The Truvada Revolution

[zach]

Good documentary

The End of HIV? - The Truvada Revolution
 (Part 1/3) http://www.vice.com/video/stopping-hiv-with-the-truvada-revolution-part-1-111

[Richie_R2]

Wow, that's amazing. Thanks Zach! My fiancee and I are looking into PrEP right now because we want to try to have another kid (if I can, after testicular cancer surgery and radiation), and this is very important to us. No other method allows for the possibility... even the foams and such they had pushed before were also spermicidal.

[leatherman]

No other method allows for the possibility

except for the method of you having a sustained undetectable viral load
of course, you could throw a little PrEP in there for insurance.

http://www.aidsmap.com/No-one-with-an-undetectable-viral-load-gay-or-heterosexual-transmits-HIV-in-first-two-years-of-PARTNER-study/page/2832748/

No-one with an undetectable viral load, gay or heterosexual, transmits HIV in first two years of PARTNER study
.....
When asked what the study tells us about the chance of someone with an undetectable viral load  transmitting HIV, presenter Alison Rodger said: "Our best estimate is it's zero."

[Richie_R2]

Good point, Leatherman. And she's also a biologist, and her aunt is an ID doctor, so she knows the details of that. But PrEP is an added layer of protection we are looking into. I guess I omitted that "sustained undetectable" because of the trials and being told for nearly a decade by those in power over me that I was insane (literally, told I was insane, as in criminally unstable, and thus unfit for release back into the world) for holding that opinion. Geezus it's depressing to think of why I'd leave out such an obvious and well-known element of our already-existing strategy, which we are already practicing. *sigh*

[leatherman]

But PrEP is an added layer of protection we are looking into.

depending where you live it can be very tricky getting PrEP. First is the problem of finding a doc who will even write the script. then there's the problem of payment. Many insurances won't cover it yet, while ADAP and other plans will only pay for Truvada if the patient is poz.

I think there are only 2 docs in the whole state of SC who will prescribe PrEP (one in Columbia and one in Rock Hill) However, in a good move, the SC HIV Planning Council and SC DHEC [state health dpt] are looking into ways the State (through ADAP or funding sources) might be able to assist with the purchase of PrEP (which is a pretty damned progressive view from the health dpt. in such a red, red state)

Hopefully you'll be able to make everything to work out. Good luck and have fun making that kid 

[Richie_R2]

Leatherman - very insightful. And sad, in this day and age when we finally have an effective way to place responsibility for self-defense with the selves being defended... it apparently should be handed out on street corners to every sexually-active person so the virus ceases to threaten anyone. But nope.

I had planned to bring it up with my ID MD, whom I saw just last Thursday for the first time... but instead, when I started my background relationship info and run-up to ask, he caught the gist and he brought it up! I was stunned.

But all he said was, "we will look into it", in the end, as apparently I'm one of the first ever to ask for it, in this tiny area, and he's not sure of the status of availability and funding things here, either. I'll keep y'all posted on what we learn.

[Grasshopper]

we want to try to have another kid (if I can, after testicular cancer surgery and radiation)

Are your "swimmers" still viable after the radiation? A friend of mine had a sample frozen and stored in case he wanted children in the future?

http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/pregnancy_prevention_transmission_1667_27338.shtml

"Safest Cheapest Way for Her to Get Pregnant? Control His HIV

  The most cost-effective method for an HIV-positive man and an HIV-negative woman to conceive a child, while lowering the risk of transmitting the virus, is through controlling his HIV with treatment and having sex without a condom during her fertile days, Reuters Health reports"

[Richie_R2]

Grasshopper - No idea. Was imprisoned at the time of the surgery, which meant no sample-freezing, no prosthesis, no pain meds. (They did knock me out for the surgery itself, thankfully.) We placed the other testicle in a little lead sphere with a narrow slit in the side, nope not kidding, during each radiation treatment, but the nurses said it's 50/50 whether or not I was sterilized. Even if not damaged by the radiation, I have an estimated 6.8 years time-to-success rate, on average. She suggests we can reduce that to 3.4 by "trying twice as hard." I love that woman.