June 16, 2013 Father's Day

I went home to my parents' house to celebrate Father's Day.
It was nice to see my sisters, my brothers and their children.
I played with my little nieces.
I got to eat Ilocano food, which I haven't done in a very long time.

It was nice to be home, surrounded by people I love.
I was wishing I could them them about my status.
But, I didn't have the courage to do so.
I am afraid to make them unhappy.

I am doing the best that I can.
So far, I am healthy.
My CD4 is in good shape. My viral load is low.

There is no reason to make them worry.

I do love them very much and I was happy to be around them today.

I should visit more often, especially to eat my mom's Ilocano dishes.

4/11/2013

After work on April 11,2013, i drove over to the lab and got my blood drawn for viral load and cd4 levels. 
My doctor had included other lab work such as CBC and metabolic panel.

So, several vials later, I went home.

Today is June 13, 2013.  I went to see my doctor to get the blood work results from April.

This blood work is for one month of being on Atripla. 

My CD4 went up 20 points to 281.

My viral load went down precipitously to 1710.

I am very happy for these results.

My doctor mentioned that my other blood work was fine.

I am encouraged that my medication is working.

I hope to keep it in that direction.

I am experiencing some minor side effects, which are not the common side effects found in people who take this medication.

I have the usual fatigue, which is common. But, I have been having numbness of my left pinky finger as well as mild tinnitus.

I told my doctor that these are minor and I don't want to change my regimen.

She agreed and we both decided to just keep an eye on these and other side effects.

It they become worse, I do need to let her know.

Otherwise, awesome news!

I will need to go back to the lab the first week of July and then go back to my doctor the following week for my 3 month follow-up.

I am hopeful that by my 3-month anniversary of taking Atripla that I will be undetectable in viral load and my CD4 will be higher than 281.

Fingers crossed.

Here's an article about aging people with HIV disease.  An interesting read.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/nyregion/spared-death-aging-people-with-hiv-struggle-to-live.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

March 6, 2013

I went to see my doctor on January 18, 2013 to get treatment for my tonsillitis.
After talking to her about my trip to the Philippines in December and my concerns we both decided on certain lab tests and course of treatment.
She did a battery of blood tests including HIV antibody test.
She didn't want to give my HIV test result over the phone the following Friday, January 25th.
She wanted to talk to me in person.
I beat her to the punch by taking the test at the clinic.

So, when I saw her and told me the result, I said I already know.
It wasn't a long meeting.
She didn't need to console me nor answer any questions since I didn't ask any.
She recommended an infectious disease doctor I should see and gave me a phone number to call.

I immediately went home and dialed the phone number she gave me.
It was a wrong number.
Fortunately, she wrote the name of the doctor and I had to search for the correct number online.
I was able to reach to correct number and made an appointment.

I saw my HIV specialist on February 4, 2013.
She is a wonderful woman...very warm, caring, and has a welcoming smile.
She immediately put me at ease and we discussed everything that went on in the past few months.
She told me upfront that she is very methodical and she would need a lot of tests done to get all the information she needed.
I agreed.
She also told me that she would put me on ARV right away as soon as she is sure I am not allergic to abacavir.
I also agreed.
She asked me to go to a specific lab facility because she wanted to be sure it is done correctly.

I left to go to the same lab I had visited before and not the one she asked me to go.
At first I thought the lab my HIV doctor recommended is covered by my insurance, but I was mistaken.
I had to go to the lab covered by my insurance for obvious reasons.
I just hoped that they get it right.
I knew that many vials of blood would be extracted from me.
I had no idea that 13 vials would be the number.
I went home and drank plenty of fluids and rested.

I went back to see my HIV doctor on March 4, 2013.
She got all the tests results back.
I was relieved that the lab did not mess it up.
My CD4 was 261 and viral load was 161,020.
I was shocked at how low my CD4 was.
She said that I was still experiencing the initial HIV infection.
My body was busy making the virus and killing my CD4.
The CD4 would eventually fight back and would bring the viral level down.
Both would plateau and that would take many years of co-existence until my body succumbs to the disease and progress to AIDS.
She even drew a graph of initial infection, plateau and AIDS showing both CD4 and viral loads.

One of the tests done was HIV genotype which showed the susceptibility of my HIV to known ARV medications.
She was happy to tell me that my HIV is not resistant to abacavir.
I am therefore able to be put on a once a day regimen, which made me very happy.
She gave me a prescription for Atripla, one pill, once a day.

I went to Walgreen's right away.
Unfortunately, the medication is not available and was told to come back the next day for pick up.
I went the following day, and was told the same thing.
Not available once again.
On the third day, I called ahead and made sure that they have it before showing up.
Thank goodness, they have it waiting for me to pick up.

I went to pick up my medication after work.
My co-pay is $200.
I didn't expect it to be that high, but since there is no generic equivalent for this new medication, I didn't have a choice.
I paid for it and went home.
I started my ARV triple cocktail medication on March 6, 2013.

My HIV test

I knew in the back of my mind that I will test positive.
I recognized the symptoms.
But, I was hopeful that I would still test negative.
After all, I have tonsillitis.
The symptoms are probably those of tonsillitis.
I was hoping for the best.

It was a beautiful day - Saturday, January 26, 2013.
I waited in line with my bf for the clinic to open.
There were several men lined up outside the clinic waiting for it to open.
I think there were about a dozen guys ahead of me.
I got there 15 minutes early.
After I got in line, more men got behind me in line.

The clinic opened and one by one we approached the desk.
I surveyed the guys in line with me.
Most are whites, one or two are Asians, one African-American, one Latino.
I remember thinking how young most of them look.

The line moved fairly quickly.
It appeared that we were all in line to receive paperwork to fill out and instructions.
Finally, it was my turn at the desk.
I was given several papers to fill out.
The questions were mostly demographic questions like gender, sexual orientation, sexual history, what kind of tests I wanted done.
I answered them and turned them in to another clerk.
I was told to wait and my name would be called.
I waited.
One by one, we were called and escorted to the private rooms.

There were several people in the back room who were there to draw blood.
It didn't take long for it to be my turn. I talked to a counselor who asked me certain questions to get the conversation going.
I talked freely about what brought me in that day.
The unsafe sex I had the previous month.
The last time I had an HIV test done.
The symptoms I have that made me concerned about my status.
I was told about the tests that they were going to do and that the information is confidential.
But, they need to report it to the department of public health if I tested positive.
I signed some paperwork and then it was time for me to get my blood drawn.

After the blood draw, I was told to come back at 2pm for my results, which was about three hours later.
I was with my boyfriend at the time so we decided to have lunch and hang out at the park afterwards.
When it came time to get my results, I told my bf to stay at the park and I would call him later.
I went to the clinic on my own.

There weren't many guys at the clinic.
It didn't take long for them to call me for my turn.
I was called by a very handsome, young, muscular man who took me to a private room.
As soon as we both sat down, he said. "your test came back positive."
I felt numb all over.
I remember looking down and then nodded my head.
I said, I expected it to be positive.
He said a few other things but I don't remember paying much attention.
He asked for me to wait for another counselor who would talk to me about other things.

I was going through the motions of pretending to be interested and just nodded my head.
Another counselor came in and we chatted.
I don't remember much of what was discussed, but I do remember getting several paperwork.
Some of them I signed, some of them I was told I could keep and if I was interested I could call some phone numbers.
I think they were studies I could join, or counseling sessions I could participate in joining if I desired.

After gathering all the paperwork, I left the room and texted my bf.
I told him I tested positive and to come pick me up.
He came by, he gave me a hug and we went home.

I don't remember the rest of that day.
It was a beautiful day - Saturday, January 26, 2013