Clap

Dear Zach,

I still keep in touch with this 23 y.o Malay guy for the past few months since we met in last October. Our sex was still good. Somehow he tend to cum quicker these days. We now always meet at the cheap motel where it caters convenience for both of us. Our last meet up was exactly one month ago, it was our 3rd time meeting up. I did plan to meet up again for new year eve sex but he had plans.

Last night, he texted me out of the blue. Telling me he has gonorrhea and I should get tested. After a few questioning with him, he was very sure he got it from me. He has green penile discharge on Tuesday, and went for a check on Wednesday, and doctor was sure of it that it is gonorrhea.

I am pretty sure I have no symptoms or whatsoever, and probably asymptomatic in this case. I told him I'll get myself checked later. My last STD checkup was in 2022 - the results came out wasn't as "clean" as I thought. I got tested positive for herpes 1 and 2. But doctor mentioned that herpes is pretty much common in people to contract both of them unless they don't have sex. 

After gym, I left for a blood testing laboratory for STD checkup. I was introduced a screening package for a STD profile, but it does not include testing for gonorrhea. In fact, they don't even have individual testing for gonorrhea itself. This is news to me. After all these years of blood testing for STD, gonorrhea, the most common type of STD, is not part of STD profile for screening.

I left and went to a private clinic I usually go to. I told the doc about my predicament. She patiently explained to me that testing for STD can be very expensive. She went to the back and checked for the price for me. After a few minutes, she returned and told me the price for STD checkup including gonorrhea is RM400. It is way over my budget and I told her I can't afford it, I asked if she could just prescribe me antibiotic instead. She agreed to my request and also kind enough gave me an injection, since I skipped the blood testing, as a treatment for chlamydia.

The total cost of treatment is just less than RM100. I let out a huge sigh of relief for skipping a hefty amount of testing. In my current situation, I can't afford to pay that amount. Oh! I did my 3-months HIV free testing on Tuesday and I am clean.