{"id":2296,"date":"2026-05-14T18:36:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/?p=2296"},"modified":"2026-05-14T18:36:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:36:48","slug":"heather-gets-an-hiv-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/?p=2296","title":{"rendered":"Heather Gets an HIV Test"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n
<\/p>\n

\n\n

[SUPER]<\/p>\n

Later that week\u2026<\/p>\n

[GRAPHIC]<\/p>\n

Heather and her friend are sitting on the couch at Heather\u2019s house. Throughout the conversation, they are both holding glasses of wine, eating snacks, petting a cat, etc.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Friend: \u201cSo tell me about the date!\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cIt was alright. You know me, I\u2019m not looking for anything serious. Just having fun getting back out there since the divorce. Dating at 56 has been an adventure so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friend: \u201cAnd what about Brad? Are you still seeing him?\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cCasually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friend: \u201cWow, I\u2019m totally living vicariously through you. By the way, what are you doing for protection? Are you still on the pill?\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cNo, I got off that a few weeks ago. One good thing about menopause<\/a> is that you don\u2019t have to worry about getting pregnant. Whew!\u201d<\/p>\n

Friend: \u201cBut what about STIs?\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cI\u2019m not too worried.\u201d <\/p>\n

Friend: \u201cNot to put a chill on Netflix and chill, but since I\u2019m a nurse, I feel like I need to tell you that STIs are actually on the rise. They\u2019ve doubled in people in their mid-50s and older in the last decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cReally? Why?\u201d<\/p>\n

Friend: \u201cSome of it is from people like you, who are getting back out there with new partners after a divorce, thinking they no longer need protection. And menopause itself can make you more likely to get STIs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cOh, wow. Menopause really is the gift that keeps on giving.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/div>\n

\n\n

[GRAPHIC]<\/p>\n

Changes in the vagina, like loss of elasticity and dryness, make you more prone to tearing, which makes it easier to get STIs.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Friend: \u201cMaybe you should get an HIV test. Just to be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cThat sounds scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friend: \u201cIt\u2019s really just a simple blood test. And not knowing is a lot scarier though, right?<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cI guess. Yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/div>\n

\n\n

[ SUPER]<\/p>\n

You can get an HIV test at:<\/p>\n

Your healthcare provider\u2019s office<\/p>\n

Local health departments<\/p>\n

HIV testing clinics<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Friend: \u201cIf you have HIV and you get treated, you can still live a long, healthy life. But if you ignore something like that, it can be life-threatening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cThanks. You always give me good advice. I\u2019ll do it! I\u2019ll find a place tomorrow. Now let\u2019s get to the main event of the evening. Turn on \u201cLove Is Blind!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[SUPER] Later that week\u2026 [GRAPHIC] Heather and her friend are sitting on the couch at Heather\u2019s house. Throughout the conversation, they are both holding glasses of wine, eating snacks, petting a cat, etc. Friend: \u201cSo tell me about the date!\u201d Heather: \u201cIt was alright. You know me, I\u2019m not looking for anything serious. Just having fun getting back out there since the divorce. Dating at 56 has been an adventure so far.\u201d Friend: \u201cAnd what about Brad? Are you still seeing him?\u201d Heather: \u201cCasually.\u201d Friend: \u201cWow, I\u2019m totally living vicariously through you. By the way, what are you doing for protection? Are you still on the pill?\u201d Heather: \u201cNo, I got off that a few weeks ago. One good thing about menopause is that you don\u2019t have to worry about getting pregnant. Whew!\u201d Friend: \u201cBut what about STIs?\u201d Heather: \u201cI\u2019m not too worried.\u201d Friend: \u201cNot to put a chill on Netflix and chill, but since I\u2019m a nurse, I feel like I need to tell you that STIs are actually on the rise. They\u2019ve doubled in people in their mid-50s and older in the last decade.\u201d Heather: \u201cReally? Why?\u201d Friend: \u201cSome of it is from people like you, who are getting back out there with new partners after a divorce, thinking they no longer need protection. And menopause itself can make you more likely to get STIs.\u201d Heather: \u201cOh, wow. Menopause really is the gift that keeps on giving.\u201d [GRAPHIC] Changes in the vagina, like loss of elasticity and dryness, make you more prone to tearing, which makes it easier to get STIs. Friend: \u201cMaybe you should get an HIV test. Just to be safe.\u201d Heather: \u201cThat sounds scary.\u201d Friend: \u201cIt\u2019s really just a simple blood test. And not knowing is a lot scarier though, right? Heather: \u201cI guess. Yeah.\u201d [ SUPER] You can get an HIV test at: Your healthcare provider\u2019s office Local health departments HIV testing clinics Friend: \u201cIf you have HIV and you get treated, you can still live a long, healthy life. But if you ignore something like that, it can be life-threatening.\u201d Heather: \u201cThanks. You always give me good advice. I\u2019ll do it! I\u2019ll find a place tomorrow. Now let\u2019s get to the main event of the evening. Turn on \u201cLove Is Blind!\u201d Source link<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}