World Aids Day

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Thank you for posting this, Shank.

AIDS is a disease to whom i lost a few dear friends.

On NPR this morning, they noted a shift in how this day has been commemorated. Instead of the lonely, bloated roll call of the dead and dying victims of AIDS of years before, we can now celebrate the millions of persons who live robust lives in spite of HIV.

There is much more to do, but we are making progress against this formidable disease.

It is sad there have been marked increases in those contracting HIV in the last year, possibly because of the back off from such prominent education for those who were not alive or of an age to hear it in those early days. I hope there is a renewed focus on education and prevention backed by reliable facts and inflrmation.

Catalina

Thank you Shank... For posting this.. It is a sad , terrible disease and someone very close to me has a son with HIV and I hurt for them every day... I sincerely hope everyone who lives with this disease is able to overcome it or live thier lives to the fullest...

One of my dearest friends Jefferey, died over 20 years ago from AIDS. He took his own life quietly on an average night of the week because he couldn't contend with the diagnosis of HIV and reconcile the stigma associated with having a disease that elicited fear in many others because of ignorance.

He had witnessed the deterioration and death of a small number of our extended social group . No one 'lived with HIV' then, being HIV positive was considered the shortest stepping stone to the onslaught of AIDS. Even people in the medical community were known to shun physical contact with people diagnosed as HIV positive. Palliative care for as long as it could be extended was more often than not predominantly supported by friends.

We were all really shocked that this talented, confident, well educated, generous friend with no history of depression or self harming behaviours took his own life. I had been out with him that evening, we were at a local bar, had drinks, laughed and danced as was common for us. Our conversation was bright and lively as ever. I kissed him good night and we parted for our respective homes. As I retired that night, Jefferey sat and wrote a letter of apology to his friends and family, then hung himself. In his eyes, at the time, it was less stigmatizing to be known as having taken his own life than to have died from AIDS.

Thank God things have changed since then. Thank God the stigma founded by ignorance has abated by some real degree. Thank God for the research and significant gains that have been made that provide people with a genuine realisation of living well with HIV. Let there be a cure.

Here's hoping they find the cure soon... so no one else loses a friend like I did when I lost Nina..

My lifetime best friend, D has been HIV positive for almost ten years. He was my first sponsor in NA when i got clean and he cried in my arms as his Dr. told him why he was feeling tired, nauseated, and "fluish," all the time. Fortunately, the meds work well for him and he is as close to "remission" as you can be.

i credit him with saving my life from the depths of heroin. i don't know what i would do if i ever lost him. For the past 11 years, no matter what, he has been the one constant in my life.

i hate this disease. i hate it with a fucking passion. No one should EVER have to watch those they love die. It has ravaged the gay community, Africa, young women...No one is safe. No one is immune, and it just FUCKING SUCKS.


(Can't think of anything else to say...)

I am of an age in which I have seen over 100 good friends die of the complications of AIDS. In the past I have been very active in the fight against AIDS, walks, counseling, manning drop-in centers, etc. I am ashamed to admit that my busy life no longer allows room for such activities.

But Shank your post and the comments of others elsewhere have prompted me to remember that the battle is not yet won and that I need to get involved again but on a smaller scale.

AIDS is a real deadly thing.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t307/dawneee_2007/aids.jpg

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/aids/images/gallery_awareness.jpg

I was going through some AIDS awareness material online earlier today and came across this. It made me cry.