Y'all I'm out here living 2020 in 2023... While y'all was stuck at home, looking cute up top and only wearing ya underwears or jammies under the table I was out EVERYDAY going to work cause Covid what? The jobs I held all throughout Covid quarantine did not care. Now the world is opening back and here I am living my version of shutdown, and the only difference is it's me against the whole world. You see, as a business owner I have the beauty to work from wherever, whenever, so I did just that. Last October, my Godmother, who is also my biological aunt, was diagnosed with leukemia. I got the...
Marig2016's blog
It all started a few months ago when CAB (community advisory board) member Samantha Rose Montemayor sent me a message and said, "Marissa, we should be at this event."
Todo comenzó hace unos meses cuando Samantha, miembro del CAC, me envió un mensaje que decía, "Marisa, deberíamos estar en este evento". Me compartió el sitio web; lo leí un poco y compartí la información para ver cómo podíamos asegurar que asistiríamos.
Since my 2016 diagnosis in Florida, I've always known if I don't disclose my HIV status to a sexual partner I could be criminalized. Essentially it didn't matter because morally I felt that I should tell the person, but at what point do I not get to put myself in a potentially stigmatized or worse situation?
The flood gates have opened and I've FINALLY had the opportunity to attend USCHA, something I've longed for since shortly after my diagnosis in 2016.
Growing up there were no stories about the birds and the bees, periods or HIV. These conversations were never had with my parents and so the cycle continued. This is a common theme among families of minority descent and mine was not exempt. After having been diagnosed in 2016, I struggled with accepting my diagnosis and eventually decided to go public so that these conversations could be at the forefront for families. There were several driving factors to this decision, but when I think back, I really believe the decision wasn't clear until I learned HIV directly impacted my family. After...
I've lived in Southwest Florida (SWFL) since 2004 and I've experienced a few storms with my family since being here. Charlie was my introduction, not even having lived here a month. I moved to Cape Coral about two years ago, and this was the first storm that was headed for the west coastline of Florida.
I haven't written in what feels like an eternity; not even sure I've written something that's been publicly shared at all in 2022...
When I applied to join the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), I had little faith that I would be chosen as I clearly have no scientific background or knowledge, like not even a little.
It's inevitable that anything virtual will have some hiccups but I was honestly just so excited to be in attendance that I didn't care. It was a bit annoying but the experience heavily outweighed the annoyance of technology. After becoming positive in 2016, I went on a research binge and USCHA was one of the very first things to come up and with reason! This is the most anticipated conference for HIV/AIDS, in my personal opinion, and I quickly learned why. Virtual attendance wasn't part of the dream but the dream came true ya'll! Since making the decision to be public with my status, I dreamed...