I wanted to check in with everyone here with the current situation. We all have to self-isolate due to the COVID19 pandemic. This can be a really difficult time given the circumstances. Our daily routines have been dismantled; no work and no school. If you're following the advice of doctors all over the country and our government, then you're staying inside as much as possible to avoid getting the virus. I live in New York City which is currently the country's hotspot. My fiancé was working up until about 2 weeks ago. We still go out to the supermarket for ourselves and his parents who live...
Escalice's blog
In about a week or so, it'll be five years that I've been positive and I'm sort of having mixed emotions.
It's been a long time since I've felt down on myself about my status. It took me almost two years to finally tell someone and when I did, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off me. I've used my status to fuel myself to do better and be better. I used education to help me understand HIV and what being HIV positive meant for me. Overall I have felt pretty good about it. I take my medication every day and always have (with the occasional act of forgetfulness). I have been undetectable for almost as long as I've been positive (5 years in just a couple of weeks) and my CD4 count has always...
They say that it takes tragedy or someone hitting rock bottom for them to make changes to their life. I guess that's what happened to me when I was diagnosed. My diagnosis, in conjunction with becoming a new mother, rocked my whole world. Although I don’t know exactly who I got it from, I know it was through sex. I know in my life I’ve had many sexual partners and used sex as a coping mechanism. I spent a majority of my life feeling unloved and unwanted; like there was something wrong with me. Trauma that I had experienced in childhood and my teen years left me feeling this way. I looked for...
Our journey to treatment adherence is just that; a journey. Everyone's journey does not look the same and that's ok.
When I found out I was HIV positive, I didn’t know much about the virus except for what I remember learning in my high school health class. I thought I was going to die young. I thought I would look sick and be sick all the time. I thought I'd be tired all the time. I was pregnant and feared I wouldn't live long enough to be there for my daughter. I also felt dirty and broken; like damaged goods. When they told me I would be fine and live as long as anyone else, I didn't believe them. I was actually kind of angry because I thought they were just lying to me. I thought they were trying to make...
When I was 27 years old I became pregnant with my daughter. After my first prenatal visit, I found out I was HIV positive.