My latest doc visit

[randym431]

Another 4 months passed. Another ID doctor visit.
Actually I think it was 5 months because they canceled last month when
the doc had scheduling conflicts.
My cd4 went from 700 down to 570, but that doesn’t really concern me  at all.

What I was posting about is a conversation I had with the nurse.
I told her I have never met (to my knowledge) another HIV+ person on treatment.
Yeah I live a pretty sheltered life I guess. I could go to the hiv+ meeting group, but
since I work nights that is not really possible. I suppose I should take off a thursday night
once and go sometime...

ANyway, I ask the nurse how many other hiv people she thought they see in the office.
She said about 125 total. And there are three different local practices that treat hiv people.
One for the Mercy hosp chain, one for the Methodist hosp and a third I never heard of before.

She said the other two also see around 125 people each.
So thats about 400 total hiv seen total.
That includes some people all around the state that travel here, not just locals.
I mentioned the makers of sustiva were starting a co-pay assistance program in May.
She had not heard that and was going to look into it because a lot of their patients
are having a hard time paying co-pays for meds.

Since they always tell me I am doing so good, I asked how the other 124 people they see
are doing, in general. She said 95% that are on meds are doing very well, also.
The ones having problems were the long terms hiv+ for 20 years or more.
And most their issues were not really hiv related but other medical issues.

So I was glad to hear so many are doing pretty well. And a little warned that long term,
20 years plus, it probably will become a challenge.

But it was an interesting conversation. I guess the conclusion is to welcome the good days,
and not to fear the bad days too much.
Sounds like the blueprint for most everyone, not just hiv folks.

[Ann]

Hi Randy,

I had a similar conversation at my clinic in Liverpool... oh, about a year ago. While the numbers were higher, the bit about how people - in general - are doing was the same, more/less.

The only difference was the person I spoke to said they also had quite a few who were diagnosed very, very late and were still struggling. These were people who were not only diagnosed with bad numbers, but also with one or more serious OI. Having said that, we have a high proportion of assylum seekers at my clinic now, and I was told that they made up the majority of people who were diagnosed when very ill. He said it's because of the stigma back home which kept them from testing sooner, also the worry over the prospect of being poz while applying for assylum.

It really pisses me off that one of the end-results of the stigma we deal with is the fact that it stops people from testing and being treated soon enough to let them stay healthy. It's a crying shame because you're absolutely right, Randy, as far as treatments go, these are the good days. It's terrible that even in countries where the treatments are readily available, people aren't always able to access them, mainly due to not knowing their status. 

Ann