Is aids considered terminal disease

[bigrob37]

my wife and I are both positive with aids and were wondering is it considered terminal disease. were okay with it we both are accepting the fact that were sick and dealing with it but shes freaking out that shes going to die with in the next 5 years and wants to give up on her dream of being a pharmacist. I am trying to convince her deal with it day to day you have more of a chance dying driving to the store than having aids. I think the economical crisis is getting to her

[BT65]

Rob, you tell your wife that there is a woman (me) on the forums who's been diagnosed since 1989 (got my AIDS diagnosis in 1994), who's alive and doing well.  Tell her not to give up on her dream, that the woman on the forums is going to get her BS in May of next year (provided I pass all my classes). 

You may want to invite her to participate in this forum, particularly the women's part of it.  We have a thread there that a lot of us ladies participate in daily.  I think your wife would benefit from it.  Good luck.
  Luv,
Betty

[skeebo1969]

  Rob,

    I hope you and your wife are doing better than when you first came to the forums.  I understand the anxiety she feels.  In the beginning, after my diagnosis, I went through it too.  I ended up going postal on a therapist two weeks in, said a few things I shouldn't have and found myself Baker Acted into some facility that had patients literally bouncing off the walls because I was thought to be suicidal.  It was all unnecessary on my part.

   I think any time we embark down an unfamiliar path it is met with much uncertainty, especially when it deals with something we know was once considered a death sentence.  With treatment options being what they are today and the effectiveness  battling this virus through their adherent use, HIV/AIDS is no longer considered a terminal disease. 

   With the proper care and treatment not only should your wife consider pursuing her dream of being a pharmacist, but she should also still plan and pursue a legitimate retirement fund.

[Ann]

Rob,

Aside from not looking both ways before she crosses the road, there's no reason for your wife to think she's going to die anytime soon.

As for the terminology, I can't quite decide whether it's terminally chronic or chronically terminal. But no, I'm not expecting to die for years yet, and I've been poz for over eleven years.

Ann

[Miss Philicia]

I've been poz for 20 years, and was diagnosed with AIDS-y cd4 numbers 15 years ago.  My cd4 count has been +1,000 for the entire past year. 

Ask your wife if that sounds "terminal" to her.

I think the larger issue may be that your wife simply isn't dealing mentally with her diagnosis and that you need to get her some more serious help with one-on-one counseling if you think this has been going on for a long period with little progress.

[leatherman]

as I've been known to point out since losing my partner in May this year, HIV/AIDS is only terminal if undiagnosed in time or left untreated (aside from those LTNPs).

In 94 I lost my first partner; but when he was diagnosed he was already quite sick and the meds were vastly different than today. By 98 after my second life-threatening hospitalization, the meds had already improved to the point that I'm here today, 16 yrs after diagnosis and a decade since I nearly died from it.

However in 08 by the time my second partner was diagnosed in the hospital, not only did he have AIDS but also non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Obviously being undiagnosed and untreated are the reasons for his death in a short period of just over two months, and not just HIV per se.

As with any other illness (and they range from mild to terminal), knowledge is the key to survial (that and a good attitude, of course! ). Understand the numbers you get back from lab work, ask your doctors questions, read up about treatments (both current and new), learn which possible side-effects to look for, and follow all your treatment regimens when needed.

if we were still in the 90s, I'd say be worried about a short life, just like I was back then. But here, almost in 2009, I'm actually starting to worry that I might just live another 20 yrs and have to deal with all of life's problems that long and I've already had quite enough.  LOL

As for the terminology, I can't quite decide whether it's terminally chronic or chronically terminal.

that's cute 

[hivsweden]

I cant really add much to this thread except that 10 years after my Aids diagnosis I'm alive and kicking and CD4 is 800+. Stick to your meds and you have an almost certain chance to live a normal life.

[GSOgymrat]

Don't plan on dying any time soon and please tell your wife not to give up her dream.

[Oceanbeach]

Hey Rob,

Please let me join with the others... I was diagnosed HIV in December 1994, AIDS in June 1996.  They treated us as "terminal" back then, with an average life expectancy of 5 years.  My ID doc has stated, I will probably live to see 85 and die of a heart attack, not from AIDS.  After 12 years of disability, I am going back to work part time in January (part time) doing Public Relations and Marketing like I used to before HIV     Have the best day
Michael

[joemutt]

11 years diagnosed and on meds and doing fine. So the general opinion here seems to go toward having long nad good lives and that s what I wish for your wife and yourself too.

[AndyArrow]

Just to reinforce whatever else here has said, the United States' National Institutes for Health (NIH) says:

HIV/AIDS is now recognized as a chronic progressive disability, rather than a rapidly progressing terminal illness.

Here is a link to National Library of Medicine if you'd like to see for yourself or show it your wife.
http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102214912.html

Tell her to keep dreaming and one day she can be a Pharmacist who specializes in HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses.  I'm not sure about all the other but I know that Walgreens has special pharmacies across the country that do just that.  She would be a great advocate.

Good luck,
AA

[weasel]

hey BigRob ,
                   hope all is well !

  I have been HIV 25 years now !

  4 years on meds .

 I rarely think of death , I do believe we are as young as we want to be .

 I wish you and yours a wonderful life .

 It is hard at first ,I did NOT deal with an AIDS  diagnosis  4 years ago !
 But I have moved on .

life is for living .

                  i wish you all the best 

                                                             Karl

[red_Dragon888]

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

[LordBerners]

I think it is reasonable to view ones health as precarious in our condition, and to view a fatal result as a possibiilty.  But it is rather more likely that with a degree of dedication, luck, and access to health care, one may manage the illness successfully, and perhaps even indefinitely.

[072508]

I have only been + for a very short time, but I believe in this 150%

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.