So Long July...

There's more research floating about concerning using a cancer treatment medication to fight HIV.  Unlike HIV meds, this drug seems to be able to force HIV reservoirs into the open where normal meds can deal with the virus.  This technique isn't a new idea, its called "Kick & Kill."    I've read about this approach before.  Maybe this time it'll bear fruit.

Yesterday's errands went amazingly well.   We found everything we needed in 1 shot.  Add to that, the 1st store we hit was here in town,  We didn't have to drive to Fort Smith in the heat.  Yeah!!!

It rained yesterday & dropped the temps if only for a night.  Still, it was great.  I slept really well & I needed it.

July's done & I'm happy to see it go.  It started out alright, but then it got very unpleasant.  It got way too hot & stay unseasonably humid.  The month wasn't horrible by any means, but it leaving means we're closer to cooler temps. Until next year, good bye July.

Cya...

Short Again...

Sorry about this, but I have errands to run today & have no idea how long they're going to take.  1 of our big fans is one the verge of dying the last death.  We've get it going for quite a while,  But this 1 is having the same issues as the fan that died last Summer had right before it finally gave up it's little, metallic ghost.   

My little stereo is also dying.  I mainly use it to run my computer audio through.   The CD & cassette parts haven't worked for ages.  I'd just use my PC, but that thing has absolutely no volume.  So, out we go.

Windows 10 is on my PC.  Its retro in a lot of ways.  Some bits remind me of '95 & XP.  Its a little clunky right now.  Hopefully, that'll get better as they put out updates.  The 1st service pack should be out within the year,  That's generally how Microsoft rolls.

That's all for now.  We need to get out & get these errands done, before the heat sets in on us. I don't want to be out in another 100+ F day. Stay comfortable.

Cya...

Retro Upgrade...

Not much of a post today.  I just spent 4 hours upgrading to Windows 10.  So far, it acts a lot like XP.  Not sure if that's a good thing yet or not.  It feels really simplified.  I think they took out every trick I learned in Win 8.1.   Hopefully, there won't be any issues with it.  I'll post more tomorrow.

Cya...

ER Testing...

I read an article about a hospital in Dublin, Ireland that will start testing everyone who comes into the ER for HIV & hepatitis.   They have to ask to opt of the testing.  I personally, don't think that should be an option.   Over the testing period, many cases of HIV & various forms of hepatitis were found.  A fair number of those cases were new & unknown.

A lot of people will swear this is an invasion of rights.  I disagree.  This is public health.  At some point, in regards to contagious or communicable illnesses, the greater population's safety has to outweigh the individual's rights.   If only to aid in protecting the health staff & starting treatment for the person.

This will probably stir up a  lot of controversy, but so what.   This virus needs to be dealt with & hiding from it won't help anyone.  This tactic should've been implemented long ago.  Especially, in areas with good healthcare systems,

Cya...

Straws, Spoons & Little Things...

I didn't have a good night.  The weather kept changing enough to wake me repeatedly.  When I got up this morning, there were a lot of things to be dealt with in the house.  The house was a steamy pit & the fans had to be turned on to air the place.  It was pretty uncomfortable.

I looked into my roomie's area & a cat had hurled all over a table & it's half dried.  It was nasty.   I go into the back room & face yet more cat hurl, different cat.  Yes, you can get to where you can tell those things.   Finally, the other cat has decided to screw up a window screen in my room.  She did in such a way I really can't just mend it.

I hate mornings.  I hate getting to see what's waiting for me to cope with & somehow mend if I can.  I'm beginning to really despise these cats.

My spoons are spent.  I've been really tired & out of it lately.  My roomie is dealing with her own crap.  So, as usual I'm pretty solo getting anything done. I hate this.  I shouldn't be the only person dealing with this crap.   But most the time it falls on me.  

I'm out of everything to cope with this crap lately.  I know it sounds bad, but I'll be glad when these old cats pass.  I need time, just to take care of my own messes, not everything else in the house.  

I've felt very out of place lately, I don't feel like I belong or that I'm really wanted.  Little, barbs keep coming my way.  I just don't know if they're being made in general or aimed.  I'm trying not to overreact, but if I could, I'd probably just go.  

I know my roomie's feeling out of it herself.  But, it seems I'm at the bottom of everyone's list until they need something.  I'm tired of feeling like this.  I just don't think there's much I can do about it.

Cya...

10 Things Lists...

I came across a 10 things list today.  This 1 was the top things people living with HIV hate to hear.    You see these all the time.  The came in every flavor & I generally hate them all.

People are people & every situation they encounter or endure varies among them.   I read the stupid list of 10 thing people with HIV hate to hear.   As usual, I found the list over generalized,  misinformed & having no methodological system behind it.  These things are just bloggers crap list.

A point it made was, we no longer have drug cocktails & modern medications have few side effects.   Total BS on both points.  Just because you change the term doesn't mean we don't still have drug cocktails.  If so, what the hell is it I take every day?   No side effects?  If this person got by with no side effects then they were 1 seriously lucky SOB.   I constantly deal with issues from my meds & I've been on mine for over a decade.

My point here isn't to bash list makers.    Really, it isn't.  My point here is to get people to understand these lists are some bloggers BS attempts to look intelligent & witty.    Don't freak out if you read 1 of these lists & its completely alien to what you've experienced.  Your experience with HIV will be just that, yours.  You may share many similarities with other's experiences & you may have many differences.  That's life, especially life with HIV.

Cya...

On The Rise...

I'm not citing an exact article for this, the topic's common.  Over the past several months, I've come across numerous articles about the rise in HIV.  I'm going to limit this post to those concerning the U.S.  They all share some commonalities:

• Lessened fear of HIV
• Lessened presence of safe sex education
• Lessened public availability of free condoms
• Lessened access to free HIV testing
• A push for abstinence only education
• A rise in IV drug use & needle sharing
• Economic struggles in marginalized communities

I've talked about all this before,  Still, publication after publication cites these things & the rise of HIV transmission rates.  So, what do we push for?  The reverse of all those bullet points would be a start.  Maybe that's being optimistic.  But really, what else is going to help?

Cya...

Recovering...

The past several days have been fairly miserable around here.  We've had high temps & high humidity.  The temps aren't falling any, but the humidity seems to be easing off a bit.  Maybe the house won't feel like a swamp for a bit.

We went shopping fairly early this morning.  Still, by the time I got back to the car, the heat was cranking up already.   This is not fun weather. For now we're just trying to cool back down a bit. 

Wherever you are stay safe & comfortable.

Cya...

Excellent, Realistic Article...

In 1983 a team of researchers, including Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, discovered HIV.  They won a Nobel Prize for their efforts.   She has remained in the field up until now, with her retirement pending.   This article is an interview with her & is a very good read.

I'm not going to reiterate the piece.  She talks of the findings, the social aspects & the current face of the epidemic.  Her answers were well spoken, if not always pleasant.  

She admits the researchers original naivete.  How they thought HIV was just another virus & they'd have a cure in little time.  30+ years later, there's still no cure or vaccine.   The most impacting thing she stated was, due to the nature of HIV, she doubted a cure would ever be found.

Read this.

Cya...

Night Yicks...

Last night was another unpleasant experience.   It was incredibly humid & warm.   Even with the windows ajar & fans going, it was still sticky.   It lightly rained all night.  Each time a new weather front rolled through I woke up.  I finally woke up around 5:30 AM & never really got back to sleep.  I tried to get back to sleep until almost 7 & then gave up.  

I just took out the trash.  Its only 80 F  outside, but its also 85% humidity.  I was wet by the time I got back in & it was difficult to breath.   This weather is being really rough on me.

Unfortunately, tonight doesn't look any better.  Maybe that will change as the day goes on.  I hope it does.  I need the sleep.

Cya...

Miserable...

Weather wise, last night was hideous .  It was supposed to be cooler & thunderstorm.  It got a little cooler & we shut up the house to keep out any rain that might have come.  But none did.  All we got was lightning & 85% + humidity.  The air was so thick, it was hard to breath & almost impossible to sleep.

I woke up hot, tired & dehydrated.  I downed liquids & throw open windows.  The fans we're turned on facing out to rid the house of the foul, tepid, sticky air.  Its nicer now.  But the lawn guy came & mowed.  So now, not only is everything sticky & it smells of cut grass.  Aren't we lucky?

I'm too tired to care about much, but I've at least got this much of a post.  Until tomorrow.

Cya.

Shopping...

Normally, I handle shopping fairly well.  Today was not like that.  Today, it was tiring, irritating & a mess.  I was tired & hot.   The people were milling like ants & a lot of stuff was out of stock.   I really just didn't feel like shopping this morning, but it needed to be done.

Well, it's done & my feet hate me for it.  It took me forever to cool down from the trip.  Walmart is still difficult to breath in for some reason.

Its done & that's great.   Hopefully, I won't have to see Walmart again until Friday.  There's only so much of that hell I can handle.

Heat, HIV, HIV meds & shopping don't mix.

Cya...

Not Much...

The AC is coming on earlier & earlier.    The heat is altering how we eat, live & sleep.   We're doing our best not to over use the AC.  But neither of us are very good in the heat.  

I'd love to be a snowbird type person.  Those people who can & do travel south in the Winter & head north as the temperature rises again.  Too bad that's not in the cards for me.

We're having to alter nearly everything we do to better suit our needs as the Summer heats up.  Its just the way of things around these parts.    & too think, we're just now like a month into Summer, yuck.

Cya...

Nada...

Its another do nothing Saturday.  I'm happy about that.  Its hot outside & I'm still taking it easy on my foot.  The pain is mostly gone, it gives me a reminder here & there, but I still have a little swelling.   

I'm doing my best to stay cool & hydrated.  I keep waking up parched.  Its just that time of year.  

I hope everyone is doing well & staying as comfortable as possible.

Cya...

Responsibility...

Lately, there have been a lot of articles lately addressing people being prosecuted & charged for having sex & failing to inform their partners of their HIV+ status.  Some people convicted are getting some serious jail time.  Good.

Yes, I believe its everyone's  responsibility to keep themselves as safe as possible regarding sex. Condoms should always be used.   But still, there are those situations through force or deception that these efforts can be bypassed by 1 of the parties involved.  

If someone purposely exposes you to HIV, they should be prosecuted.  If some forces you or tampers with your condoms, they should be prosecuted.  If  a person specifically tells their partner they do not have HIV but are +, they should be prosecuted.

Yes, responsibility is necessary, but for both parties.  Not using a condom is stupid.  Failure to disclose being + before engaging in sex, is often & should be criminal.

Cya...

Day After Ow...

I went to the doctor's yesterday for my foot.  They took pictures & some blood.  The X-rays came back good & if the blood test come back positive, then it'll point towards gout.  I haven't had a real flare up in quite a while.  I've been sure to watch how much of certain foods I eat how often.  Still, we've had a serious uptick in temperature & humidity.  We're hitting mid 80% humidity at night. That's enough to set it off.

For now, my foot's still a bit swollen & pinkish.  It doesn't hurt.  It's just a little tender right beside the ankle. Just goes to show, weather really can screw with your life.  Hopefully, this will pass & not return.  I don't need any repeat performances.

Cya...

OW!....

OK, short post.  I did something to my foot.  I woke up Monday & it hurt, but I made it through the day.   It was a little sore yesterday, but seemed on the mend.  This morning, there was some serious pain.  I can walk, but not easily.  My ankle is swollen.   

I don't know what I did to it.   It could be the way I slept.   It doesn't feel quite like gout.  Its not hot enough & I'm not in enough pain.  Maybe, its just building up.  

I have an appointment at my doctor's office this afternoon.  I'll see the new Nurse Practitioner.   Hopefully, I can find out what's going on with my foot.  With any luck, it won't be too serious.  My feet always seem to sabotage my exercise efforts.

Cya...

2 More Decades...

According to this article, people living with HIV can expect to live 2 more decades than what was expected in 2001.   As someone who was diagnosed in 2000, that sounds pretty good.  But is it?

This article goes into a lot of details about the reasons for this increase, mostly better meds.  It also details more than half the people in the world aren't getting the appropriate care.  Still, its a huge gain.

However, if that many more people are living that much longer with HIV, where's the $ coming from?  Who's footing the bill?  This is an astronomical number.  Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about the news.  Still, the economics  of it all will always come into play.

More people living longer with any ailment, generally means more costs.  Someone's paying those costs.  Someone else is gaining financially from this.  Read the article, it's good, but never forget in the end, its always about $.

Cya...

Summer Sleep...

I thought I slept well last night, I guess I didn't.  I woke up dehydrated.  I had a sore throat & my ankle is really achy.  I can walk, but getting up is a pain.

I probably slept facing the fan & had my ankle pressed against my other leg.  It was real fun going shopping this morning.  Hopefully, this doesn't escalate into a gout flare up.  

OK, I'm tired & unfocused.   I'm letting this end for now.  I'll be turning the AC on soon.

Cya...

Its Hot...

Summer is here & I'm not happy about  it.  The heat is resting in the mid-90's & shows no signs of changing except to go higher any time soon. It wouldn't suck quite so bad if the humidity wasn't staying so high.

The heat's starting to impact my sleep.  That eventually impacts everything in my life.   Just cool down or dry out, I'll take either.

I know, no sense in griping about the weather.  It doesn't change it any.  Its so hot & humid, I'm sticking to my desk.  Yuck.

Cya...

Soupy Day....

I finally got to spray the fence line again for weeds.  Its been so humid here, even though we're in the 90's, the grass is wet with dew way past noon.    I got it done, but it wasn't pleasant.  It was actually kind of nasty.  I hate humid, hot days.

Other than fixing food, I'm not up for anything today.   This weather has me feeling like crap.  I'll do what I have to & the rest can wait.

Stay cool.

Cya...

Friday, Yeah...

The 2nd Friday of July is here.  We went shopping & the ran over to Fort Smith.  There was a sale on we wanted to check out.  It was a good trip over & back.

I have to admit, I'm a little tired from yesterday.  The back step was sagging & probably soon to go completely.  I was able to get some lumber & fix it, but it took a more out of me than I expected. The heat, the unusual movements & the use of power tools sapped my strength.  But the step is fixed as much as its going to be.

1 of the hardest things about being chronically ill is not knowing how something's going to impact  you on any given occasion.  Say I walk across a parking lot a dozen times.  Most of the times, I'll be fine, but there are others when I'll be wiped out from the effort.  There are still 1 or 2 others, I won't even be able to make it at all.  The frustrating thing is I often won't even be able to tell until I try.  Even if I do make it back fine, it doesn't mean I won't pay for it soon after.

But, for now, I'm good.  Hopefully, nothing will wipe me out today.  I need to deal with some weeds along the fence line, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow.  I'm not pushing things.

Cya...

A Do Nothing Day...

I though I'd have to go get my roomie in Fort Smith today.  Turns out, a friend of her's is picking her up.  That leaves me with some videos & household stuff to do.

I've been scanning the articles lately.  Its mostly been the same old stuff.   It amazes me things like testing & education remain such prominent issues after all this time.  I guess some people just refuse to learn..  Maybe they're just trying to hammer these things into people's heads.

There isn't much going on here or in article land, so I'll cut this off for now.

Cya...

Another Nice Day...

The weather is still cool.  Apparently that ends tomorrow.   After today, we're back to seasonal temps.  The AC will be on more.

We've taken the trash to the curb.  I wish we could include our internet company in the mix.  We've been having a lot of dropped service lately.   

Its starting to rain again.  That could lead to another net outage.  Hopefully not, but I'll end this for now.  Hope July's treating you well so far.

Cya...

Sorry...

Woke up this morning to no internet.  It came back on hours later for  about 15 minutes, then died again.  A hour or so later it peeked on.  Its still acting weird, so I'm not getting too deep into anything today.  Its bound to dip out again.   Until tomorrow, just remember Suddenlink sucks.

Cya...

Pleasant Day...

Its been a fairly nice morning.  The temps are down & the humidity isn't killing us.  We went shopping & things were fairly easy.   My roomie has some more things to do out of the house but I'm  mostly done except for cooking.  

This is an amazingly cool start to July.  I know it won't last, but for now I'm enjoying it.   The hot will be here in earnest soon enough.

I hope everyone had a fun & safe weekend.

Cya...

X2...

This article details how HIV transmission rates in young people ranging from their teens to their late 20's has doubled in Maryland.  After years of reversing course & curbing the spread of HIV. the virus is advancing again among the youngest in the population.    The  same thing is being witnessed across the nation.

Why?  Lack of information regarding HIV.   Lack of a sense of mortality among young people.  The inability of many teens to realistically comprehend risks & to react appropriately.    The very success of the fight against HIV has led to its failure.

The illness is no longer an immediate pronouncement of death.  Instead, its just the end of the life you had.   HIV is seen as a treatable, chronic illness, not the Grim Reaper knocking on your door.   The lack of education to these young people in any meaningful manner has left them vulnerable & in many cases +.

So much for the zero transmission movement.  The unwillingness of the public to educate & remain vigilant on the matter, combined with youthful indiscretion has led to another huge generation of people who will live the rest of their lives, HIV +.

Go Us, 

Cya...

So Long June, Happy 4th...

The 1st of the month has come & gone & I didn't even take the time say so long to June.   June was an OK month, not much big, bad or good happened much for me.  I'm fine with that.

So July is here & the bill process has started. The 4th of July holiday is stalling that out a bit.  It'll get done.

We completed out errands yesterday.   The trip itself was fine.  But, my body is still recovering from it.   It was cool for the beginning of July, but the humidity was awful.  It was only in the 80's while we were out, but the heat index was past 100.  

I was exhausted & nauseated by the time we got home.  I'm still getting over the trip.  It sucks to feel this way.  I actually love travelling.  Maybe if we had better climate control.    Either way, I'll get through it.

If you're celebrating the 4th have a fun & safe holiday.  If not, just watch the fireworks.

Cya...

Busy, Busy, Busy & Storms...

Its the 1st of the month & there are a lot of errands to be ran today, here & other places.  We had some heavy storms last night & are supposed to have more today.  That'll be fun.  We need the rain.  Don't want any fireworks setting fire to things.  Still, it could kill the internet.  Between errands & the like, plus the possibility of more storms, I figured I should get this down before we get started today.

Cya...

Today...

Today I read a few articles.  1 about Russia &  its state sponsored hatred towards HIV & anyone unfortunate enough to have the illness.   As a result, the levels of HIV in Russia are escalating rapidly.    It seems some Russian politicians feel HIV will solve itself by killing everyone with it.   I guess they've forgotten about it spreading.

Another article talked about how over 10,000 people could have been exposed to HIV & other illnesses due to another neglectful dental office.  This time the facilities were in Sydney.   Great, more dental idiocy.  I'm not posting the articles because the point I want to make here is people still won't actively, accurately & honestly deal with HIV.  They won't handle it at a personal level & are even less apt to at a governmental & service level.  

Even with all the advances in HIV treatment over the past decades, some people still act like its the 1980's.  I know we might have the technological know-how to cure HIV in the near future, but it won't happen.  Because some people refuse to face HIV for what it is, a virus.   Its a virus that spreads.  It isn't ideological device or moral punishment.  Until everyone accepts that, HIV isn't going anywhere.

Cya...

H&H...

During the Summer I hate the H&H.  The heat & humidity together are a killer.  We took trash out & it was only in the low 90's F, but the humidity was moderate.  That made the walk to the curb feel like hauling the trash a mile through a marsh.

These things are never easy on people.  Especially not on the chronically ill or just out of shape.  Add to that my meds add to my sensitivity to heat & light.  All of that made the walk to the curb fairly nauseating. 

I'm in front of  a fan now & gulping a cold drink.  I'll feel better in a bit.   Still, my stomach is turning flips.  That's life of a poor, + person living in hot, humid Oklahoma during the Summer.  Hell, that's life of anyone living in these parts this time of the year.

Cya...