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Author Topic: YAY MARK !  (Read 15169 times)

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Offline AlanBama

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  • Alabama: the 'other' 3rd World Country!
YAY MARK !
« on: August 13, 2009, 07:44:31 pm »
A big shout out to Mark, our fellow LTSer, who is featured in the new issue of POZ magazine on page 24.

Great article honey!  I am so proud of you for quitting smoking.

Many hugs,

Alan   :-*
"Remember my sentimental friend that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others." - The Wizard of Oz

Offline Robert

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Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2009, 09:57:01 pm »

Alan...

you should have seen him at the Gathering.  He looks fabulous~~.  The hump has all but disappeared. 

Of course the twinkle in his eye and that underlying desire to be one of the little rascals never left.

robert
..........

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2009, 07:04:29 am »
Way to go Mark..

I know it was a hard row to hoe..

Congratulations on your achievement..

Ronnie
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline AndyArrow

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Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2009, 08:11:42 am »
I haven't received my new copy of POZ yet  :(  so I haven't seen it in the flesh (so to speak) but a big Congrats Mark!!

Hugs!
AA

PS Thanks Alan for giving everyone the heads up!
It is not the arrival that matters.  It is the journey along the way. -- Michel Montaigne

Offline BT65

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Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2009, 08:36:53 am »
Congratulations Mark!  It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!
I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

Condom and Lube Info https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/safer-sex
Please check out our lessons on PEP and PrEP. https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/pep-prep

https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/treatmentasprevention-tasp

Offline aztecan

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  • Posts: 5,530
  • 36 years positive, 64 years a pain in the butt
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2009, 12:17:03 am »
Thanks Alan, and all of you.

The photo caught me off guard.  :o The photographer took a bunch of photos, and that probably wasn't one I would have thought of because it was more of a close up than I'm used to, but it does show off some of my xeriscaped front yard. :D

HUGS,

Mark
"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline AlanBama

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  • Alabama: the 'other' 3rd World Country!
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2009, 10:02:24 am »
I noticed your yard Mark!   Looked wonderful, from what I could see....

and so did you.

Hugs, Alan  :-*
"Remember my sentimental friend that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others." - The Wizard of Oz

Offline Robert

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Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #7 on: August 22, 2009, 01:34:52 am »


I got my issue today.  I rushed to tear open the black plastic wrapper and quickly browesed through the pages to find the article you're all talking about.

Not sure I found it.  I did read something about COPA and someone named Mark Lewis but this guy didn't look anything like our Mark.  I mean, he didn't have glasses on for one thing. And as far as I know, our Mark is Aztecan, not Lewis.  That's such a gringo sounding name and of course we all know our Mark is a vaquero from the high plains of New Mexico.

Who is this imposter?

robert
..........

Offline anniebc

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  • Posts: 6,185
  • AM member since 2003
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2009, 02:27:41 am »
Can someone post the story for me I would like to see it and don't know how to get it online..thanks.

hugs
Jan :-*
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Never knock on deaths door..ring the bell and run..he really hates that.

Offline J.R.E.

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  • Positive since 1985, joined forums 12/03
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #9 on: August 22, 2009, 03:29:39 am »
Can someone post the story for me I would like to see it and don't know how to get it online..thanks.

hugs
Jan :-*

Congratulations Mark !!

Jan,  Here's the link :

http://www.poz.com/articles/lewis_copd_lung_2363_17076.shtml


Ray
Current Meds ; Viramune / Epzicom Eliquis, Diltiazem. Pravastatin 80mg, Ezetimibe. UPDATED 2/18/24
 Tested positive in 1985,.. In October of 2003, My t-cell count was 16, Viral load was over 500,000, Percentage at that time was 5%. I started on  HAART on October 24th, 2003.

 As of Oct 2nd, 2023, Viral load Undetectable.
CD 4 @676 /  CD4 % @ 18 %
Lymphocytes,absolute-3815 (within range)


72 YEARS YOUNG

Offline anniebc

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  • Posts: 6,185
  • AM member since 2003
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2009, 05:42:01 am »
Thanks Ray, very interesting article Mark, I also read the others you had there..keep up the good work.

Hugs
Jan :-*
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Never knock on deaths door..ring the bell and run..he really hates that.

Offline Miss Philicia

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  • Posts: 24,793
  • celebrity poster, faker & poser
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #11 on: August 25, 2009, 04:17:26 pm »
I just found my copy which was buried in some mail on the table.  I'll try and scan the first page for Jan so she can see the lovely picture of Marsha.
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline anniebc

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Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #12 on: August 25, 2009, 05:15:56 pm »
Thanks Philly that would be great.

Hugs
Jan :-*
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Never knock on deaths door..ring the bell and run..he really hates that.

Offline MOONLIGHT1114

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  • Cheech 2.2.94 - 4.23.10 We miss you so much!
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #13 on: August 25, 2009, 06:06:26 pm »
Congrats to you, Mark!  Can't wait to see the pic!
HIV+ since '93, 1/12 - CD4 785 and undet.   WOO-HOO!!

Offline Miss Philicia

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  • celebrity poster, faker & poser
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #14 on: August 26, 2009, 04:18:32 pm »
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline Miss Philicia

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  • celebrity poster, faker & poser
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #15 on: August 26, 2009, 04:22:16 pm »
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline AndyArrow

  • Member
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Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #16 on: August 26, 2009, 05:28:35 pm »
I got my copy and finally read the article ... it was interesting and a very nice pic!
It is not the arrival that matters.  It is the journey along the way. -- Michel Montaigne

Offline aztecan

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  • Posts: 5,530
  • 36 years positive, 64 years a pain in the butt
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #17 on: August 26, 2009, 11:29:35 pm »
I'm still not sure about the photo. Several people said they like it.

I still think something about 50 or so feet further away would be better.  ;)

I have had a lot of good response though, including a long discussion about the benefits vs. the risks of Chantix.

My boss liked it, ao that's was good news.

Thanks for the great responses.

HUGS,

Mark

"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline Jody

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Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #18 on: September 21, 2009, 11:53:30 pm »
You look great Mark and a nice contribution to POZ as well !!!


Jody
"Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world".
 "Try to discover that you are the song that the morning brings."

Grateful Dead

Offline bear60

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Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #19 on: September 22, 2009, 12:56:54 pm »
I have had a lot of good response though, including a long discussion about the benefits vs. the risks of Chantix....quote Mark

I saw on TV an ad for a law firm that deals with suits against the maker of Chantix.  It listed suicide and car accidents as possible reasons to sue.  Is this extreem side effect really happening that much to users of Chantix?
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline Miss Philicia

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  • celebrity poster, faker & poser
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #20 on: September 22, 2009, 02:47:39 pm »
Is this extreem side effect really happening that much to users of Chantix?

I hope not because I have three unused boxes sitting next to me.
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline bear60

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Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #21 on: September 22, 2009, 04:04:27 pm »
Well, be careful David.
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline Ann

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  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #22 on: September 23, 2009, 04:58:32 pm »

It listed suicide and car accidents as possible reasons to sue.  Is this extreem side effect really happening that much to users of Chantix?


It certainly messed with my head. I woke up one morning thinking all sorts of dark and suicidal thoughts, which is totally unlike me. I didn't know what the hell was going on or where the thoughts were coming from. No matter how much I tried to not think them, I still thought them. Not a very nice experience. I think it was the next day when I realised that the only thing different in my life was that I'd been taking Chantix for about two-three weeks. (the details are hazy now, it was over a year ago) I started googling and discovered that suicidal ideation was a common enough side-effect for it to have caused several deaths.

Needless to say, I dumped the Champix in the garbage and ...... went out and bought some ciggies. :-\

Anyone taking this stuff should be thoroughly warned.

Ann
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline aztecan

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  • 36 years positive, 64 years a pain in the butt
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #23 on: September 24, 2009, 09:46:15 am »
Hey Ann,

What Chantix did to you is what Sustiva did to me. The Chantix caused some vivid dreams, but that was the upshot of the mental side effects.

But boy, that Sustiva nearly drove me over the edge.

I understand your feelings about Chantix because of it though. It is not something that you would want to repeat.

HUGS,

Mark
"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline Miss Philicia

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  • celebrity poster, faker & poser
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #24 on: September 24, 2009, 09:51:45 am »

Anyone taking this stuff should be thoroughly warned.

Ann

I was warned.  I know you told me your entire story when it happened, but I can't remember if your doctor warned you about it or not.  Of course, due to your alarmist spiel I've had the boxes sitting here now for a year and the expiration date is right now, though I'd assume that it's still good for a bit longer.  I'm planning on starting it next month and will take a sedative with it each day.  I'm more worried about it messing up my sleep.  I promise to phone Joel up if I feel like jumping out of my fourth floor windows at any time.

Sustiva never bothered me at all actually, though IIRC I was only on it for six months or so as having been on Viramune before that for quite some time had made me completely resistant to other NNRTIs, though at the time they were shooting in the dark as there were no geno/phenotype test available.  Hooray for treatment in the 90's!
« Last Edit: September 24, 2009, 09:53:16 am by Miss Philicia »
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline Ann

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  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #25 on: September 24, 2009, 11:31:09 am »

I was warned.  I know you told me your entire story when it happened, but I can't remember if your doctor warned you about it or not.  Of course, due to your alarmist spiel I've had the boxes sitting here now for a year...


No, I wasn't told but it was partly my own damned fault for not checking into the possible side-effects before I took it. I normally do with any new meds I might take.

I think you should give it a try - it's only a minority of us who go bonkers with the stuff. Besides, fore-warned is fore-armed. When I did the hep C treatment, I knew full well, before starting, that it could have some pretty heavy duty side-effects, such as depression and also something known to heppers as "riba rage". I experienced riba rage (named after the ribaviron component of the treatment), but I KNEW it was the drug and was therefore able to keep a lid on it. Knowing the mood problems were being chemically induced made all the difference. Suicide is also a problem for people on the hep C treatment, which I also was fully aware of at the time. I know if I had started feeling suicidal back then, I would have immediately contacted my doctor and done something about it.

The problem is when the suicidal ideation comes out of no-where, for no apparent reason. You tend to think it's real, not realising it's the drugs, and if you think it's real, you're more likely to act on it. That's why I'm so adamant about people being warned before hand.

I'm not so sure you'd need to take a sedative with it. Maybe at night, but you might find you enjoy the dreams. They never disturbed my sleep, but of course your experience may vary. If I were you, I'd see how it went first.

Mark, I quite enjoyed the Champix dreams. The suicidal ideation, not so much. As for Sustiva, there's no way in hell I'll ever even try that stuff when there are other drugs I can use. I've seen too many people have trouble with it and with my history of meds messing with my head (Champix wasn't the first), I think I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Ann
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline BT65

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Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #26 on: September 24, 2009, 06:51:23 pm »
Yeah, I've never felt suicidal with Chantix, but I did with Sustiva.  And I couldn't get it under control.  But, the only side effect I've had with Chantix is the dreams, which don't bother me.  And the other thing I learned about Chantix is to take it with a meal or snack, because of the nausea.

Sorry for the hijack, Mark.
I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

Condom and Lube Info https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/safer-sex
Please check out our lessons on PEP and PrEP. https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/pep-prep

https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/treatmentasprevention-tasp

Offline Jeffreyj

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Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #27 on: September 27, 2009, 06:17:56 am »
Mark,
You look fantastic! Sorry you have to deal with this, on top of everything else, but it's good you got a handle on it! Great article!
Jeff
Positive since 1985

Offline rioz

  • Member
  • Posts: 54
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #28 on: September 28, 2009, 08:19:04 pm »
I was diagnosed with COPD in 2006. I tried Chantix but it made me crazy. I had cold sweats and was often disoriented. I was a professional quitter (cigarettes, that is) and over the thirty plus years that I smoked, I quit dozens of times. What did it for me was full blown AIDS (yes, I know that term isn't used anymore) PCP and thrush in 2007. I was in hospital for eight days and have never smoked since. But I do not rec comend PCP, thrush or AIDS as a means for quitting!

Good wishes to all,
Richard
Living with HIV since 1985
Living with AIDS since 2007

Truvada, Lexiva, Norvir, Levothyroxine, Testim, Sertraline, Crestor

Offline J.R.E.

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  • Positive since 1985, joined forums 12/03
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #29 on: October 19, 2009, 07:04:31 pm »
Hey Mark,

Finally was able to see that issue of POZ today, at the doctors office.


Great Picture, and article !!!


Ray
Current Meds ; Viramune / Epzicom Eliquis, Diltiazem. Pravastatin 80mg, Ezetimibe. UPDATED 2/18/24
 Tested positive in 1985,.. In October of 2003, My t-cell count was 16, Viral load was over 500,000, Percentage at that time was 5%. I started on  HAART on October 24th, 2003.

 As of Oct 2nd, 2023, Viral load Undetectable.
CD 4 @676 /  CD4 % @ 18 %
Lymphocytes,absolute-3815 (within range)


72 YEARS YOUNG

Offline Theyer

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  • Current ambition. Walk the Dog .
Re: YAY MARK !
« Reply #30 on: October 20, 2009, 02:25:04 pm »
Well done Mark and the picture is great.
michael
"If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people ."  Tony Benn

 


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