Hi Dr Bob i think you're great & very funny. i was diagnosed with HIV December 2007. Started Atripla January 2008 My VL was 100,000 & went down [below 50 copies undetectable] in 5 weeks!!!! i am still undetectable now [October 2009] [My CD4 was 27 in January 2007] it's now 675 [October 2009] i feel great put on 50 pounds in weight & have now Stopped Bactrim & Zithromax prophylaxis as my doctor ordered!!! i am 100% adherent with anti-retro-virals never missed a dose. my ??? IS. AM I GOING TO BE OK. Love you Dr Bob

Regards Ray :-)

Hello Ray,

There can be absolutely no doubt that you have responded dramatically to your combination antiretroviral therapy both virologically (HIV plasma viral load plummeting from 100,000 to undetectable within five weeks) and immunologically (CD4 count skyrocketing from a scary 27 to 675!!!). Excellent results! BRAVO! Your medication regimen has pulled you back from a very dangerous cliff!

Are you going to be OK? Unfortunately I cannot predict the future. Certainly your chances of long-term survival have improved proportionally to your degree of immune reconstitution. It's always possible you could get run over by that errant bus that everyone always talks about or squashed by a falling meteor. However, your chances of succumbing to HIV/AIDS in the foreseeable future have diminished greatly.

Be well. Stay well. Let's both be here for the cure, OK?

Love you too Ray,

Dr. Bob