A Christmas present worse than that jumper...

My christmas jumper is quite good - it's got a duck on it. And a flag. An STI is definately the worst Christmas present to give to someone.

So last week we had a day of sexual health awareness - Holly and Amy pursuaded all the officers that we needed a full STI check at the GUM (Genito-urinary medicine) Clinic. I have to say the whole shebang isn't too bad, it takes about an hour to have a complete check which is a little while out of your day, but at least you'll get results for the following:

Thrush
Chlamydia
Gardnerella
Gonorrhoea
Syphilis
HIV
Trichomonas

So how do you go about getting checked? It's not as scary as you may think and actually quite easy. I rang up the clinic on 0114 276 6928 and just asked for a full appointment at 9am on Wednesday. She didn't ask what it was for or anything, and I didn't say - it's a GUM clinic, they know roughly where to look. The receptionist told me that it would be about an hour all together as it was the first time I'd been.

So to get there, it's just a short walk from the Union. It's just before the entrance to the medical lecture theatres and it's well signposted. When you go in, it's up some stairs and through the doors. The centre really just looks like a doctors surgery waiting room - with magazines and Jeremy Kyle on telly telling people not to have children on a whim.

I didn't have to wait long, and noticed that the male and female clinics are actually totally separate so you're in a female patient only environment. You could also specify if you only wanted to be seen by female nurses and doctors.

The first part of the visit after a short wait was an interview about my sexual history. They ask when you last had sex, and when your last different partner to that was. They also ask if you use/used condoms as it's obviously a contributing factor in disease transmission. After those questions, they're ones similar to when you donate blood - whether you or someone you've had sex with has used drugs or had sex for money. These groups of people can be very high risk for STIs so would increase your chances of being positive. The doctor also asked if I'd like to be screened for everything, including HIV which requires a blood test. I said yes, of course.

After that part was over, I was taken to a small room and a nurse explained that the doctor would be taking several swabs to test for all the various infections, and that after a short wait I'd have the results of some there and then.

The actual test wasn't horrendous, although it was a little uncomfortable. Doing the swabs only took about 5 minutes though, after which the nurse took a small blood sample.

I waited back in the room for my first set of results. It was only about 15 minutes, during which time I read the large poster about how to check my breasts for lumps, bumps, and sticky outey bits. Useful. The doctor came back and told me that everything looked fine and that the other results would be back in a week. They'll ring me if anything is found, and I opted for a text message to tell me if it's all clear, just to put my mind at rest.

So all in all, it's not terrible. The peace of mind is much better than worrying or passing anything on. There's so much stigma and negativity around STI checks, but it's no different to going to the dentist or for a general health check.

Don't be embarrased. Go get a check.

Claire