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POSITIVELY AWARE November/December 2011
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Contents
- Information and inspiration
- Teaching HIV 101
- Colorado Craving
- Legally Blind
- Positive Answer
- - Clarification
I was 24 when I received my diagnosis seven years ago. At the time, I was a “functional” crack addict, holding down a job and concealing my addiction, even though I was not eating and losing weight due to my smoking sprees and orgies where I had unprotected sex. It wasn’t a surprise to hear that I was HIV-positive, but I laughed hysterically at the nurse who told me because I was so deep in denial.
But I was lucky. Even though I was cowardly enough to tell my mother over the phone so I wouldn’t have to face her devastation, both she and my late aunt Dolores stood by me. My mother was inexhaustible in her quest for knowledge, surfing the Internet, as well as asking numerous questions of HIV specialists. My aunt, in the medical field herself, referred me to my HIV doctor, James Sullivan. Dr. Sullivan has been great, prescribing Atripla and making sure I understand the importance of taking my medication every day.
Then I found TPAN and Positively Aware. Having learned from my mother’s example, I’ve pursued knowledge of this disease and taken advantage of the educational programs at TPAN—TEAM (Treatment Education Adherence Management) and POWER (Positive Outcomes for Wellness, Education, and Recovery)—and I’ve become an avid reader of Positively Aware. Thanks to TPAN, I’ve now learned enough about HIV to know it isn’t a death sentence and I have the tools I need to stay clean and healthy.
I volunteer at TPAN now, as well as with other organizations within the HIV and LGBT communities in Chicago, and I find myself on steady ground, clean and sober for four years, with a good T-cell count and viral load, and sharing both my story and the knowledge I’ve gained in the last few years. I am passionate about breaking the hold that stigma has, especially within the African American community, knowing that we are only hurting ourselves by letting it continue. I hope that by talking about it, I can fight the stigma attached to HIV, as well as the spread of the disease itself.
I can’t blame anyone but myself for becoming HIV-positive, but I give credit to all those who’ve helped me get to the point where I know I can control my HIV and live a long life of purpose and satisfaction. Thanks for providing the information and inspiration that PA brings.
—Jermaine Ballenger
Chicago, IL
I work for the Department of Corrections In Massachusetts and would like to tell you how very much the HIV 101 issue will help me with my Health Awareness classes. I have given copies of the “Unfolding Picture” and “It’s in Your Blood” articles to my present Health Awareness class, who are training to become peer educators. This gives them such a great way of understanding and relating to each subject, so they may use these articles to teach other inmates in the future. I have found so many useful articles from your publications.
Thank you again for producing such a great asset to the better understanding of HIV and AIDS, and all that is associated with them.
—T. Horton
HIV Counselor & Educator
Bridgewater, MA
I am HIV-positive and currently in the Colorado Department of Corrections. Ironically, CDOC is hands-down one of the best places for treatment of HIV. The HIV doc here is not restricted by cost or other variables in administering our treatment.
I’m writing to tell you that PA is my lifeline to accurate info about drugs. I find myself craving each and every new issue. The magazine has helped me to decide to start on meds.
The PA impact is felt nationwide. Thanks!
—Eric
Canon City, CO
We were happy to see the article by Roger McCaffrey-Boss in the September+October edition on legal issues affecting people with HIV, but chagrined that neither the article nor either of the resource lists mentioned the assistance available from the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago (ALCC) and other legal services providers who are dedicated to preserving and protecting the rights of people with HIV. Our website, www.aidslegal.com, has a wide range of materials available—not just links to the laws themselves, but also legal guides on a wide range of topics and self-help materials that range from a letter you can send when someone is disclosing your status to the form a physician can fill out to get presumptive benefits started while a Social Security application is pending.
Also, the AIDS Coordinating Committee of the American Bar Association maintains a directory of HIV legal services programs in every state. It is available online here.—Ann Hilton Fisher
Executive Director
AIDS Legal Council of Chicago
312-427-8990
Editor's note: Thanks to Ms. Fisher for bringing this to our attention. Both the ALCC and the American Bar Association links were added to the online version of the article and the resource list. —Jeff Berry
I am 26 years old and I’ve been HIV-positive for two years. I’m not on meds and my T-cell count is 580, viral load about 100,000. It has been higher, but also as low as 10,000. My partner, who is HIV-positive as well, has taught me so much about this disease and introduced me to Positively Aware. I don’t know what I ever would have done without both of you. Thank you for your help, support, and for always being there, whether it’s Positively Aware with an answer to a question I need to know or my partner with a shoulder to cry on. We can continue to fight this disease together.
—Daven Crenshaw
Leesburg, NJ
In the September+October Editor’s Note, it was stated “that only 19% of people on antiretroviral treatment have a suppressed viral load” which was inaccurate. It should have said that 19% of HIV-positive people in the U.S. have an undetectable viral load.
This is based on a study in the March 15 edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases, which argued that the test-and-treat strategy would not be enough to control the epidemic in this country.
According to a review in AIDSMap by Michael Carter, “Late diagnosis, low levels of referral and retention in specialist HIV care, and sub-optimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy all undermined the potential for test-and-treat to eradicate transmission of the virus.”
In addition, one-fifth of individuals with HIV in the U.S. are still undiagnosed, and even being in care did not guarantee that patients would be on the best therapy.
After taking into account all of the factors the investigators calculated that only 210,000 HIV-positive patients in the U.S. have an undetectable viral load, which constitutes just 19% of the 1.1 million HIV-infected population.
Positively Aware regrets the error.
DO THE WRITE THING
Positively Aware treats all communications (letters, faxes, e-mail, etc.) as letters to the editor unless otherwise instructed. We reserve the right to edit for length, style, or clarity. Unless you tell us not to, we will use your name and city.
