One of my closest friends...

[SunnyFlorida]

Some of you may have seen my thread in the "Am I Infected?" forum. I discussed a sexual encounter I had with a friend and how he discovered afterwards that he might be HIV+. I was so scared that I could've caught it from performing fellatio on him because I started getting somewhat sick a few weeks after that encounter. Ann and RapidRod were very knowledgable and absolutely honest. They put my fears to rest and I instead focused my energies on reading up on various threads on this site - from "Am I Infected?" to "I Just Tested Poz", all the way to "Long-Term Survivors". I have to say, what I have read has been nothing but inspiring and enriching. I learned so much about HIV - the nature of the virus, the treatments involved, the mindset of the people with HIV, et cetera.

Around the beginning of February, he had his blood drawn for the ELISA/WB. A month later, the ELISA came back negative, but the WB was indeterminate. He went in for the rapid HIV test which reacted VERY quickly.
He showed up at my door upset all of a sudden last week. I spent a couple days with him, we talked about what I've learned from this site and generally tried to get him to realize that it's completely manageable and people can, and DO, lead normal lives. Today, he got the confirmatory ELISA and Western Blot results back. It is conclusively positive.

I want to use the knowledge and insight I gained to help Danny. He's only twenty years old and has already went through so much in his life that I won't get into here. I'm going to see if I can volunteer with my local AIDS support organization. I realize that I cannot be his sole means of support - I have told him to seek counseling, but I don't know what else to say. Does anyone have any advice on how to go from here? Thanks a lot, and it's good to be here!

[DanMo]

You're a really good friend Sunny! I know I would tremendously appreciate a friend like you.

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend being diagnosed with HIV. I'm just a bit older than him (23) and I only found out last week. I know what he's going through right now and please, keep on looking out for him and letting him know that you care and will be there for him. It will help him so much.

Dan

[SunnyFlorida]

Thank you. He knows... He's got an open-door policy in this house and can come anytime he needs to. He has very few friends he can rely on, so I'm glad to provide support for him. He's a good kid and I feel like an "older brother" to him (I'm 27).

I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis... it must be a lot to take in. I cannot imagine what you, Danny or anyone else are going through. I think I've learned as much as he did, if not more, through his experience but unless I go through seroconversion myself, I'll never truly know what it's like. I'm also trying to get him to meet some more good people so he can get into a better crowd, if you know what I mean.