Personal confession

[Fritz]

Mike, I am very sorry to hear this.  My roommate and best friend has been living with HIV for over 15 years now, and he's still doing well.  There have been times he has gone off of his meds because of the side effects.  Or, sometimes he just forgets to take them.  This, of course, wreaks havoc with his numbers.  The most important thing you can do now is to see your doctor often, and take your medications every day exactly as prescribed.  If you do that, you can live for a long time to come.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

All my best to you, Mike.  Do exactly what the doctors say and stay strong emotionally if you can.  A professional to talk to is also a good idea......mind and body go hand in hand.

We're all with you.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

     That's very unfortunate. I will admit that while I am not part of a particularly high-risk group, I have been thinking about AIDS quite a bit this last year. With something like that, it's just a good idea not to risk it.

Well you be careful yourself, PiT.

[Mechaman]

Unfortunately this is not a APR fools day joke.     Its a surreal experience watching your weight go from 150 -125 in a matter of 2 months and dealing with night sweats - just knowing things are not right.   When i first was told I had  HIV there was of course the few days of crying and trying to get over it, followed by who ,  when and how.   I got over that quickly and life continued on.  But then theres the doctors visits and the  monitoring of your cd4 count.   Seeing that number go from 700 to 450 then 200 is when it hit you that your body  cant win against this infection/virus.    In the beginning you like to think that it may be years before you see any progress torwords aids , and or need medication.   The other day during my visit to the doctor I started crying before they even showed me my numbers.  The doctor came in and started talking about medication and I already knew things were not good.   Good thing is medication has came a long way, and the one iam taking is a once a day with min side effects ( vivid dreams, dizziness, a drunk feeling LOL) , however I have noticed somewhat of a depression feel as of late.   

You don't strike me as the type who would joke about something like this MK.

[minionofmidas]

Oh my god.

Best of luck to you. (Btw, what's to "confess"? It's not as if you wronged the forum in any way by keeping that to yourself for a while. )

Yah, any bit of advice I could possibly have is already in this thread about three or four times.

[Conservative frontier]

Good Luck

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Eh, good luck.

[Ban my account ffs!]

 
The good news is that, yes, medicine has come a long way and you can still enjoy a happy and productive life.  Try not to let it run your life.

My mom's best friend since childhood has lived with HIV for 25 years now and while it has put him through a lot of trials and tribulations, he is still a very happy man.

[Bo]

Good Luck To You, Mike!

[k-onmmunist]

I'm sorry man. Good luck.

[Sewer]

You guys so gullible! Hahahahahaha!!!

[Vepres]

Hopefully there will be some huge medical breakthroughs in your lifetime. Best of luck.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

You guys so gullible! Hahahahahaha!!!

It's certainly possible that this is a hoax; the internets are like that, of course. There's also the chance that it isn't, in which case it makes sense to make, you know, logical suggestions as to what to do. There's only a risk of damage if too many emotions are personally invested.

[opebo]

While I do still doubt the veracity of this revelation, I would like to know more about how a poor can get these expensive medicines, Mike Keller. 

[MK]

While I do still doubt the veracity of this revelation, I would like to know more about how a poor can get these expensive medicines, Mike Keller. 

Doubt?   I don't really think any of this should come as a surprise, since i did have a profanity laced rant about the state of SC and here in NC reducing funding for its (ADAP) programs.  Ive also hinted at other cases of opposition to those programs.   I finally decided to come out and say it.

Yes, this is how I'm paying for my doctor visits and meds.    The Pill i take once a day is working well far as side effects go.   I wont know if its actually lowering my viral load until the end of this month when I go back.      Yes, very expensive stuff ... 1800$ for a bottle of 30

[J-Mann]

I'm so sorry ... I'm thinking of you.

[opebo]

...I don't really think any of this should come as a surprise, since i did have a profanity laced rant about the state of SC and here in NC reducing funding for its (ADAP) programs.  Ive also hinted at other cases of opposition to those programs.   I finally decided to come out and say it.

Yes, this is how I'm paying for my doctor visits and meds.    The Pill i take once a day is working well far as side effects go.   I wont know if its actually lowering my viral load until the end of this month when I go back.      Yes, very expensive stuff ... 1800$ for a bottle of 30

I see.. Good luck.  So you don't have to pay anything towards that pill do you?

[MK]

...I don't really think any of this should come as a surprise, since i did have a profanity laced rant about the state of SC and here in NC reducing funding for its (ADAP) programs.  Ive also hinted at other cases of opposition to those programs.   I finally decided to come out and say it.

Yes, this is how I'm paying for my doctor visits and meds.    The Pill i take once a day is working well far as side effects go.   I wont know if its actually lowering my viral load until the end of this month when I go back.      Yes, very expensive stuff ... 1800$ for a bottle of 30

I see.. Good luck.  So you don't have to pay anything towards that pill do you?

Nope.   They just write me a prescription and i go pick it up.     At least thats how it went that day.

[Sewer]

I finally decided to come out and say it.

On April Fool's day.

[MK]

I finally decided to come out and say it.

On April Fool's day.

Yes, i really don't put much stock into the whole April fools day.  I figured some on here wouldn't take it serious with the day I picked.

But Ive been HIV/aids positive for a while now.