Sexual Health - ASK AN EXPERT! -- Extended till next week

[Ipost]

Here's the full transcript: I'm keeping a running Gdoc as I transcribe out the interview.

Thanks Becky. I will have to wait till tomorrow morning (volume is off)

 

[Rebecca Richardson]

I can answer most of these!

Does OHIP cover the hassle free clinic appointments?.

Yes. They also accept people without a healthcard, free. If you're super-paranoid there's that option. (Not gonna lie, I did this for years because I do tell them I'm a companion and I was scared it'd get tied to my information somehow.)

Most/all treatment is heavily subsidized (e.g. birth control is very cheap, condoms are free, all your tests are free). They prescribe antibiotics obviously but your pharmacy is the one that dispenses those. In general, they're very cheap as well. If you're scared about that getting connected to you for SO reasons you can always use a different pharmacy than usual.

Last time I was there. The doctors were unshaven, walking around with torn t shirts and jeans. Walked out as my thoughts were.. If you don't care what you look like in front of patients then you don't care about me.

Have they changed their outlook yet?.

Are you sure it was the doctors and not a patient that you saw? The clinic sees a variety of people. I've always found them to be extremely professional and I have a long relationship of getting my tests with them. I guess their dress code is business-casual if that matters to you. They are the absolute best-in-biz when it comes to sexual health in Toronto.

I totally get that it can seem a bit off-putting when you first go; it's publicly funded. It doesn't affect the standard of care you get while you're there. It's comparable to anything I've paid for in the American system or if anything, more thorough.

What's the legal or proper time before a woman can have an abortion?.

What's "proper"? 5-16 weeks is a D/C (routine procedure with a downtime of about 4 days for the woman). Fetuses aren't viable before 20 weeks, which means they can't survive outside of the womb. Later term abortions are pretty rare, from what I understand, and it's when the safety of the mother or child is involved.

I'll ask them for clarification on this, but I think the general answer you're looking for is 5-16 weeks - that's the clinical standard for Canada where a woman can access it with no questions asked. Anything later gets complicated.

How true is this?.

7 Places You Can Get A Yeast Infection That's Not Your Vagina | Women's Health

True-ish? A yeast infection in the throat is called thrush. Some diaper rashes are yeast as well. It can happen anyplace the skin is kept wet, and is more common in diabetes/people with a compromised immune system. It's not wildly common, but it does happen.

I'll ask them about yeast as an STI.

 

[Rebecca Richardson]

Thanks Becky. I will have to wait till tomorrow morning (volume is off)

Transcript and summary are there too <3 Having my sound on at work would get me in trouble.

 

[Flash Bazbo]

... ...They also accept people without a healthcard, free...

This is probably the most important information in this discussion, for the majority of the clients living/ working in that area, (Gerrard & Church streets).

There is an enormous population of homeless youth living/ partying daily nearby, many of whom do not have Health Cards, for one reason or another, often through robbery.

In addition, there is an ODSP office at 358 Yonge Street and an Ontario Works office at Wellesley/ Jarvis, a short trek away, and a large number of homeless shelters/ drop in centers/ Christian mission offices/ soup kitchens nearby.

Street prostitution among the dispossessed of that area is a major problem, as many of those homeless people are runaways, drug addicts, mental health outpatients, and 'modern hippies', coming to the big city with empty wallets and naivety.

Rebecca, I will personally see to it that the quoted information is passed by word-of-mouth, (I live nearby, but understandably, decline all unsolicited solicitations!). If you were to 'shill' the Hassle Free clinic at the ODSP and OW offices, with a large supply of Hassle Free Clinic business cards, shortly after the 'May 2-4' long weekend, you would reach the target audience for this clinic at a high saturation rate.

A large percentage of the nomadic population 'burn through' a Government monthly check in 1-3 days, and rely on aid centers for food and shelter for the rest of the month, and they fund their lifestyle and habits by whatever means necessary every other day. Many of the non profit assistance stations are 'not so non profit', but I won't name names, in open forums.

I will personally stop by the office, to obtain a generous supply of business cards sometime today, and 'get the ball rolling'.

One day, and that day may never come, a Catholic School in that area could possibly be named after you, "Our Lady of The Evening". If you ever 'rebrand', "Maggy Delaney" would be a good alias.

Props!

 

[Rebecca Richardson]

This is probably the most important information in this discussion, for the majority of the clients living/ working in that area, (Gerrard & Church streets).

For everyone! Especially if you share a GP with with your SO, or you're nervous. HASSLE FREE CLINIC IS FREE, NO HEALTH CARD.

It's not just for the disenfranchised, it's easy, free, available sexual healthcare. I know a lot of us get scared of testing, or we can't ask our direct questions, so why not take the resources that are given to us.

(My favourite question so far: "So if I provide BBBJ, and then I BBBJ/BBFS my boyfriend, what risk am I giving myself and my husband?" < things we can't ask our doctors, haha)

Oh Canada!

One day, and that day may never come, a Catholic School in that area could possibly be named after you, "Our Lady of The Evening". If you ever 'rebrand', "Maggy Delaney" would be a good alias.

That'd be one seriously messed-up school, but I appreciate the sentiment <3

 

[Rebecca Richardson]

I am a 45 year old male. Would a Gardisil shot be worthwhile or no?

Their answer: YES.

I'm just working my way through typing it all up now, but the transcript on warts can be found pages 3-6 on this document. I asked your question directly to her, and her response was this:

So we have questions from 2 people, a guy at 45 and a woman early 30s… both get Gardasil?

Absolutely.

Initially, and I understand the confusion because the ways things go through regulatory approvals. Initially the way Gardasil was studied was women 9-26. So when it was finally approved, it was approved for that age group.

Several jurisdictions, including Australia, were way ahead of us. Once Gardasil was approved, it became a universal vaccine.

You can hear her discuss it in voice at 25:01.

 

[RideOrDie]

What's the likelihood of getting something if you got a BBBJ + DFK? Right now I got this weird sore throat going on...Should I see someone or wait it out?

 

[SillyGirl]

It's so great to see an STD thread with such reliable information. Thank you for taking the time to do all this, Rebecca.

 

[Flash Bazbo]

It's not just for the disenfranchised... That'd be one seriously messed-up school, but I appreciate the sentiment <3

To give credit where credit is due, The one-liner, "I went to a tough Catholic high school, Our Lady of the Evening" was, to my knowledge, first spoken, and probably written, by Lawrence Morgenstern, on or before October, 1984. I merely used an exerpt, allowable under the 'fair use' doctrine of copyright law, where the excerpt has educational purpose, and no fee is charged.

Fair use - Wikipedia

My sentiment with respect to the disenfranchised was that THEY may be denied Health Care at other clinics, BECAUSE they don't have a government health card; it may have been lost, stolen, or 'held for safe keeping', by a third party.

Obtaining a replacement card can be difficult, if one has no mailing address, or didn't know that a clinic, within walking distance, would give them a 'no questions asked' examination, without a 'paper trail', or authorization from a parent or legal guardian.

Most, or all, of the readers of this thread ought to have their own health card, and ought not to need consent from a parent or legal guardian, in order to receive confidential medical care. The odd one may have a substitute decision maker, but they probably already live in a hospital, at least some of the time!

 

[oldguyzer]

I have to say NO unprotected sex of any kind is safe and all types of sex are available, because they're are no "safe" police. As adults we determine the risks we're willing to take, the type of sex we're wanting and with whom. Some sexual activities are lower risk than others, yet still a risk. Even protected sex comes with risk. Educate yourself, choose your partners carefully, and take care of your health, is the best any of us can do. I hope you don't mind me chiming in Rebecca, thanks for this valuable thread.
STD Risk and Oral Sex | STD | CDC A resource I've used, as well as my own doctor

BBBJ may not have quite the risks as BBFS, but they are still there and significant enough to worry anyone in the business (either side of the business). I'd recommend CBJ. Not as much fun, perhaps, but safer. A lot safer. Why take the risk?

 

[oldguyzer]

Is there a better pill than Viagra without side effects?.

Cialis has better results for most of the males I know...and the effect lasts several days quite nicely. Ask your quack, but Cialis would be my choice.

 

[oldguyzer]

Is it true that odds is you will get more infections if you are not circumcised?.

Depends on your personal hygiene routine, but as a general rule, yes, but that's because most males don't clean the area under the foreskin properly.

 

[oldguyzer]

What's the likelihood of getting something if you got a BBBJ + DFK? Right now I got this weird sore throat going on...Should I see someone or wait it out?

I've seen odds in the journals around 2% but I haven't seen recent figures. I'll try to get a better answer. But consider 2% means you're gonna get something out of every 50 BBBJs.

 

[Jaymasters]

Good info, only thing I would warn against is the use of Gardasil. Not her fault for recommending it as it is a normal thing for clinics to do, but I'd do a lot more research before getting it. A lot of these vaccines are propaganda influenced toxins that cause many side effects like paralysis, brain damage etc. It's expensive for a reason
Most people will think I'm crazy as it's practically impossible to inform people against the medical "norm", all I'm saying is do your research for possible side effects before considering.

You can read more info here: Countless teenage girls suffer paralysis, blood clots, brain damage and chronic pain from force-vaccination of Gardasil’s HPV “shot in the dark” – NaturalNews.com
A 15 year old girl who is now paralyzed after the vaccine: Norway: Force-vaccinated with Gardasil - SaneVax, Inc.
Girl almost dies after taking Gardasil: Iowa Girl Faces Death: Life Destroyed by Gardasil Vaccine

 

[peace]

Good info, only thing I would warn against is the use of Gardasil. Not her fault for recommending it as it is a normal thing for clinics to do, but I'd do a lot more research before getting it. A lot of these vaccines are propaganda influenced toxins that cause many side effects like paralysis, brain damage etc. It's expensive for a reason
Most people will think I'm crazy as it's practically impossible to inform people against the medical "norm", all I'm saying is do your research for possible side effects before considering.

You can read more info here: Countless teenage girls suffer paralysis, blood clots, brain damage and chronic pain from force-vaccination of Gardasil’s HPV “shot in the dark” – NaturalNews.com
A 15 year old girl who is now paralyzed after the vaccine: Norway: Force-vaccinated with Gardasil - SaneVax, Inc.
Girl almost dies after taking Gardasil: Iowa Girl Faces Death: Life Destroyed by Gardasil Vaccine

That is scary. I ws thinking of getting a shot but now I am not so too sure. They say Australia is ahead of us and approach Gardasil as universal vaccine. I like to have all my shots to be protected from any possible virus.
@oldguyzer what is your thought on this matter?

 

[oldguyzer]

That is scary. I ws thinking of getting a shot but now I am not so too sure. They say Australia is ahead of us and approach Gardasil as universal vaccine. I like to have all my shots to be protected from any possible virus.
@oldguyzer what is your thought on this matter?

Rsearch seems to be all over the place, but I'm in favor of it for ladies (works well against HPV) and men (good for anti-cancer in the tender bits, genital warts, and more). I haven't seen a convincing scientific reason not to recommend it yet. Most of the negative pieces are not scientifically based, but twisting facts for their own agendas.

 

[peace]

Rsearch seems to be all over the place, but I'm in favor of it for ladies (works well against HPV) and men (good for anti-cancer in the tender bits, genital warts, and more). I haven't seen a convincing scientific reason not to recommend it yet. Most of the negative pieces are not scientifically based, but twisting facts for their own agendas.

Thanks DOc! Guess I will wait till there is solid evidence if it is worth it.

 

[Cybermike]

Thanks Rebecca for donating your time. They didn't teach you this in school :-Cool/"

 

[Jaymasters]

Rsearch seems to be all over the place, but I'm in favor of it for ladies (works well against HPV) and men (good for anti-cancer in the tender bits, genital warts, and more). I haven't seen a convincing scientific reason not to recommend it yet. Most of the negative pieces are not scientifically based, but twisting facts for their own agendas.

I'm not for or against Gardasil, but I am skeptical. I have a question, I literally found hundreds of cases of negative results and you begin to wonder, who really is "twisting the facts for their own agendas?" Who has more to lose? Big pharma who makes billions for creating a vaccine that is now believed to be mandatory by modern medicine? Or the people that are getting sick? Not sure what those poor girls would gain by lying about their experiences

 

[oldguyzer]

I'm not for or against Gardasil, but I am skeptical. I have a question, I literally found hundreds of cases of negative results and you begin to wonder, who really is "twisting the facts for their own agendas?" Who has more to lose? Big pharma who makes billions for creating a vaccine that is now believed to be mandatory by modern medicine? Or the people that are getting sick? Not sure what those poor girls would gain by lying about their experiences

With any drug there's either negatives or no-effect results, depending on the chemistry and physiology of the individual; what is irrefutable in my opinion is the prevention of HPV in ladies who take the drug. There's a clear correlation.

No drug is ever 100% effective, but for women, I believe Gardasil has a positive anti-HPV effect. Since men can get HPV too, it's likely the effect is similar, although less clinical studies are available about that.