Devastated (long)

[mispatatas]

magickndm - i cant get tested for 3 months.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Have you gotten tested? Or are you just going on all the pats on your back saying you're fine?
I'm sorry, but to me, knowledge is power, and if you're so worried, even if it is just in the back of your mind, why not get tested?

It's only been a month since her exposure. While she could get tested now, the medical community does not truly accept the results until the 13th week. She still has two months to go.

 

[floridafam]

I think she was just doing her job and trying to be honest with you. She was simply telling you the truth to ensure that you are properly tested.

Try not to worry too much about it. Follow testing guidelines.

Maybe find a support group to deal with the anxiety issues while you are going throgh the testing.

Again, I wouldn't say anything to the nurse. I think she was just doing her job.

 

[Magickndm]

magickndm - i cant get tested for 3 months.

Oh, ok, sorry. Just re-read where you said it has only been one month.
Hang in there and try to let that nurse's comments go.

 

[Christine]

However, today the nurse told me 'well that doesn't mean he didn't have it, he may have been in the window period'....

she just seemed very insensitive and has down my condition so much harm it's unbelievable.

Well, wasn't she Little Miss Mary Sunshine? Sounds like she was giving you the absolute worst-case scenario.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

The Dr. "promising" you that you were at no risk would be more my cause of concern. Does he have the bleeding man's entire history...does he know that he is at 100% zero risk? That seems negligent for him to say to you, although, I am sure that he was just trying to make you feel better.
If the bleeding man is negative and you only had a small cut, and you weren't bathing in his blood..then I would guess you have nothing to worry about.

 

[goodeats]

It sounds like the nurse is just a big witch (with a b).

I had somethng similar happen to me. Well, kind of. But anyway everything turned out OK, and the nurse told me that it's not as prevalent as the media makes it out to be. Make sure you get tested in a couple months. You are 99.9% fine, and need to pull up your boot straps and get through this.

 

[mispatatas]

DisneyDMB nut - I was under the impression that a doctor could not tell you there was no risk if this wasn't true - he could risk losing his licence. And I had not just one doctor tell me this, but several.

 

[petchie]

I too would be worried about a Doctor who told you it was 100% no risk. Most states have the "patients right to know" laws. The nurse was amking sure you were aware that nothing in medicine (or life) is 100%. There is always a small risk, anxiety or not.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

I don't know the legalities of losing his license, but to say "I promise you, you are totally not at risk" when you did come into contact with blood is a bit of a risky thing to say.
I know that HIV is very unstable...but what if your cut was healing, but in the shuffle, the scab had torn abit loose..

I don't want to get you more upset...I really DO think that you are 99.99999999% fine, but for a Dr. to say what he did...something he really can't assure, would be more upsetting to me than a nurse who may have been doing exactly what the dr didn't do....Covering Her A..

 

[froglady]

I'm afraid I would have to have been in the room with both of you to really give an opinion. If the incident was mentioned, and you had a "la-di-da the doctor said I have nothing to worry about so I don't really need this, or any further testing" I can see where she might make the statement. Even though you have an extremely small risk, given your personality, I would hate to be the healthcare provider who implied you were 100% out of the woods IF, by some fluke, you're the one in a trillion (just made up that number) who DID contract the disease this way.

Try not to obsess over it (easier said than done) but also have a follow-up test done in a couple of months.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

It really doesn't sound like a significant exposure. Hang in there. I know how scary it can be, I have been in your shoes (different circumstances, but I am a very anxious person, too). Everything turned out good!

For what it is worth, I think the nurse could have handled you a little bit better.

 

[DawnCt1]

The nurse's comment was off-hand and misinformed, but if she'd read my notes, she would have known this was exactly what NOT to say to me, or even to make me talk about it.


Can anyone offer any advice for me?

I AM a nurse, and having said that, I have met and worked with many nurses who make "pseudo authoritative" comments based on misinformation and conjecture. Many will go to great lengths to disagree with physicians and present the theoretically possible but remotely likely scenario just to sound knowlegable. Many are just misinformed and "don't know what they don't know". You have asked and received the correct information from the experts already. Don't second guess what you know in your heart to be true.
Unfortunately it takes 10 positive statements to mitigate one negative statement. You may just need to repeat the good news that you heard and know to be true at least ten times.

 

[Cindyluwho]

The guy who was bleeding kindly had a blood test when it happened which showed up negative.

However, today the nurse told me 'well that doesn't mean he didn't have it, he may have been in the window period'....

she just seemed very insensitive and has down my condition so much harm it's unbelievable.

You asked a man who had gone through trauma bad enough to cause all of this bleeding to have the test? After you were 99.9% sure that none of the blood got on you? Now you're mad at the nurse because she did her job and told you that there's always a slight risk when there's bodily fluids involved? You're looking for a reason to be upset and unless I'm missing something, this post reeks of troll to me

 

[mispatatas]

what does 'reeks of troll' mean?

 

[Microcell]

Okay, is this HIV or HepB you are worried about, or both?

Just to help alay your fears about Hep B- I worked with a gentleman who had hep B and was Mentally ********, and prone to violence. He would hit, grab and shake while breaking your skin. To top it all off, he would play with his feces as well. I started my series of Hep B after about a month on the job, and had been assaulted twice before my first shot, with him breaking my skin both times. I got tested and came up fine. The man was titrating off medication to get ready for another, so he happened to be particularly violent during this time.

With HIV, I would agree with your first doc about it being very unlikely. I think it takes more than casual contact to contract it, as far as heavy exchanging of body fluids, or needle sticks not just sharing a phone. If it was that easy, then you could get it by kissing.

Do what you have to to be sure you are safe, but try to remember that sometimes nurses can be know it alls. Flamers- I did not say all nurses!!!

 

[DVC Sadie]

LUKENDC, thanks for your kind words.

I am on a waiting list for treatment but was doing so well I no longer felt I even needed it.

The guy who was bleeding kindly had a blood test when it happened which showed up negative.

However, today the nurse told me 'well that doesn't mean he didn't have it, he may have been in the window period'....

she just seemed very insensitive and has down my condition so much harm it's unbelievable.

I'm sorry for your condition but YOU are blowing things way out of proportion. Instead of blaming the nurse maybe you need to see a psycologist to fix the anxiety disorder. A nurses job is to inform not to hand hold and basically walk on eggshells in fear of a patients instability to hearing the truth. Unfortanately they just don't have the time.

 

[mispatatas]

Cindyluwho, you are right that I shouldn't have made that guy come with me, I just got myself worked up and panicked - when I finally got over my initial panic, I realised how stupid that was.

 

[JennyMominRI]

I posted my first reply in refence to your first post and didnt see your second--but a lot hasnt changed outside of the situation you were in---And yes there is cause for concern--If your doc told you otherwise get a new doc--Aids can be transmitted to you thru a HANGNAIL--so the nurse was correct in saying you were at some risk--get the test,to say you felt good enough about your stress level to not get it is ridiculous--you should have gotten the shot---that being said get the test and get the follow ups as well-make sure condoms are in play until last test comes back negative--

Do you have any statistics t show me that you can get AIDS from a hangnail..I'm not saying you are wrong,that's just a new one I've never heard before and I have always asked about any possible modes of transmission

 

[JennyMominRI]

You asked a man who had gone through trauma bad enough to cause all of this bleeding to have the test? After you were 99.9% sure that none of the blood got on you? Now you're mad at the nurse because she did her job and told you that there's always a slight risk when there's bodily fluids involved? You're looking for a reason to be upset and unless I'm missing something, this post reeks of troll to me

Not a troll