Dear Ann Landers,
n March 1991,1 went to an anonymous test-ing center for a routine HIV test. In two weeks, the results came back positive. I was devastated. I was 20 years old and doomed. I became severely depressed and contemplated a variety of ways to commit suicide. After encouragement from family and friends, I decided to fight back. My doctors in Dallas told me that California had the best care for HIV patients, so I packed everything and headed west. It took three months to find a doctor I trusted. Before this physician would treat me, he insisted on running more tests. Imagine my shock when the new re-sults came back negative. The doctor tested me again, and the results were clearly negative. I'm grateful to be healthy, but the 18 months I thought I had the virus changed my life forever. I'm begging doctors to be more careful. I also want to tell your readers to be sure and get a second opinion. I will con-tinue to be tested for HIV every six months, but I am no longer terrified.

Dear Dallas,
Yours is truly a nightmare with a happy ending, but don't blame the doctor. The moral of your story is this: Get a second opinion. And a third. Never trust a single test. Ever.