HIV Support Group

Well first of all it is a good thing that you are concerned and care about your partner..........KUDOS................

the cut on the finger could put him at risk, try exam gloves, I think the risk of you infecting him that way is low but possible....................

if you want to use your penis use a condom......................low risk but still a risk.

I am concerned that your so anxious over this, have you considered counseling? Are you hooked up with a service agency and do you have a case manager? If they are any good you would be able to talk to them about it, there are many good sites to educate yourself more like "the body" and "project inform". There is the aids/hiv night line for emotional support 1-800-273-2437 (5pm to 5am seven days a week) you can also call project inform at 1-800-822-7422 (monday thru friday i think 10 am to 4 pm).

Your doing the right thing by being concerned and by educating yourself, Your partner should get tested if you think there was a possible "slip" and actually should get tested regularly anyway.

Let us know what ya find out and if you have anymore concerns.

................................................................hugs............................

My partner is also neg- and we still have sex, just carefully. I would probably have your partner get tested after the finger incident, you can't be too careful. If you want to talk more about this message me, Take care

Oh and BTW I am neg and partner is poz and we also have sex...........................................

With reasonable care, the risks are indeed very, very low.

People die in car accidents, but we learn to use seatbelts and drive on the correct side of the road, etc. The risk is quite acceptable, given the pleasures of going places to do things.

Even with all care, an car accident can happen. But we just have to live with those risks.

Unlike driving a car, most sex is completely in the control of just 2 (or a few) people. In a car, no matter how carefully you are driving, some drunken fool can run into you.

HIV is one of the very least transmissible viruses. In a positive-negative relationship, the rick of the HIV seropositive person picking up CMV, or KSHV, or HSV-2, or some other thing is really the bigger thing to worry about. But the risks of that can also be very, very low, and of course are zero for any virus the other partner does not have.

Studying viruses in the lab is close to "rocket science", but learning the relative risks of transmission, and how to reduce those risks to near zero is quite simple. Any STD clinic can help you, or you can find information at web sites such as thebody.com

I too didn't think it would be possible for me to date a HIV- person, until I met someone who taught me otherwise. Everyone has issues and as long as you take standard safety precautions your conscience should be clear. That doesn't mean you won't worry about it from time to time, but you should know that he's accepting you for your status, so you should consider accepting him for his status. It's a two way street and as long as he's willing to accept the potential risk and play safe, your conscience should be clear. Like Dr. Duke said, one of you could be hit by a bus tomorrow or diagnosed with cancer... we can't predict the future and we can't live in fear.

Good Luck!