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Author Topic: My Story...  (Read 7349 times)

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Offline Brooke P.

  • Member
  • Posts: 33
  • The Best men in the world, my Dad and my Son!
My Story...
« on: January 10, 2010, 11:05:46 am »
Well I started have some pain in my chest and didn't really know what was going on.  It was so bad that I couldn't eat anything and could hardly even drink anything.  I went to doctor after doctor trying to figure out what was wrong with me.  They thought everything from heart attack to acid reflux.  After about a week and a half of going to the doctors my mother finally took me to the ER.  They found out that I had a yeast infection in my esophagus.  After that I went back to my primary doctor for a follow up and I asked him what could have caused this.  He said that either diabetes, oral sex or HIV.  They had already checked for diabetes and oral sex could have been it but they wanted to check for HIV just in case even though I was a healthy person he didn't think that was the problem.  Well he was wrong!  After I left there he had made an appointment with an ID doctor and so off I went in complete shock.  I was a healthy 23 year old female who had been with the same partner for the past 2 1/2 years, how could this happen?  Well my boyfriend was not as faithful as I thought.  I started taking Combivir and Kaletra and continued to take those meds from Feb. 2003 to June 2004.  I didn't know what to do being off of meds.  It was a freedom that I hadn't known in 16 months.

I found out in Jan. 2005 that I was pregnant and I was again shocked beyond belief.  I remembered back to when I was diagnosed and thought that I would never be able to have a healthy child.  Well after much research I found out that was not entirely true.  I now have a wonderful healthy 4 year old boy, Boone!

Needless to say my son's father and I are not together anymore and his health is greatly declining because he waited too long to get any treatment.  So now I am a single working mother. 

After my son was born I was taken off of my meds and I was off of them for 4 years and 2 months.  Now I have been on Atripla since Oct. 2009 and I am responding wonderfully to it.   :)




 
Feb. 2003 -tested positive
Started Kaletra and Combivir
2/26/03  CD4=1080   VL=218,333
3/3/03    CD4=1072   VL=546,010
4/10/03  CD4=1886   VL=1901
12/23/03 CD4=1711   VL=<50
STOPPED MEDS IN JUNE 2004
STARTED BACK WHEN I GOT PREGNANT
9/2009  CD4=274    VL=199,420
WENT 4 YEARS WITHOUT MEDS NOW I'M BACK ON MEDS, ATRIPLA
11/2009 CD4=574    VL=350
2/24/2010 CD4=851 VL=48

Offline Snowangel

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,429
Re: My Story...
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2010, 12:09:07 pm »
Welcome, Brooke!  I think you will enjoy the ladies forum, it is great place to talk with women with the same or similar stories.
Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important

The heaviest thing you can carry is a grudge..

One thing you can give and still keep...is your word.

One thing you can't recycle is wasted time.

Offline emeraldize

  • Member
  • Posts: 3,397
Re: My Story...
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2010, 05:10:02 pm »
Hi Brooke!

How great that you have a healthy son. Welcome. There are a number of women here who have children.

Em

Offline BT65

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • Posts: 10,786
Re: My Story...
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2010, 05:19:22 pm »
Welcome to the forums, Brooke, particularly our women's family.  The ladies here are great in every way.

I was with my daughter's father for 8 years, and he's the one who infected me (that's the way the evidence points).  He died in 1989, though, right when I tested poz. 

Anyway, it's great to have you with us!  Stay in touch-
 Betty
I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

Condom and Lube Info https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/safer-sex
Please check out our lessons on PEP and PrEP. https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/pep-prep

https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/treatmentasprevention-tasp

Offline Brooke P.

  • Member
  • Posts: 33
  • The Best men in the world, my Dad and my Son!
Re: My Story...
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2010, 05:42:00 pm »
Thank you for the warm welcome!  For some reason this is the first time I've ever been on here.  I don't know of anyone around here that is HIV+ so it helps me to have others to talk to that understand what I'm going through.   

Betty I ended upi staying with my son's father until Nov 2006 but I was so tired of all his crap that I couldn't take it anymore.  My son and I are so much better off without him in the house.  He couldn't really deal with being HIV+ and therefore he drank to take his mind off of it.  I guess thinking that would somehow solve the problem. 

Now I have met a wonderful man and we have been together for a little over 2 years now and things are great.  Although it is can be tough at times because he is not + but we seem to work around that.  Not to mention my son adores him!
Feb. 2003 -tested positive
Started Kaletra and Combivir
2/26/03  CD4=1080   VL=218,333
3/3/03    CD4=1072   VL=546,010
4/10/03  CD4=1886   VL=1901
12/23/03 CD4=1711   VL=<50
STOPPED MEDS IN JUNE 2004
STARTED BACK WHEN I GOT PREGNANT
9/2009  CD4=274    VL=199,420
WENT 4 YEARS WITHOUT MEDS NOW I'M BACK ON MEDS, ATRIPLA
11/2009 CD4=574    VL=350
2/24/2010 CD4=851 VL=48

Offline netta

  • Member
  • Posts: 396
Re: My Story...
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2010, 12:59:05 pm »
 WELCOME BROOKE, I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU! :)
"to thine own self be true"

tendai

  • Guest
Re: My Story...
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2010, 02:48:22 am »
welcome brooke!

Offline mesu

  • Member
  • Posts: 55
Re: My Story...
« Reply #7 on: March 09, 2010, 10:44:37 am »
wonderful and inspiring story, thanks Brooke.

i m keeping my fingers crossed on meeting a right guy for me....i once thought it was impossible coz i m poz.  but i know it can happen! :)
Jan/Feb 07 - infected :(
Sept3: cd4 162; 13.5% VL 24,000
Oct5: cd4 68 13.6%
Nov6: cd4 205  14.64%
Dec10,07: cd4 188  15.67%  VL: 9900
FEB15,08: cd4 242 18.62%
Mar10/08: cd4 219 15.64%  VL: 7300
May26,08: start Truvada and Sustiva
July 18,08: cd4 255, 18.50%, VL undetectable (<75)
Nov 4,08: cd4 380, 27.14%,
Feb 6,09: cd4 296, 22.7%,
May 26: cd4 351, 27%,
Aug 28: cd4 310, 28%,
Dec 2009: cd4 321, 35.67%,
March 2010: cd4 325, 32%,
June 2010: cd4 385, 29.5%,
Sept 2010: cd4 368, 30.75%,
Feb 2011: cd4 431, 43.1%,
Jun 2011: cd4 433, 30.93%,
Sept 2011: cd4 435,  36 %,
Jan 2012, cd4 467, 33.36%
May 2012: cd4 421, 38.21%,
Sept 2012: cd4 393, 30.23%,
VL: undetectable since July 08

Offline missy

  • Member
  • Posts: 86
Re: My Story...
« Reply #8 on: March 09, 2010, 08:37:53 pm »
It can happen to you too.  I met a wonderful guy we have been dating for 3 months now. We are both poz, we met on this web site.  Hang in there, life does go on.  Mary

 


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