Be Organized!

Tag is now happy. What my condition has done to me is it made me become an organized person. Everything now is in order. Everything becomes accessible and easy.

1. Medical Files
    a. Everything is in a file folder or case from the start of my treatment up to now. I carry this every time I go to the hospital, in case there are files that are needed.
    b. I have photocopies of all my important lab tests.
    c. I keep and have all receipts. I track how much we have already spent.
    d. I keep and have my updated PhilHealth files. You'll never know when they will be needed.
    e. I always bring the box literature of all my medicines.
    f. Every time I have a doctor consultation, I present all my lab tests in a table form for my doctor to compare and contrast. Everything becomes easy doing it this way.
 
2. Timer
   a. My iPhone makes it easy for me to remember to take my medicines. I have a daily alarm at 6:55am for my cotri, at 12nn (once a week) for my azithro and a daily alarm at 9:57pm for my ARV's.
   b. I also have alarms for my meals. I have an alarm at 5am to wake me up, an alarm at 6am for my breakfast and an alarm at 5:45pm for my last meal (my efavirenz at 10pm has to be taken on an empty stomach).

3. Pill Box
   a. I have pill box at home and a car pill box when going out
   b. My home pillbox has my 7am cotri and my 10pm ARV's
   c. I bring my home pill box when traveling for days
   d. I bring my car pill box when leaving the house for the night.

4. Notebook
   a. Everyday I put an entry to my notebook about my medicines, signs and symptoms, and workout.
   b. I log also changes in medicines if there are, my daily weight and days of treatment with ARV's
   c. I also monitor when I last was seen by my doctor

FOR TOPIC SUGGESTIONS, please email me at pozziepinoy@yahoo.com

DONATE to The Love Fund : The Love Fund

Read More

5th Week!

It's my fifth week today of taking the ARV's. I mentioned before that these are my medicines: tenofovir, lamivudine and efavirenz. I take them all at exactly 10pm as prescribed by my doctor and has never missed taking them. I am also on cotrimoxazole everyday and azithromycin once every week.

So far I am very ok. No rashes, no skin blotches, no depression or vivid dreams, no diarrhea, no fever. For two months now, I don't get sick fast unlike months before I got diagnosed (I had on and off fever, and frequent diarrhea). I workout regularly, still eats 6-7x a day which made me gain 26 pounds in a month. My skin looks better. Friends and neighbors say that I look better now. I am happy.

Read More

Be Ready, Always!

Once you're diagnosed with HIV, brace yourself and be ready for these things:

1. Emotional
    a. Face the fact that you have a disease and accept it as soon as possible so you can focus fast on your life. Don't look back and blame other people for what had happened to you. What's important is that you are still alive and have the capacity to live happy.
    b. Be strong to tell your partner, your loved ones that you have the virus. It helps to unload. It will help you not to worry when you have a strong support system.
    c. Don't be scared. Read and educate yourself to be ready. Talk to people who are knowledgeable about your condition. List down all your questions and ask your doctor.
    d. Have a positive outlook. HIV is not a death sentence anymore. One can have a long and happy life as long as you follow what the doctor tells you to do.

2. Financial
    a. Be ready for the financial burden that the diseases carries.
    b. Make sure that you are an active member of PhilHealth to lessen the costs. Ask your hub how it can assist you. If you are an active member of a health insurance, be sure that you read the policy.
    c. Always save for the 2 important tests every 3 to 6 months: the CD4 count and the viral load count. They are the most expensive ones and the most important. These tests will define the progression of your virus and your treatment. Usually the hub, gives free baseline tests only and you pay for the succeeding tests.
    d. Save money for consultation visits, hospitalizations and possible medications for other infections, if they manifest.

3. Physical
    a. Have a healthy lifestyle and do what your doctor tells you to do.
    b. Quit smoking and drinking!
    c.  Be active. Exercise regularly.
    d. Have a healthy diet
    e. Help protect yourself and strengthen your immune system by not getting sick and by having a good hygiene. Always wash hands, gargle with listerine if possible and avoid too crowded places. Always bring handkerchief and avoid dealing with soil and cat litter. Be careful with what you eat, especially street food and soiled food.

4. Social
    a. Don't be paranoid. Read and educate yourself on how you can communicate your disease with other people. Help your family and friends understand that the disease can't be transferred to them by kissing, hugging, touching or sharing utensils and bathroom.
    b. Enjoy your life to the fullest. Socialize.
    c. When it comes to sex, it is wise to be responsible. Be monogamous and stick to your partner. Always use protection. If you can, abstain from sex.
    d. Read on how you can stop the spread of HIV. Have a commitment that HIV stops with you.
    e. Share your knowledge about HIV, anonymously if you're not ready to reveal yourself.
    f. Read the law against discrimination. Know your rights.

5. Vocational
   a. If you're ready, you can tell your boss about your condition for future reference to illnesses.
   b. Know your employee rights. Know the law against discrimination.
   c. Be ready. There are countries that don't allow pozzies for employment abroad. Just be productive and look for job placements where you are accepted.
   d. Read on how you can protect other people from communicating your disease through your work. It's best to be safe.

6. Readiness to Treatment
    a. Cut off is 350 CD4 count. Be ready for treatment if your CD4 count falls below the cutoff.
    b. Read about the 1st line regimen fast. Know the medicines.. what they do and their side effects. Read about the availability of medicines. Start to believe in that the medicines really work.
    c. Read and educate yourself. Know about adherence, compliance and resistance.
    d. Ask other pozzies on how they are dealing with ARV's. Read blogs and personal accounts.
    e. Read the risks of not having treatment. Understand the urgency of treatment.
    f. Know that treatment is a lifetime process while waiting for a cure.
    g. Know about the different hubs. Compare and contrast their functions and their facilities.
    h. Know the different tests needed how frequently they are required.

FOR TOPIC SUGGESTIONS, please email me at pozziepinoy@yahoo.com

DONATE to The Love Fund : The Love Fund

 

Read More

HIV Stops With Me!

Let's be clear. The best prevention of HIV is us, the pozzies to not allow the disease to spread it anymore! We have the greatest responsibility of all to control this epidemic.

Read More

Talking Helps!

When I was diagnosed with HIV, Tag and I talked. We made plans fast and the priority was getting my health back. He cried but he after that he made me strong. He is a loving, understanding and caring partner and I thank him for that.We always had visitors in the hospital and it became complicated since we couldn't just tell anybody about my disease. The following day, I called my siblings to come to the hospital. It was Tag who broke the news to them because I was so sick to talk. They were calm when they received it and assured us that they will be there. I told them that they can also tell my nieces and nephews. My sister said she would email our siblings too in the U.S. about my condition. We felt relieved. After that, Tag went home and called his parents and sister. He told them everything and cried to them. They were very supportive according to Tag. It was a relief.

So who was next? We had friends who kept on visiting us and we decided to break the news to two of our friends. One friend cried and told us to ask if we need help. The next day, my siblings from the U.S. called and Tag broke the news to them again. They just said that they are sending their prayers to us and ask if we need help. Tag assured them that everything will be ok. He told them about the treatment of HIV/AIDS here too, so they were relieved.

One time, my doctor friend paid me a visit in the hospital and asked how Tag was dealing with it. I said that talking helped a lot. By talking we accept that there is the disease, and all we have to do is to face the challenges it will bring. By talking, especially revealing to family and friends, the burden disappears and then everything else focuses on just being well. By talking, reassured us that we are strong people and we can overcome all the obstacles we were about to face. By talking, we are assured that we still have our family and friends who support us with love and prayers.

When I got discharged from the hospital, I also told one of my neighbors who had ever been good to me about my disease. She extended her love and support and told me that I should not be proud to ask for help from her. It was an overwhelming feeling.

Right now, I hardly talk to anybody but if I go out and people ask me, I usually say I am ok. Well, I really am and I tell them that I am recuperating. I have 2 new people who knows about me from my blog entries and we correspond. It is best to talk, well about anything. I haven't met them yet, but it seems like we can be partners in dealing with our combined struggles.

For those pozzies out there who are confused, come on and let's talk. Even text will do. Just email me at pozziepinoy@yahoo.com. Trust me it helps to talk to somebody who understands.

Read More

Signs & Symptoms of HIV/AIDS

The only way to know for sure whether you are infected is to be tested!

You cannot rely on symptoms to know whether you are infected with HIV. About half the people who are infected have flu-like symptoms within two to four weeks of having been exposed to HIV. However, just as many people infected by HIV do not have any symptoms at all for many years.

Over time, as the immune system weakens, maybe over months or years, symptoms begin to develop. Watch this video to learn more ...

Do not assume you are infected if you have any of these symptoms. Each of these symptoms can be related to other illnesses. The only way to determine whether you are infected is to be tested for HIV infection.

HIV tests do not actually test for the virus, but test for antibodies to the virus. Antibodies are made by the body's white blood cells to fight infection. If these antibodies are present in your blood, you are HIV-positive and need treatment.

If you think you have been exposed to HIV, it is important to be tested as soon as possible, whether you have symptoms or not. The sooner you can get treatment, the less your immune system will be damaged. Unfortunately, the antibodies to the virus don't appear right away. It can take eight to twelve weeks for the antibodies to show up in a test.

If you know you have been exposed to HIV, contact an HIV specialist as soon as you can.

Read More

ARV Adherence

I read this online:

"For HIV treatment to be effective, good adherence is very important. Good
adherence means taking all your antiretroviral medicines every day, at the right time
and with food if necessary.  Poor adherence can have very serious consequences.

WHAT IS ADHERENCE?

- For HIV treatment to be effective, good adherence means taking all your ARV
  medicines, every day, at the right time.

- Good adherence is important with most medicines, but it’s absolutely vital with
  antiretrovirals.

- When we start taking antiretrovirals, we stop HIV from making copies of itself. This
  gives the immune system a chance to recover.

- As the viral load goes down, the number of CD4 cells goes up.  When our  
  adherence is good and our antiretroviral treatment is working, our viral load can
  become 'undetectable'. Undetectable does not mean the virus has gone. It just
  means that the amount of virus in our blood is too small to be measured (less than    
  50 copies per tiny drop of blood).

- When you start ARVs, you take a combination of at least three different ARV
drugs. Sometimes this is called triple therapy or HAART (Highly Active
Antiretroviral  Therapy). The three drugs together form your ARV regimen. The first
ARV regimen that you will take will probably be Nevirapine, 3TC and d4T (or
Efavirenz instead of Nevirapine).

 WHY GOOD ADHERENCE IS IMPORTANT

- If your adherence is bad, the HIV in your body becomes drug-resistant (it learns to
fight the drugs).

- ARVs stop HIV from making copies of itself. Taking our pills on time is important
  because if we miss a dose, the virus immediately takes advantage and starts to
  replicate itself again. These copies will be a little bit different and the ARVs will be
  less effective against this changed virus.

- With HIV, avoiding resistance is very important. The only way to treat drug resistant HIV is to move on to a different combination of ARVs. We call this a new regimen. In South Africa at present, there are only two regimens available in the public sector.

- HIV that is resistant can be passed on to someone else and the drugs will not work
  for that person either."

FOR TOPIC SUGGESTIONS, please email me at pozziepinoy@yahoo.com

DONATE to The Love Fund : The Love Fund

Read More

Feeling Alive Again

Tag and I just came back from a trip somewhere north. It was really relaxing. I felt alive again. We used to do this. Unplanned trips. It was fun. Until I got sick. We became too careful. We can't afford for me to get sick again. I really don't want to. Everything changed. I stopped working. I stayed most of the time at home. We rarely go out.

But lately, it seems like everything is coming back to us, to our lives. We started eating out again. We dined in the restaurants that we frequented before. We even booked a flight to a posh resort in the south for Christmas. Everything is slowly coming back to normal, except that still I can't work. My health first before anything else. Tag wants me to go back to work once my CD4 count is above 200. We argued one time because I told him that I want to go back to work asap because I read in some blogs the other pozzies who are still working even though their CD4's are low. Tag said, why should I be like them and why not just follow him, the person who loves me most. Sweet. Ok, maybe I find work somewhere online while I am recuperating.

So far, my condition is in status quo, well except that my ARV's, my "vitamins" are making me fat. I already gained 25 pounds! Well, I guess I just have a great appetite as compared to before. I know my doctor will be happy about this. My next check up is on the 16th. There are a lot of things to ask my doctor which I already wrote down in my ipad. I like to question doctors. It really makes me feel that I'm part of the team. I will also be taking my ALT a day before my consultation. I want to know what's going on with my body, how my liver is reacting to this. I just hope everything inside me is ok because I feel fine.

Soon everything will be back to normal. Please CD4... go up fast.. I am doing my part.

FOR TOPIC SUGGESTIONS, please email me at pozziepinoy@yahoo.com

DONATE to The Love Fund : The Love Fund

Read More