Living with HIV

[buginme2]

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[Ann]

Bug, read your history and be glad you have Atripla instead of mega doses of AZT or some of the d drugs.

[buginme2]

Read my history? Really.  What does that have to do with my post and why would you assume I dont know my history?

[sassyone]

 :)Hi Sweetheart:  Being newly diagnosed, most things will tend to frighten you.  But know this, I have gone into places and seen people who looked ravished, tore up from the floor up but, they were not positive.  So don't spend too much time comparing yourself with others because you are unique, your special and you are loved!   keep it movin.......!

[alliance]

I experienced the same kind of concerns at first. We are all different, but give it about a year maybe, it takes time to adjust.  Just hang in there and try not to let that stuff bug you too much. It helped me a lot to express my concerns here. You'll be fine, just stay on your meds.

[jkinatl2]

I daresay that you and I will have had vastly different experiences with HIV when all is said and done. I got to test drive HAART when they were tweaking it, and was one lucky mutha to be able to avoid the harshest pitfalls (lipo, PN, and the like). I also used every resource at my disposal and made decisions based on data, even if there wasn't an awful lot at the time.

And that's about all you can do. Does it suck that you have to make choices like a middle-aged man already? Yes. Sucks that you have to concern yourself with the craziness of healthcare costs, lifestyle changes, an overall "settling down" stage that some people are fortunate to put off for decades.

And who knows? New drugs, a cure even, might be in your future.

I can tell you that I have had AIDS for 17 years, HIV for 18. And I don't walk with a cane. I don't look haggard (often) and I certainly don't appear ravaged. But I have been through an amount of stuff.  God/dess knows I have buried more people than I ever wanted, and have spent more time breathing the cold, sterile, no-odor oxygen in the hospital than I ever thought I would.

Thing is, you can't possibly know another person's story. That guy with a cane might be around for thirty years, and the athletic guy across the room might be dead in five - from the SAME virus. It's really that arbitrary, and depends SO MUCH on genetics and evolving lifestyle choices.

How long is a piece of string, a wise woman asked.

It's as long as it is. And to a large extent, it's as long as you craft it to be.

[Ann]

Read my history? Really.  What does that have to do with my post and why would you assume I dont know my history?

Yes. Read the history of the AIDS pandemic. You might just understand what he's gone through and why you most probably won't go through anything as nasty as he has. And then you might spare us your histrionics. How many books on the history of hiv have you read?

[buginme2]

I promise to spare you of my histrionics if you promise to spare us with your condescension

[Matty the Damned]

I promise to spare you of my histrionics if you promise to spare us with with your condescension

"Spare you from my histrionics".

Didn't we have a little chat about precision earlier?

MtD

[buginme2]

Jesus H. Christ

[Ann]

Jesus H. Christ

And on that note, I'm applying the padlock.