The Story that is Never Told

I am outside Adina and Shahar's holding for Planned Parenthood. Apparently there is something wrong with my annual tests. Music plays, I smoke a cigarette,

"Hi Candice, this is Candice."

"Yes this is Candice."

"Oh, yes, my name's Candice too."

We laugh, "Oh!"

After a pause "Your Chlamydia test came back positive."

"Okay."

"So we'd like you to come in sometime soon to get it taken care of."

"Well, you see I'm in Oregon right now. Is there any way I can do it here?"

"Well, if you can find a Planned Parenthood there we can transfer the information if you sign a release. But if you go in and tell them you tested positive they might just give you the prescription."

"Okay, thanks so much."

"You're welcome."

I go inside. Into the room Alex and I are sleeping in and tell him in a whisper, "I have chlamydia." He doesn't say anything. "Can I have your phone? I need to find a Planned Parenthood so that we can get the antibiotics."

Sure enough there is one in Bend. We say goodbye to Adina and Shahar I'm embarrassed so I don't tell them that our errands include a trip to PP.

We don't talk much on the drive, there's not much to say. "Maybe it was my ex and it didn't show up on my last test because it was too soon." "Maybe it was Jessica" the girl that he dated during our short break. We come to the conclusion that it doesn't really matter, at least its not a really bad STD like HIV, "Well just have to take pills for a few days and then it'll be gone."

PP is housed in a nondescript building somewhere between the center and edge of town. We walk in and I go to the desk, "I went to a Planned Parenthood in Seaside California about two weeks ago and got a call this morning that I tested positive for Chlamydia. They said that I could come here to get the antibiotics. My partner is also here and I'm pretty sure he needs them too."

"Okay, well Im not exactly sure how to do this, but please fill out these forms and when you come back I'll let you know."

I fill out the forms.
What is your sex? Female
What pronoun do you prefer? (really?) she
How many partners have you had? . . .
And so on until the end.

I hand it in. "Okay now I just need you to sign this release, then they'll fax us the test result and we'll get you in."

Twenty minutes later I am sitting in a little room with a really nice young male nurse. "So how are you today?"

"Good, aside from having an STD."

"Oh, dont worry about it. I call this one the flu of STDs. It's really not that bad, you take some antibiotics for a few days and it's gone." This definitely makes me feel better. "At least now you know."

"Yeah. I've been having these weird pains for awhile but I just thought it was bad cramps, I guess not."

He smiles, "Well not to worry, I'm just gonna get the RN to come give you your medication. She'll also give you a prescription for your partner."

"So I can't just get his medication from you?"

"Well you can but he'd have to pay for a doctor's visit and a test and then we'll have to wait for the test to come back. it'll be cheaper and faster to just get it filled at Rite Aid down the street."

"And if he doesn't have it the medication is okay to take?"

"Oh, yeah he'll be fine,"

Ten minutes and $28 later I have my prescription (14 pills, 2/day). 20 minutes and $8.75 after that Alex has his. And 20 minutes after that we're looking at sleeping pads in a Military Surplus store.

Note: 25% of men and 75% of women who have Chlamydia don't even know that they have it. Get tested! Don't pass it on!