My Grandpa's Diabetic Finger Pricking and my Blood Contamination

[grecco80]

Hi everyone - I have severe Pure-O OCD, so I don't have a lot of hand-washing or physical rituals.

Still this OCD bothers me a lot in my life.

Living with my Grandparents, my Grandpa is diabetic and he always tends to do his finger-prick tests without a band-aid at all. He claims his blood stops after a minute or two after his finger prick tests.

However a few days ago - he did his daily prick test and after a few minutes saw an acne blister on my face, and he went to touch and examine it. Immediately, my OCD flared up on whether he could transmit Hepatitis/AIDS/or anything to me via my acne blister (which was leaking pus) and his finger-pricked hand.

He of course claims he doesn't have anything other than diabetes, but he is not exactly medically inclined to examine his own medical problems as much as mine... Is this really a valid concern - or is this an OCD?

OCD makes me so unsure of these types of things... I'm only 13 after all...

 

[Fitchy]

I used to have the aids fear as well. I still struggle with it. It could b contracted this way from my knowlege but is unlikely. He did it after he was done bleeding correct? Im pretty sure if he is diabetic they run plenty of tests on him to check just about everything and that could include aids. I know that you are fine and that its just the ocd.. but still the only clarity i got was getting myself checked. Clinics will often do this for free especially since you are underage and they want to prevent stds!! If yoh see a psychologist or anyone ask for informtation on how to get one. Or just believe that its your grandpa.. if he had aids he would have been showing all the symptoms by now. I highly doubt he is out prowling the city and being permiscuous contracting stds. Feel better! Its okay.

 

[Barry1979]

I have dealt with these types of obsessions for years. This type of thing you described would have been traumatizing to me. I was so bad that this friend of mine who's brother is a known injection drug user that I refused to ride In His truck after he told me he had let him borrow it so he could Move furniture one day.

Well this one day he and another friend of ours went out to eat and we rode in that truck (I was feeling pretty clear mindedly at the time). Well we get into the restraunt and it hit....the intrusive thoughts/obsessions.... I was convinced I had sat on and got poked with one of his brothers tainted drug needles. It got so bad I was sweating and stuff.

So I told friends that I left my wallet out in the truck just so I could go out there and search and feel around for dirty drug needles that I knew was not there just to ease my mind. And still yet it's never good enough. Pure-O is sooooo powerful and this is just one example of thousands I could give.