I received an email from a new pozzie who wanted just to talk. He gave me his number. As soon as I got home, I called him up. He was shocked how fast I responded to him. I just told him that it seems that it was an urgent thing."Jason" (of course, not his real name), told me his story. He just recently been diagnosed in the RITM Satellite. He got all his lab tests in RITM-ARG and his CD4 result was 220. His doctor prescribed him with lami/zidovudine and efavirenz. He was also prescribed with cotrimoxazole.
The reason why he wanted to talk was because he was still scared about the ARV's and that he felt uneasy taking them because of his fears of it. I told him to be calm and just focus on what he needs to do, which is believing in the power of the medicines and believing that his immune system is going to recover fast. I told him a little bit of my story, with my low CD4 (70) count before and after 8 months jumped to 487. I told him that there are a lot of pozzies who have made it and that what he is feeling is normal.
All of us pozzies, have experienced what Jason is feeling right now. Fear of the unknown is the greatest obstacle. But with the current information spreading around, with the new technology, with the newer medicines, we should all relax and just trust our doctors. The scary part is not knowing what we need to do to face all obstacles, so to combat this, we should brace ourselves and try, as much as possible, to read and research about our disease, to learn from the wisdom from the stories of other pozzies and to ask our queries from our doctor. We can also attend seminars and training about HIV and AIDS to help empower ourselves so that we can face anything in front of us that will pose as a hindrance to our health.
To you Jason and the rest of the new pozzies who are experiencing the same thing, be enlightened by reading these topics in my blog:
1. New Journey
2. Be Thankful
3. Living with AIDS
4. You'll Be OK!
5. You Are Still Alive
6. Mentally Preparing for ART
7. Stop Worrying
8. There is Light
9. Be Positive!
10. Don't Be Sacred
11. Never Give Up!
12. Help Yourself to Stand Up
13. Another Reason to Smile
14. Everything Will Be Ok!
15. Being Positive
16. How To Stay Positive
Good luck! I know that YOU CAN do it Jason!
CREDITS:
Image by FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Tags: HIV, AIDS, HIV/AIDS, RITM Satellite, RITM-ARG, CD4, lami/zidovudine, cotrimoxazole, efavirenz, ARV, Manila, Philippines, HIV Manila, HIV Philippines