To reader of this posting to Dr. Young: I tested positive in 3/01. My life came crashing down. I could not understand how this happened considiering I've seen freinds pass on back in the 80s and the early 90sand not the mention some very promiment people (Rock Hudson, Arthur Ashe, Freddie Mercury etc...). The first thing I did was to get a doctor that is an expert in HIV and he told me with the advent of HARRT people were not droping like flies anymore from this situation. I also found many websites that had information regarding HIV to educate myself. If you have access to meds, TAKE THEM!! I started with a VL of 27,000 and CD4 of 357. Today my CD4 is 1340 and my VL is undetecteble. Being positive also made me take stock in what is important to me and to accept death. I am not afraid to die (Im 40).I have a better relationship with my family and I have total control over my life. Another thing that helped me was getting into a support group with people that have been positive for a very long time (one dude in the group has been positive since 1988!!). I hope this helps you.

NYC

Dear NYC- Thank you for your words and comments.

I'm sure that many others will find your experience heartening. Thanks for reading (and writing).

BY