Hello, new to site.....from South Africa

[WarriorPrincess]

Hi everyone

I am a heterosexual divorced women in my 40s. Diagnosed in 1999 when i was pregnant with my second son who was born negative  in January 2000, was fortunate to have medical insurance which paid for ARV medication at a time when ARV medication was very expensive in South Africa, medication for one month was more than the average monthly  salary of most people. You literally had to buy life. To compound the problem, at the time we had a President who didn't believe HIV existed and a Health Minister who advocated beetroot and garlic as treatment, so as a result many people died.

Subsequent to that, things have changed tremendously, in 2002 a court judgment forced the government to start giving pregnant women ARV medication to stop mother to child transmission, then the treatment was rolled out to the rest of the population.

So I have been living with HIV  for the past 16 years, 804 CD4 count. I am here to share what my journey has been so far while at the same time learning from others what their journey and experiences have been, in addition to make friends so that we can encourage each other because unfortunately here in South Africa there's still a big stigma attached to being HIV positive so my family are the only people who know my status. So it's a great help to be able to talk to people who can relate to what you are going through so please feel free to PM me if you want to chat.

WarriorPrincess

[Jim Allen]

Welcome to the forum.

Glad to hear your doing okay and thank you for sharing your story.
Looking forward to seeing more from you on the forum.

Jim

[Wade]

Hey Warrior Princess,
I'm glad those ugly times are done also and you are doing well.
There are people here from all walks and from all over the world .
You are sure to make many friends here.
Welcome !

Best, Wade

[gam65]

Hello Warrior Princess,

Welcome to the forum, I've found everyone here to be helpful and very friendly.  It's amazing to hear stories from around the world and how people have been treated. I'm glad to hear things are going well for you.

Gam65

[WarriorPrincess]

Hey Everyone

Thanks for the warm welcome

The forum has been very useful and very encouraging  as it has addressed some of my concerns . Thanks for sharing  your experiences! At the moment I am busy studying for an MBA and i was worried  about the effects of arv medication on my cognitive skills, yes my doctor did assure me that there shouldn't be any effects , however it has been more assuring  to hear about peoples personal experiences because we face the same challenges of trying to live with a chronic medical condition. So for anyone who had the same concerns as me ,don't worry unnecessarily,  i can confirm that so far after +- 17 of being pos my cognitive skills are okay, i am managing to study , pass my exams and i am okay at work in my job which requires a lot of analytical skills.

Its also mportant to know that being pos doesn't define who we are, therefore we mustn't stop pursuing our dreams and striving for the things we want to achieve in life. 

WarriorPrincess