Cincinnati, Ohio
Positive since1988

I have been positive since 1988. I am now 47 years old and I never thought I would live this long.

When I found out that I was HIV positive, I made a pact with myself that it would never get me the way it had so many others. I had my first opportunistic infection in October 1995. It was crytoccocal meningitis. I had a 15 percent chance of surviving, but somehow I did. I was on IV therapy for 12 weeks. If it wasn’t for my partner of 17 years, I probably wouldn’t have made it.

In 1996, I had pneumonia so bad that I was put on IV therapy yet again for another six weeks. I lived for 17 years with no CD4 count until they put me into a study that tested my blood against every medication on the market. The tests finally came back with a regimen that would work for me. That was nine years ago.

Since 2005 my CD4 count has steadily risen, but it’s been a very slow process. In June 2014, I had a little over 200 CD4 cells. It has been a very long battle. I have faced adversity and bigotry—both inside and outside my family—because of the stigma that is attached to being HIV positive with an AIDS diagnosis. I have sought to educate my family and my friends on how HIV is actually spread. Some thought that drinking out of my glass would cause them to catch it. I proved them wrong time and time again.

Right now I’m fighting something that my doctor hasn’t yet identified. I have lost so much weight that I am having problems gaining it back. I lost my teeth five years ago from all the medication I have taken over the years. I finally got a replacement set, but they hurt my mouth so I usually just don’t wear them. I can’t eat with them at all so I do my best without any teeth.

Recently I found out that my hips are shot and the reason for this is most likely HIV-related. I already had my left hip replaced. I live with constant pain while I await the next surgery. My eyesight is another thing that has been affected by HIV. I am having problems seeing distances now.

I believe in my heart the reason I am still alive today is due to that pact I made myself all those years back.

What three adjectives best describe you?
Happy, content and healthy

What is your greatest achievement?
Surviving AIDS during the time when there was only one medication around to treat it. And that medication was doing just as much damage as HIV itself.

What is your greatest regret?
I regret losing my job as a professional baker and having to go on public assistance.

What keeps you up at night?
My fears keep me up at night.

If you could change one thing about living with HIV, what would it be?
I would have tried to go back to work.

What is the best advice you ever received?
Be positive and talk to your doctors. Don’t just get treated—be part of that treatment.

What person in the HIV/AIDS community do you most admire?
My first and second doctors.

What drives you to do what you do?
Life drives me to do what I do. The need to experience everything that I can before my time here is completed.

What is your motto?
Be positive and happy.

If you had to evacuate your house immediately, what is the one thing you would grab on the way out?
I would have to say I would grab my laptop or PC.

If you could be any animal, what would you be? And why?
I would be a dolphin because they are one of the smartest creatures on Earth besides man.