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Positive Thoughts: Changes
By Jeff Berry
This past January
I awoke to the news
that David Bowie
had just died. My
partner Stephen told me as I walked
into the kitchen. I thought it had to
be a mistake, some kind of horrible,
twisted hoax. When you are 57 years
old, as I am, 69 seems way too
young to die.
When I graduated from high
school in 1976, my parents gave me
an all-in-one stereo system that I
would play my vinyl records on (it
even had a built in 8-track player!). I
would listen to Bowie’s album “Young
Americans” over and over on the
turntable, and was spellbound by
Bowie – his music, lyrics, the androgynous look. Everything about him
spoke to me, and as a slightly effeminate, young, gay man who was
still in the process of coming out, he
gave me confidence that everything
was going to work out, and that I
would eventually come into my own
someday. He gave me, and others
like me, hope, and made it cool to
be different.
After testing positive for HIV in
1989 at the age of 30, I wasn’t sure
I would live to see 35, as there were
still no effective treatments for HIV.
When those treatments did finally
arrive they were often difficult to
QIdaho.com | Issue 22 | August 2016
take, and some had debilitating
side effects. While recent treatment
advances have made HIV therapy
much simpler and safer, there can
often be underlying issues such as
mental health, substance abuse and
financial instability that need to be
addressed in order to be successful in
treating HIV.
Take it upon yourself to create
your own plan and path to wellness.
If you’re depressed or feel isolated,
talk to someone at a support group
or even an online community (there
are many on Facebook such as the
“International place for people with
HIV/AIDS, and the people who love
us” or “HIV Long Term Survivors”).
If you are using, there are resources
to help you get and stay sober (AA,
NA or CMA) or at the very least play
safely and sanely (such as tweaker.
org). If you’re HIV-positive, seek out
an HIV case manager at the nearest AIDS service organization in
your area who can help you see if
there are financial resources available to you to help ease some of the
stresses of day-to-day living. Consult
with a provider who is knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, and come
prepared with a list of questions
about potential side effects and
drug interactions that you might be
concerned about. If you want to simplify your treatment or help make it
easier for you to take it every day as
prescribed, see if there is something
available that will work for you.
If you are HIV-negative, PrEP, or
pre-exposure prophylaxis, is a daily
pill you can take to prevent HIV.
Truvada is currently the only approved medication for PrEP. While
any doctor can prescribe PrEP, you
can find a list of providers who are
knowledgeable and familiar with
PrEP at http://www.greaterthan.org/
get-prep. If you are HIV-positive,
and are on effective HIV treatment,
your virus will be suppressed to a
level so low (undetectable) that it is
virtually impossible for you to transmit the virus to others.
Much has changed in 20 years:
the dawn of the internet, smart
phones, social media, even treatment
and prevention for HIV. But one constant remains. Treating and preventing HIV is as much an art as it is a
science. Change is inevitable, but by
embracing it we “turn and face the
strange,” as Bowie said, and become
the architect of our own future, and
master of our destiny.
Jeff Berry is the editor of Positively
Aware magazine. This column is a
project of Plus, Positively Aware, POZ,
TheBody.com and Q Syndicate, the
LGBT wire service. Visit their websites
-- http://hivplusmag.com, http://positivelyaware.com, http://poz.com and
http://thebody.com -- for the latest
updates on HIV/AIDS.