The Positive Pitch

Melissa Baker learned that she was HIV positive in August 2007, three days before her 28th birthday. Her diagnosis was a surprise, since she had tested negative for HIV only the year before while in what she thought to be a monogamous relationship. Melissa quickly realized that life does not stop with HIV and educated herself, her three teen daughters and the rest of her family and friends about the disease.

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I am very excited to have Michelle Anderson as our guest on tonight's POZIAM RADIO show. Michelle was just crowned 2011 Ms. Plus America. Michelle will discuss what it felt like to be the first openly HIV-positive woman to win a national pageant title!

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Some of you may be familiar with and may of read my previous posts -- here, here, and here -- about the ever growing AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waiting list in the United States. Well it is that time of year again when the ADAP Advocacy Association (aaa+) holds it annual ADAP Conference. aaa+ strives to promote and enhance the AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) and improve access to care for persons living with HIV/AIDS. aaa+ works with advocates, community, health care, government, patients, pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders to assure that access to services recognize and afford persons living with HIV/AIDS to enjoy a healthy life. As always I have to applaud and say THANK YOU to Brandon Macsata for organizing this whole thing and Amanda,Christopher,Joey and Regine and all the volunteers for making the conference a success.

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Since I recently turned 32 years old, I thought it would be fun to just post a blog with 32 facts about myself. Some of them you may already know and others may be a surprise. They are in random order. Lets begin.

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Today marks the 10-year anniversary of my father's passing. It is very hard to imagine that a decade has passed. It feels like it all happened yesterday. During the final months of my father's life, I was going through a range of emotions. I remember spending most of my time away from my house and my family. I was really unable to deal with the fact that he was sick. It was a reality that I didn't want to face and honestly I couldn't face it. I have only lost a few people in my life before my father, but nothing could have ever prepared me for losing my dad.

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Anthony Johnson is a 16-year survivor of HIV and the creator and organizer of an HIV-centric but non-exclusive social group called BOLT (Bringing Our Lives Together). He is also the creator of an HIV social/support network and the co-creator of The Calendar of Gay/Bi Social and Support Groups. The Calendar lists the social and support groups in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties as well as special community events that pertain to the HIV positive gay/bi man with full contact information, addresses, phone numbers and connects to locator map. The goal of The Calendar is to make support more accessible to the HIV-positive individual. Anthony is currently a full-time student in pursuit of a B.S. in Psychology in order to better serve the community.

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From March 10-13, I had the pleasure of presenting a workshop at the Positive Living 14 Conference in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. I was very excited when my abstract was accepted by OASIS (Okaloosa AIDS Support & Informational Services). I was told all about this amazing conference beforehand but what people told me about it didn't hold a candle to what I experienced. There were 433 attendees and 206 of them were first-time attendees. I was one of the first-timers. I have never been at a conference where most of those who attended were HIV positive. I was told out of the 433 attendees, 95% or more of them were HIV positive. Just knowing that allowed you to let your guard down and just be yourself. When I arrived at my hotel and walked out my back door, I was blown away by the beautiful beach. It looked like a postcard. I knew from that moment that this conference was gonna be a great experience.

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On Sunday March 14th Jeromy Dunn shared his personal story for the first time. Jeromy's mission is eliminate the stigma that people with HIV/AIDS face, through education, community involvement and the collaboration with local businesses and personal testimony through out the Carolinas and around the world. Jeromy has been cohosting POZIAM Radio for the past 2-1/2 years. Jeromy's unique hosting style brings his quick wit and humor to a cause that not to many people can laugh about. Jeromy shares his personal experiences through his Web site and blog, www.pozitivelyspeaking.com. For the first time Jeromy will be sharing his own personal story on POZIAM Radio.

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Five months ago I blogged about participating in a PSA that the ADAP Advocacy Association (aaa+) was creating to bring attention to ADAP (AIDS Drug Assistance Programs) waiting lists. Well, today the aaa+ released the 2 Public Service Announcements with hopes of brining this issue to the national level. As a board member of aaa+, I take the ADAP issue very seriously.We at aaa+ work very hard to bring attention to the ever growing ADAP waiting list and hope that one day soon their won't be any waiting lists at all.

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I wanted to wish you all Happy and Healthy New Year. I have some big plans for the upcoming year, I know 2011 will be an amazing year for POZIAM and I hope for all of you too. I know 2010 was exciting at times and a struggle at times myself. I started off 2010 just starting to take HIV medications and ended it with me getting engaged. So the last year was a roller coaster of sorts.

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