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I'm HIV- but couldn't help but notice the complete absence of anything indicating any tribute or remembrance of Worlds AIDS Day on the 1st in the Tampa-St. Pete area. Is there anything I can do to foster a reawakening here that HIV+ and AIDS survivors over 50 still live here and may very likely need to be heard?
I am a long time survivor and I am a senior citizen. It is a herculean task just to survive and like Sisyphus rolling a stone up a mountain just to have it roll back again, when one monumental obstacle is faced, another one arises from the ashes....volumes of paper work to complete by dead lines when I am not feeling well to receive help and I don't live in a city with a large thriving gay community. The inhibitive rules of low cost cost housing make me feel my life is not my own. Loneliness!
Linda, i totally agree with yr comments. Heterosexual women are left behind. Im a 61 yr old hiv positive for almost 29 yrs and still luve in the shadows. Still deal everyday with the stigma. Loneliness is the worse. Im not open to telling people abt my status as i dont look like i hv aids. But i hear people talk abt how they wd never ne with someone with hiv and it makes me so angry. We in florida hv no such services for women like myself.
Thanks for the article and ideas for those of us who are longterm activist to begin to re engage.! Ken Barton
Very hopeful and interesting piece. I have been HIV+ since 1985 and was given an AIDS diagnosis in 1995. I am now 69. I have had a lot of health issues and scares over the years, but fortunately survive - not so for my partner of 28 years. I have been totally compliant and aggressive about my health care which I feel helps me. Ageing from HIV or age itself is difficult and a constant fight. I make a point of filling my life with family and friends which keeps me always engaged and not unhappy.
As a 79 year old survivor diagnosed as HIV+ in 1988, I would enjoy being a part of efforts being made here in DC. I used to be a leader of an HIV support group in the city. Please contact me with information about how I can become a part of things happening here in my city.
Diagnosed 1988. Full blown in 1994, lived for twenty-some years with fewer than 20 t-cells. VL undetectable now. Only about a hundred HIV folks in Iowa. Have met only 1. T-cells 150. I'm 67 years old. Pretty much don't think about it and stay busy. I'm retired. Go to the gym four days a week. Lost eye to CMV. Otherwise, in pretty good health. Have Osteoporosis due to Stribild, they think. Mild kidney disease too. Lost every friend and partner of 27 years. Take things a day at a time, stay busy.
Paul Mull
I was diagnosed in 1986 with hiv. I am a long term survivor. I think my local hiv support team is a joke. I live 20 minutes south of Atlanta, GA one of the largest LGBT communities in the U.S., but care, compassion, and any sense of understanding about what my needs might be, are mired in bureaucratic red tape so thick I would rather face my problems alone. There needs to be advocates to help people, like myself, navigate the confusing and endless process of getting proper treatment.
December 19, 2016 • Stockbridge, GA