloves buddy. After a visit from the paramedics and a quick trip to the ER, said injured man was stitched up and good to go after a few hours. I, on the other hand, unknowingly had 6 more months to go.
I had no clue where to go from there, what to do, who to call. I couldn't really think about much except:
1. Oh no! "I'm HIV positive". Three words I never thought I would hear, ever!
2. Do I have any open wounds or cuts? (not completely far fetched since I've sawed, pierced, and impaled my hands and fingers making jewelry more times than I can count)
3. Does Buffalo Exchange take back blouses with bio hazards?
The point of this blog post is to help other average Joes like me who aren't super heroes by day, don't work in the occupational health care field, and who have no idea what to do, AT ALL. That being said, if you are a doctor, nurse, military medic, firefighter, EMT, or other first responder or someone in the health profession, this isn't really for you. You already know what plan of action to take and usually have the immediate resources to implement that plan.
First things first:
1. Go immediately to an ER, 24 hr care clinic or doctor. Tell them you have been exposed to HIV. Tell them the type of exposure i.e.needle prick, mucous membrane, etc.
2. Have your blood drawn for an HIV test BEFORE you ever take any prescribed anti virals (if you even need them) and have a witness. You will need proof that you were HIV NEG before you ever take any pills. This is for your insurance. They don't like people with HIV because the treatment is expensive and they will question why all of a sudden you are taking very pricey and potent anti virals.
3. Introduce a post exposure prophylactic into your bloodstream as soon as possible. It's been said that introducing this within 4 hours decrease your chances 10 fold! My skin to skin exposure was technically VERY, VERY low risk, but I still did everything I was told because A. I was scared and B. I wanted to take every precaution I could possibly take because I was scared. Be prepared to pay $$$. My 30 day supply of Combivir, an anti-viral so powerful that I had to be tested 2 weeks into and and 2 weeks after finishing the dose to make sure I still had liver and kidney function, was $1000 and made me feel like a complete zombie. It was a miserable month.
4. If you don't know the person who exposed you, get the basic info: name, address of the person and their doctor's info, etc. That may not be possible in many cases, but definitely ask him or her what his or her viral load is. Someone with full blown AIDS has more toxic blood levels than someone who barely has any identifiable antibodies (only enough for a positive diagnosis).
These are the basics. This article is very handy if you'd like to read more about it. It's for health care professionals but the principles still apply.
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/safety/work/004.html
The last six months have been an adventure to say the least. I've undergone, 1 Clorox bath (sounds very mid evil, doesn't it?), 4 HIV and Hepatitis C blood draws, paid 4 co-pays, waited anxiously for test results 4 separate times, paid $$ in lab fees, made one HIV counseling session, cancelled that counseling session, received a thank you note (but no dish towel), had 4 meals with my mom and dad after tests, and
best of all, met my own first responder who thoughtfully brought me a slew of dish towels on our 2nd date.
I am so relieved this is officially all over, glad I didn't faint on that poor guy in need, and that I hopefully never have to do anything like this again. I'll leave it to our very brave medical and health care professionals and first responders who do this type of thing everyday! And, you may be wondering why I put this little tid bit on my travel blog...sometimes, adventures do not necessarily happen overseas, but in our own backyards.
No comments:
Post a Comment