HIV/AIDS Blog Central: Perspectives From the HIV/AIDS Community

Since 2007, my inner critic has been extra busy. Sure, he's always been a really, hard worker but since HIV moved in, he's been pulling extra shifts. First one in, last one out, and rarely takes a sick day. In fact, he does his job with such consistency and dedication that most of the time he goes unnoticed. Until recently, that is. My newfound awareness, after observing him in action, has brought me to the conclusion that it's time for him to take a much-needed vacation.

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Regarding HIV clinical care, my friend James always says, "stay close to the center of the merry-go-round." And it's great advice. Stay close to the center and gravity keeps you balanced and secure, in the right spot, even though you're spinning fast, round and round. Shift out from the center and all bets are off. For the past six and one-half years, I've had my ass firmly planted at the center of the merry-go-round, right where I need to be. And I've been holding onto that spot for dear life, and there I've received the best HIV clinical care I could possibly imagine.

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One hundred and eighty degree turns happen in a variety of ways. Sometimes we seize the steering wheel of our lives and in one fell swoop travel along an opposite path. Other times, we take the turn slowly, one degree at a time, gradually realizing the path we are on leads nowhere and we need to go off in radically new directions. That's been the case with my realizing that most of my once fervently held objections to treatment as prevention, in 2013, make much less sense than they once did.

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Where do I begin? I have had many chats with my girlfriends, fellow advocates and the Lord before I decided exactly what I wanted to say about Tyler Perry's Temptation. I am not a movie reviewer so I will not comment on the cinematography side of this film. I know what I like as a movie-goer and as an HIV advocate so that is what I zero in on when watching cinema. This movie was not a good look from my perspective. Aside from a bad script, choppy pacing, weak story line and a sucky ending I found this movie to be an insult to those of us who are fighting to be an AIDS free generation. I'm not sure what Tyler's intentions were with this film but I wish he would consult someone before going to print.

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DIOS MIO!! en unos dias cumplo 40 anos de edad!!! y 24 anos con el virus del VIH! cuando me infecto mi primero novio en 1989 a mis 16 anitos y fui diagnosticada una semana despues de mi cumpleanos numero 18 en Abril 18,1991. ESTO ERA UNA SENTENCIA DE MUERTE!! maximo nos daban 10 anos de vida( si viviamos bien ) escribi en mi diario de Hello Kitty que seguro viviria hasta los 28 anos maximo! y asi eran las cosas. NO TENIAMOS MEDICINAS,NO HABIA EXAMEN DE CARGA VIRAL,NO HABIA INTERNET, NI INFORMACION! NADA!!! solo la sentencia de muerte! pero estoy aqui

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OMG!!!!! In a few days I will be 40 YEARS OLD!!! and 24 years living with HIV! When I was infected in 1989 at the age of 16 and then diagnosed 1 week after my 18th bday, on April 18 1991, IT WAS A DEATH SENTENCE! They gave us MAX 10 YEARS TO LIVE. I wrote in my Hello Kitty diary that max I would live to see 28 and that is how it was. We had no meds!! No viral load exams! No social media or internet! NOTHING! IT WAS A DEATH SENTENCE! NOW IT IS A LIFE SENTENCE!! BUT ... I AM HERE. Please, when you know better, you do better! Get tested, know your status! Do not trust anyone with your life!! And use protection!

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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) will transform healthcare in America. Is your mix of services aligned with what will be funded? As we get closer to the start of enrollment and implementation of the ACA, the federal government has started to examine how their programs will compliment and not duplicate ACA services.

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Over and over, footage of Rock Hudson standing next to Doris Day was playing on television, and he looked ghastly. His skin was wrinkled and sunken as if by very old age. It was 1985, and it was one of the last close-up images most of us would ever see of the movie icon. And it was terrifying.

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It's not an April Fool's joke!

Today and tomorrow the Kansas Legislature will consider a bill that would expand the authority of state and local health officials to impose isolation or quarantine on people living with HIV and other infectious diseases. But quarantine statutes are designed for dangerous diseases spread through casual contact, thus presenting a danger to overall public health.

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It is a day that is forever ingrained in your memory, and if you were high or drunk when you received your diagnosis ... you sobered up real quick! Now this is not to say that most folks who are HIV + fall into that category. But if you were caught up in that lifestyle, receiving an HIV diagnosis was not something that you didn't remember the next day. Receiving that diagnosis was enough to blow anybody's mind.

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