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.