POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Pre-HAART Long-Term Survivors => Topic started by: kayakinteddy on August 05, 2008, 05:47:01 pm
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Did anyone hear the discussion on NPR's Talk of the Nation today? On the whole it wasn't a bad one and it was good to hear 30-40 minutes devoted to the topic. However, some of the information tweaked me.
I am actually a relatively hopeful, positive outlook kind of guy. However every time I hear HIV described as a completely managable illness or the direct quote today- "If those newly infected today get treatment according to guidelines, follow treatment guideline- they should never actually get sick."
Nevermind that we don't actually know that to be true, or that asking people to be compliant on that level is alot or that the medication is no walk in the park- all of those being big "if's" in my book- I think what tweaks me is the absence of any awareness of the emotional toll of living with HIV longterm. The social costs, strain on relationships, the weight of social stigma and bias, etc... It never seems to enter into the equation.
I do have a hard time putting HIV infection in te same category as High Blood Pressure and Diabetis given all the extra baggage that comes with it.
Anyone have thoughts?
Teo
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I think you hit the nail on the head.
HIV being more manageable than it has been in the past doesn't make it a cake walk thats for sure.
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I could not agree with you more. The emotional toll starts when you get tested and from what i have found so far seems to never end. The is a stigma that is still attached to HIV/AIDS that is not attached to other diseases and makes it hard to disclose your condition or why you are not feeling well.
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Yep, it certainly isn't a walk in the park.
I get a bit unnerved when people spout things like "chronic, manageable disease," or "People testing positive now should never get sick."
Those are some pretty tall orders based on a lot of assumptions.
I mean, look at the side effects we deal with. Oh, and don't tell me the new meds are side effect free or some similar rot. They are new. Give em about a decade and then let's talk.
Its not that I am a pessimist. Far from it. But I am a realist.
As our Alan has said, combining HIV meds, plus the meds to address the side effects, plus the meds needed to address the symptoms of getting older, is like building a house of cards. You wonder when the whole thing will come crashing down around your ears.
So, they can stuff their "manageable disease," unless they also consider such things as cancer, heart conditions and emphysema "manegeable."
HUGS,
Mark