Always hope

[n4dave]

When I was diagnosed back in 1997 I was very ill. Last thing on my mind was hiv even though I had lost lots of weight.

It was one of those tests that gave you results in 4 (very long) hours.

So after an initial shock of finding out I was hiv after a few more tests my viral load was around 500,000 and cd4 50.

I also later found out I had Pneumonia which at that time was life threatening.

I had to stay in hospital first of all one night with a tube up my nose attached to a machine that gave me extra nutrients carbs etc , that ended up a month with drips , oxygen masks etc , not a nice experience.

The medication at the time was horrible , you had to take it 2 hours before food some you had to dissolve in water and drink which was disgusting.

There have been a few side effects with the medication I had in the beginning with a little Lipodystrophy and kidney function problems. Also few years back a cancer scare.

So at the moment viral load is undetectable and my cd4 is 500 used to be 850 before I had my chemotherapy but I'm good at the moment !!