Not A Death Sentence...

People say HIV is no longer a death sentence.   Let me say this, maybe if:

• If you live in the west
• If you are middle class
• If you are White
• If you are male

Just as with everything else in this world, the closer you are to being a WASP male, the better things are apt to play out for you.   This includes living with HIV.  If you're living in a poorer country, you're a person of color, you live in an excessively anti-Gay society, etc... then HIV might very well be a death sentence for you.   

I'm considered White & I am male.  But, I'm also gay, poor & rural.  Being on disability is the only reason I've ever had access to meds or treatment.  I'm fortunate.  Still, I'll never be on the best regimen or the newest.  I'll never have all the things looked at that a more affluent person would.  Without disability, HIV would've been a death sentence for me.  AZT nearly was.

Even with all the treatment I receive, it still does nothing to deal with the chronic nature of being ill & isolated.   My treatment does little to handle the social, emotional & psychological issues of being a long term HIV survivor.   HIV is exhausting is every matter from finances to relations.  This virus, even when treated plays havoc with every aspect of your life.  They're finding out lots of things about how + people age differently,  How some of the meds are having unforeseen side effects, interactions & health developments due to long term exposure to the meds.

So, HIV may no longer be a death sentence for some, it still is for others.  Even if it isn't for you, it's still a life sentence.  Don't candy coat it, living with HIV is a total bitch.   Anyone who says it isn't, is either a newbie, incredibly wealthy or lying.

Cya...