Be Accountable

Tag and I had an argument yesterday which made me cry. I rarely cry because of my disease because I feel that I am strong. Well, I was wrong. We were talking about HIV and bluntly he was stressing the fact that I have it, that there is an increase in number of cases now and that I should try to inform those people that I had sexual encounters before to also take the test. For the first time, he asked me if I know the person that I get it from and I told him that I am guessing that I got it from a person who died last year because of complications. He told me that I should start telling people to take the test especially those I had sex with. I went to the bathroom and cried my heart out.

I was guilty. I was helping those who are sick and yet I am not helping those people that I had encounters before. I just don't know if I infected other people in the process. I should be accountable to those people that I have sex with too. I should tell them to take the test. I should tell them that HIV is spreading around like wild fire and we all should be careful with our sexual behaviors.

Tag came to my rescue and apologized. He told me that he thought it is not a sensitive issue anymore. I told him that it is still. But, he was right. I can still help other people, especially those who I had encounters with during my "wild" days to get tested. I think that is the least that I can do.

We all should now be accountable. We should start telling people to get tested. We got this dreaded virus from our wild sexual encounters, from unprotected sex. We should contact those we had contact with and tell them to get tested. I am guilty. I might have a lot of people that I had contact with during the time that I didn't know that I already had the virus. I just hope and pray that they are ok, healthwise, right now.

People are dying and getting sick so HIV stops with me! But it also, now our responsibility to tell our old sex partners to get tested so that they, too, should stop spreading the virus!

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Prayer's List 5

I will be sending the PozziePinoy's Prayer List again to the heads of churches here in the country and in two church organizations in the United States this Friday evening. I have added new pozzies in twitter and I would like to add them have to this list. I also indicated a priority list for those who are in need of immediate prayer!

Please email me fast or just ask for a name inclusion in the comment box if you want your name or your friend's name to be included here.

In need of prayers: to watch over their health, to help them keep a positive outlook in life despite HIV, to help them face all health fears, to guard them against possible infections.

Priority Prayers:

1. Believer 30
2. Redpositive1
3. Kenjie10

Daily Prayers:

1. Poz Angel

2. PositHive

3. PozzieBoy23

4. GeekPozzie

5. Ryan HIV

6. Iamhivpositive

7. PozJerry

8. Casually

9. Bohemian

10. Chris HIV

11. Mike HIV

12. Kien HIV

13. Mark HIV

14. Panga HIV

15. Rob HIV

16. Albert HIV

17. Turvey HIV

18. Mao Hiv

19. Jersey

20. Jayjay HIV

21. 2ndLease

21. FB guy

22. Kiev

23. Spongie

24. iampositive25

25. Paranoid Freak

26. Marky

27. Sam HIV

28. Carlo HIV

29. Rob 2WL

30. Tipsyheaven1

31. Aqua HIV

32. SG HIV
33. RenalCB HIV
34. FBguy
35. FBfriend
36. MonCMV
37. LetBC
38. Dark Shadow29
39. AeonPaul
40. Reon
41. GP
42. lumineux08
43. finding goodness
44. matt_squid
45. rebornpositive2
46. seapositivo
47. Pozandliving
48. PozDanny
49. Potchini2
50. Chemistry Guy
51. Positivecutie
52. Jerin0627
53. squidworx
54. IamGrimReaper
55. Impopoy21
56. 21May2012
57. RedSon2828
58. positivejuan
59. PinoyPositive
60. IamPoziHiv
61. Iam Plus2012
62. Huntme
63. Eyes_closed120
64. AkoPoz
65. Josh HIV

                                                

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Don't Get Sick

Don't Get Sick! This is our "Golden Rule" now! We have to always be on guard. Always protect ourselves from infections and viruses around us.

After I got hospitalized, I told myself that the best way to help my immune system is to avoid getting sick. I tried all the disinfectants and alcohols at home. I washed my hands. I initially wore a mask when going out. I avoided uncooked foods. I sanitized our entire home.

When I got back to work I stayed the same. Tell me that I'm an OC (obsessive-compulsive), but that is the way it should be now. We have an issue with our immune system so we should respect it. Up to now, I still do.

Second most important thing is to get immunizations. I asked my Dra. Ditangco fast and she recommended some vaccinations that I need. I was happy. I told myself that I have to do this all the time. Every year, I have to make sure I get vaccinated especially those that require yearly vaccinations. My nurse gave me a vaccination booklet and I'm keen to inspecting it once in a while to check if I am already due for one.

Third, have a healthy lifestyle. Exercise is important. I know very well how exercise can boost our immune system. Up to now, I've been working out. I am getting fit again and of course getting healthy again. I start to eat the right kinds of foot and balancing again my diet.

Fourth, have a happy disposition in life. Live your life as if there is no tomorrow. Have a hobby. Socialize with friends. Enjoy your partner. Love your family and friends. Enjoy work!

Now that we know that we have HIV, we should do something about getting ourselves strong, no matter how high or low our CD4 is.


                                                       

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10 Per Day

Can you believe it? The number of HIV cases reached an average of 10 cases per day! This was reported last night in ABS-CBN's TV Patrol's News episode (June 19, 2012). This is absurd no matter what. Of course these are all cases that have been lingering for the past years and by the increased awareness and information drives, more people are coming out and adding to the list of infected individuals. But no matter what, bad news is still bad news. There may be more out there who haven't had their HIV test done so to everybody, negative or positive HIV alike, we all should be careful and always be on the guard. Protect yourself by wearing condoms, or just abstain from sex or just have one sex partner.

Information drives are getting stronger and of course there are more people getting tested. This of course relates to the increasing number of HIV cases. For me, this is best so we can all actually know how many are infected. This would help our government raise a red flag that our disease is something that we all should be concerned about. The growing number of cases will also demand a bigger budget or else people will end up getting infections which of course can increase the mortality rate of AIDS patients.

We all should do our part. We should ring a bell to our educators in school and our management in our offices that there really is a threat to health and that HIV is no joke! We should help disseminate information. People are still not scared so we should all partake in telling them the facts, the statistics. We have to spread out the word that HIV is spreading like wild fire and we should help contain it as soon as possible.

We all at risk if we are not careful. Us, pozzies, we can get another strain of HIV and have a superinfection that can't be treated with ARV's if we still practice unsafe sex. We should also do our part by not spreading our disease. We should protect others.

HIV is out there. There are more people who are infected. What is scary is that up to now, we still don't know the actual numbers! It is time to act. Help make the baseline statistics of HIV in the Philippines. Tell people who we know who are into promiscuous sex and have multiple partners to have themselves tested. Only then, that we will know how grave our country's condition is when it comes to this virus!



                                                               

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Ultimate Dream

An pozzie acquaintance asked me days ago if I want to be a certified HIV consultant. I said yes. He said that RITM is organizing one so the twitter friends can all join. I asked my friend Ranz from RITM and he said he will ask Dr. Ditangco when the schedule will be. I then texted Dr. Ditangco and she said that she was so glad that I even considered it and she personally would see to it that I get certified fast.

Is this my dream, really? Well, not so. I know I am capable of helping now but is this what I want?

Eversince I got sick, I know that there are people who are already doing counseling. Peer counseling is the best and although I know I can be good at it, I know this is not enough for me. I want more.

I want to put up a foundation for HIV/AIDS patients. Tag and I talked about it. I want to help others who are needing for financial assistance. I will talk to my accountant soon about it and will ask him details about it.

My journey with this disease is long, maybe a lifetime if a cure hasn't been found. So is my journey to assist others. I am here and committed to help.

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Im Back!

I think I need to be back in twitter. I feel I will be able to help more.

Follow @pozziepinoy

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Doctor Knows Best!

Sometimes we think we know everything. Well, most of the time. We think that we can save money by getting over the counter medicines and supplements but recently I’ve proven this very wrong.

Tag, my partner, is HIV negative. Caused by a recent bout of cold, he got a chronic cough which won’t go away. We tried our home remedies, from the over the counter robitussin, benadryl, nyquil and dayquil but still the cough persisted. It lasted for a month and we spent a lot of money for his medicines. Then I forced him to my pulmo doctor. Upon checking his chest Xray, which there was nothing showing but his normal lungs, he was diagnosed with cough induced asthma and was given a few meds and an inhaler, all good for 1 week. After a week, his cough was gone.

Recently Tag had chronic diarrhea for 2 weeks. Once again, being “quack doctors”, we prescribed him with imodium and pepnobizmo. We even believed another “quack doctor” friend who “diagnosed” it as amoebiasis and told him to take flagyl. Still the diarrhea persisted. So again, I forced him to go to my gastrointestinal doctor. Showing fecalysis result which was basically nothing in it, my doctor prescribed meds for 3 days only worth only P300. That night his diarrhea stopped. That’s it!

We have to admit that we are all “quack doctors”. We believe in what we read and in what is adviced by our fellow “quack doctors”. We try everything and we spend more money.

With us pozzies, it is more scary because most of us are already taking ARV’s already and we still try to be “quack doctors”. Our ARV’s, aka, highly active antiretroactive therapy (HAART) are already powerful and yet we still take them for granted. My gastrointestinal doctor warned me to consult first with Dr. Ditangco every time I would take anything, even supplements. My body is already full of medicines and I don’t need to complicate my condition anymore. He is right and I would rather believe him than believe myself being a renowned “quack doctor”.

Believe your doctors. Ask them first. There are a lot of information about HIV meds and studies about supplements that still are unproven that can assist in weakening our virus. 

Always remember that our doctor knows best. I, for one, has the best HIV/AIDS doctor in the Philippines and I always ask her first if I am going to do anything about my body.

You better ask your doctor first too!

                                                          

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Living with AIDS

At first I can say that life was difficult when you get shocked by the result of the HIV test. You begin to ponder what had happened and why did you allow it to happen to you of all people. Questions begin to pour in. Will I die? Will treatment be expensive? Will I always get sick? can I go back to work? What will my family and friends say once they find out? You begin to doubt yourself and become depressed. As it sinks in you feel that the only way to fully accept it is by educating yourself , one from the wisdom and experiences of your doctors, two by getting information from reading materials from the hospitals and the internet, and three by talking to other people living with HIV/AIDS. Well, that's what I did and then I began to live my life again.

I know it is hard but I keep an optimistic attitude towards it. When I was bedridden with pneumonia and PCP, I fought hard by telling myself that I will recover fast. I did after a month of taking my antibiotics, by eating right, by exercising and by avoiding infections. When I started to do all the lab works which entailed me to go back and forth to the hospital, I told myself that these are all my way of getting back on my feet and they will help me know my physical self more. When I got my first CD4 count result of 76, I realized that there is no way to go but to make it higher. When I first started my ARV's, I told myself that in case there will be side effects, I didn't worry at all because I know there are other substitutes that I can try. When I went back to work, I told myself that nothing can go wrong if I continue to be vigilant and continue to make my body stronger.

Life is still good. I know that for a fact. Turn the obstacles of having HIV/AIDS to challenges in life. Make them a journey to be lived. Life is full of mysteries. I for one has found a niche in this world. By having this disease, I was able to write a blog for all of my readers who are confused and who, too, are living with HIV/AIDS. By having the disease, I was able to meet and value the medical field. I was able to meet my best doctors who form part of my treatment team. They are my friends now. By having the disease I was able to help other people by counseling them on their journey to good health. By having the disease I was able to help and promote The Love Fund that financially supports those people with HIV/AIDS who are in dire need of assistance. By having the disease, I was able to assist our fellow AIDS person who can't afford the treatment and lab exams for their opportunistic infections through my connections with PCSO.

Living with AIDS, literally is hard. But you too, can think of it otherwise. Life is beautiful. You can turn things to beautiful and meaningful perspectives. Really, life is worth living for, even with HIV/AIDS!



                                                             

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