Living with HIV

I’ve had to deal with a few health complications since the start of the year. HIV and aging is becoming all too real. Or is it just aging, period? Have we over-complicated the experience that lies ahead for us by over-focusing on HIV- related issues? I don’t want to make the case that HIV doesn’t complicate the aging experience. There is a large body of evidence to suggest it does and we have been conditioned to treat the two conditions as if intertwined. But they are not always equal p

I have experienced a great change in my life since I accepted my status and decided to move on. Unlike my past, when I used to live without peace and my heart full of guilt and pain. Things drastically changed when I acknowledged that I was HIV-positive and decided to lead a positive life. Now I can smile, make fun and interact with people freely, without fear of victimization nor stigmatisation because the guilt is no longer part of me. I used to fear issues to do with stigma but I came to

My Filipino father wasn’t always a practicing Catholic but it was important that these ideals were ingrained in us as children. Later in life, while I was a teenager my mother changed faiths and married someone of a similar belief and we attended more Pentecostal and Evangelical church services. Through this time of transition I was coming of age and starting to realize a latent attraction towards other males. I was very afraid of getting caught or being found out. I knew what I believed to

Please consider joining Realize for one of three upcoming online consultations on Championing Healthy Public Policy for Older Adults Living with HIV in Canada.  These online consultations are open to people living with HIV, service providers, health professionals, researchers, policy makers and others with a shared interest in these issues. Please consider joining Realize for one of three upcoming online consultations on Championing Healthy Public Policy for Older Adults Living with

According to UNAIDS, there were approximately 36.7 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2016. Of these, 2.1 million were children (<15 years old). As of July 2017, 20.9 million people living with HIV were accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART) globally, up from 15.8 million in June 2015, 7.5 million in 2010, and less than one million in 2000. HIV treatment known as Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) is medication which is given to HIV positive people to treat HIV but it do

“I went through a long period, seems like ancient history now, but I remember when I was first diagnosed, I felt so dirty. Like everything about me was, I suppose, unsafe and unclean and my blood was just full of crap. Just the whole thing was very internalized… For the most part now, I feel loveable. I feel good about myself. I just feel like I’ve still got a lot to offer and give and that I can be part of a strong, healthy relationship, despite the difficulties, I suppose.” —Anony

“Mom, I’m HIV-positive.” When I hear those words, I want to grab all the best experts and latest practices, to advocate for human rights and access to care, and to reject HIV criminalization. But most of all, I want to hold you close in a big hug. I want you to know that you are loved no less than you have always been but more! Your strengths can’t be taken from you-- You flash with energy even while standing still. You excel in languages, and in your studies. What are yo

It was not much more than a year ago that I first wrote about Love to Love Organization for PositiveLite.com, having been introduced to their work by my Facebook friend, William Matovu, a young HIV activist working there as an HIV educator and peer advocate.. Suddenly one day there he was on Face Book, with: “This is how it's gonna be... responding to the development of youths and who are less advantaged and orphans by promoting their God given talents."  I liked the attitude and I wanted

Photo: © pixabay.com/STVIOD I can still remember the heady heights of my first few nights out at a gay club. It was like having the run of a sweet shop at night. There were goodies all around and boy did I want to sample them all. I’d get ready to go out, meet my friends for pre-drinks (the favoured choice of poor students), head out to a club, make eyes at the cute guy across the dance floor and dance to the hypnotic beat of Rihanna’s Umbrella-ella-ella-ella-eh-eh-eh (oh hey Summer of

When I started studying my undergraduate degree in theater at the University of Puerto Rico, I fell in love with a sad character from 17th century France. I ran into my first “Pierrot,” one day taking a leisurely walk on the historic Old San Juan. Jewelry has always fascinated me, as a child I remember playing with my parent’s rings. It was a lazy balmy afternoon in 1980, when I decided to take the bus to the historic Old San Juan area. Once there, I went into a very pretty jewelry/ a

When I go online, I can get inspired, something will make me laugh, I might cry happy or sad tears, or I can get frustrated and stressed. From comical puns to shithole Trump, I am all over the map with my feelings. But over the last couple weeks I have felt physically nauseated. By that I mean my eyes go all crazy I can’t stand to look at the screen, and I get a feeling I might vomit. I have to shut things down and lay down for a while, the longer the better. The first thing I do each morni

What are village elders? In many cultures, the concept of village leaders is well known. Unless one comes from an indigenous community it is a path less well travelled in the HIV community. That’s surprising. Collectively, we have seen a lot of energy devoted to the subject of HIV and aging. Much of that discourse though centres around the impact of HIV and /or HIV treatment and/or the toll of advancing years on our bodies. The dialogue has been less fulsome about the concerns of the elde

Photo of hospital bed from the internet Day 149.  The Big Bed There were times on the AIDS ward, during the worst days of the epidemic, when several patients died on the same day. Broken-hearted lovers and friends and family members would circle the bed and weep as their beloveds departed. There were other days when everyone was well enough to be discharged and live another day. As soon as the bed was available, someone else would be admitted. Sometimes, when there was an empty bed, a docto

Are you kidding me? With nearly four decades under our collective belts of global experience working on HIV and AIDS, we are past considering it acceptable to link someone’s health status with their perceived sexual “moral values.” Such were my thoughts after reading and reflecting on an article in The Toronto Star this month: “Decision-maker slammed as ‘Moral Police’ for refusing immigration to HIV-positive man.” I have researched medical inadmissibility decision-making and

(© stock.adobe.com) Taking five or more prescription medications increases the risk of hospitalization and death in older adults infected with HIV and comparable adults without HIV. The findings of this Yale-led study highlight the potential risks of prescribing additional drugs to patients with multiple medical conditions. The research was published online in the journal AIDS. The use of multiple medications is known as polypharmacy, a common concern due to clearly established increased