Rae, 54 years old, was diagnosed with AIDS in 1992. She learned she had HIV five years earlier when donating blood.
Back in those early days, an AIDS diagnosis felt like a death sentence. But when effective HIV treatment became available in 1996, people like Rae began to realize that they could live decades with the virus, which meant they had to pay attention to their total health, especially as they got older.
”People with HIV need to understand that it's not just about your viral load and your CD4 count — it's about managing all the components in your life.”
