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Larry
Larry passed away from complications
due to AIDS. He had no viral load and a T-cell count above
250, had controllable seizures, and I think he thought that
it was time to leave. He said to me a couple of days before
he died, “You know that this has to end.” He was losing a
lot of weight and had no appetite to eat. As his guardian
and as a registered nurse, I could have initiated a lot of
lifesaving measures, but he wanted to leave and I had agreed
at the beginning of his journey that I would abide by his
wishes always. I figure that he lived about 20 years with
the disease. He was, and is, the love of my life and the pain
is awful. In a way it gets a little better over time in the
fact that it is not as raw and as acute. You continue to have
that longing and you miss the companionship and the confidences
that you shared with someone for half of your life. Someone
who shared all of your life secrets, and that takes years
for that trust to build. Someone you could tell anything to
and rest assured in the knowledge that it would never be used
against you under any circumstances.
We had two Shar-Pei male
dogs, Buster and Bags. Little Bagger went to join Larry on
February 4th. He was diagnosed with cancer and lost over 20%
of his body weight in less than a month. It was heartwrenching
to lose him but I know that Larry was on the Rainbow Bridge
waiting for him. His brother Buster is mourning the loss as
well. They were inseparable. Our dogs are wonderful and they
have been a great comfort to me during this whole ordeal.
Lew,
Cleveland, OH
Brian’s
story
I was diagnosed in 1996.
At that time my CD4 was 173—AIDS defining. Viral load was
11,000. I was treated with AZT (Retrovir) and 3TC (Epivir)
for a year when I noticed leg and arm veins protruding. If
it is not those two drugs, I suppose the virus itself may
be responsible for lipodystrophy. Now I’m on four drugs (Crixivan,
Norvir, Viramune and Ziagen) since ‘97 with undetectable viral
load. No particular change in lipodystrophy but perhaps less
pronounced for the last three years. I was surprised with
lymphoma: B-cell, giant, follicular, grades III and IV last
year. I opted for no treatment and have been doing okay. I
am 61 years old. If anyone out there may be interested in
a study of my particular case of HIV and its effects, I can
be reached through sunbreth@hialoha.net. Kudos to scientists,
those great doubters who find, eventually, truth.
Name withheld,
Ocean View, HI
O
Great Pharmacy God:
Alright, I just kinda accidentally
found out that my friend’s boyfriend is positive and taking
Combivir. I wasn’t actually informed of his status, I just
noted the presence of the bottle and some literature pertaining
to HIV. So I am now wondering if my friend is positive as
well. I saw him take some pretty hefty pills, orange if I
remember correctly, that had to be refrigerated before we
went out the other day. Any idea what those might be, specifically
in the context of HIV? If he is pos, it’s obviously not going
to change the fact that he is a good friend I would help out
of any jam. I guess I just want to know for my own personal
reference so my big mouth never gets me into trouble by accident.
I didn’t just want to go right out and ask him if he was pos…do
you think that would be rude of me?
Name withheld,
via the Internet
Glen Pietrandoni responds—to
readers: I’m sure this is a common occurrence. This actually
happened to me, but I knew what I had found. If keeping one’s
status quiet is an issue, maybe folks need to be more careful.
If keeping your HIV status quiet is important, becareful where
you keep your medication stored. Even in the refrigerator,
a visitor may recognize the medication and blow your cover.
Lots of people know the names of HIV meds now because of all
of the media and advertising. [He also responded directly
to the writer.]
AIDS
I have been working in the
HIV/AIDS arena since 1989 and have been reading your magazine
for a number of years. In my opinion, it is the most educational
of the HIV magazines available. However, I felt compelled
to respond to One-on-One with Dr. Peter Piot (March/April).
The first sentence stated that, “AIDS will kill tens of millions
of people over the next 20 years.” Although there are now
over 43 million individuals infected with HIV, no one has
ever died of AIDS. AIDS is an acronym that stands for a syndrome
(Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). No one dies from a
syndrome. An individual dies because of the suppressed immune
system caused by the virus—this problem eventually causes
the person to be diagnosed as having AIDS, but it is an AIDS-defining
condition that causes the death, not AIDS itself.
Linda “P”, MA, LMHC, NCC,
Orlando, FL
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