Schrodinger's Cat and the HIV corollary.

On Tuesday the 27th of October I had my first HIV test. The day before I went to the Sanatorium with a friend to get some vitamins and we decided on the spot to sign up for a test the following day. I had never really put much thought into getting a test but as soon as I signed up I began to think quite deeply on the subject. I have never doubted my HIV status but I became rather anxious to see the result. I arrived on time and was led to a little room at the end of a corridor where I was left alone with the man entrusted with counselling me and giving me my sentence. The psychologist/counsellor was a nice man, we got along well, having candid conversion and getting through the pre-test counselling. He must have been satisfied with my overall knowledge and confidence on the subject of HIV and my status, apart from when he asked me if I did drugs and shared needles with my friends! A nurse then entered the room and the fear of the unknown started to hit me as she cleaned my right index finger with a small cloth of alcohol/anti-septic. The pain was fleeting and she used a pipette to suck up a small amount of my blood and placed it on the little testing console. She placed it on a counter, covered with a page, and said she would return in 5 minutes to review the result. We made small talk while I waited anxiously, thinking about all the different possibilities at that moment in time. It was like the one thought experiment I heard about in a science lecture, known as Schrodinger’s Cat. Schrodinger’s Cat was a theory s whereby hypothetically a cat was placed in a box along with a vial of poison gas, and at a certain time a hammer would either break the vial releasing the gas and killing the cat or would not, leaving the cat alive. After the allotted amount of time it is postulated that the cat is both alive and dead and one cannot know until you remove the box and have visual evidence. At that moment in time I did not know whether or not I had HIV, and both possibilities existed. The nurse returned and after checking the test kit filled out a form and passed it to the counsellor. After a brief pensive moment he said “You’re fine” and I laughed in relief. I’m glad that I had the test as I think it is the responsibility of all young adults, especially in South Africa, to know one’s status and be aware of the risks and responsibilities that we face.