I’m just writing to say how moved I was by Sam Cotton’s last column (PN 104). It reflected my own life so closely it moved me tears. I have cut out the magazine and will be keeping it. I am currently in hospital being treated for cancer but I still felt compelled to write in and congratulate you all for printing such a brilliant and truthful article.
ANONYMOUS, MANCHESTER
I read the July/August (PN103) issue and found Simon Mwendepole’s piece on noni juice. He doesn’t know what he is talking about and I don’t think that he has researched the subject. I have been taking noni since October 2003 and up to now I feel so good. All the pains and skin problems that had refused to go on other medicines have disappeared and I am much stronger; not struggling to wake up in the morning, less stressed by my situation with immigration, in fact I sleep like a baby.
I know people whose CD4 count was below 200 for over two years, and when they started taking noni it shot up. It is natural and contains no chemicals. It is just like other fruit juices and I will continue to
take it. For more information please visit
www.tahitiannoni.com
JENNIFER LUGOLOBI
I was surprised to read the letter (PN104) criticising the attitudes of nurses of the Kobler Centre. I was diagnosed HIV positive last year and have made several visits to the centre for blood tests, appointments, treatment and anti-hepatitis injections. On every occasion I have been impressed by the helpfulness and professionalism of the nurses. There was an occasion when it was necessary for me to change the date of an appointment - I live in the depths of rural England - so I wrote to the nurse who usually dealt with me asking for another date. She replied by return.
What efficiency.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED
Having read the reader’s letter about the Koebler (PN104), in my opinion, the only complaints taken seriously are those made directly. Although it is a bit long winded, Chelsea and Westminster do have a fair complaints system and I’m sure that however vulnerable one may feel, complaining will not prejudice your treatment. Secondly, I think the nurses, dealing with 4,000 plus patients and health tourists speaking little or no English, should be complimented on the job they do and not criticised. The only complaint I have is the time spent waiting to see the consultant, waiting for bloods to be taken, the pharmacy being the icing on the cake: being told that you have to go to the main pharmacy for one item... another hour’s wait.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED
I write in response to my brother in Christ Rev Rowland Jide Macauley’s Speak Out
column (PN103). I would like him to know that I do not condemn or judge anyone: that is for God. I want all the gay Christians to go in their Bible and read the word of the Lord, in Romans 1: 26-32. If you are a true child of God, you follow his word and this is his word.
I am not going to say my opinion, because the word of the Lord speaks for itself. When we live with a sin or are weak in an area, we should confess and admit our wrong and ask God for strength to forgo that issue. Having sex with the same sex is wrong in the eyes of the Lord, but we all have free will. I do not hate gays, we are all sinners that require God’s mercy and Grace.
All we need to do is pray that God removes us from our weakness. When God sees your willingness to be free from a sin, he will surely provide the strength and will forgive.
But please, gay people shouldn’t think it is Christians who impose this, it is in the word. And the word is our light.
PAMELA MUSHORE, LONDON
I live with HIV. In the last three years, since diagnosis, I’ve dealt with TB meningitis, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, peripheral neuropathy, chemotherapy, autonomic neuropathy, depression, acute pain management, various complications and side effects as well as a broken foot (falling over in a hospital canteen).
The only difference between me and many of your readers is that I’m HIV negative. All of the above has happened to my partner who is positive. I can’t believe I’m the only one. There seems to be a remarkable lack of support for partners and carers of positive people. I’m not suggesting I haven’t had it easy compared to those who have HIV, because of course I have. But partners and carers do live with HIV every day (even if most people don’t think of us like that) and some times it can be frightening, worrying, frustrating or depressing. If there is a support group I’d love to hear about it. If not, perhaps you could put any readers who are interested in contact with me and we could look at starting such a group.
J, LONDON
I’m writing to you to see if your magazine or your readers can help me with a dilemma. I’m currently working in London, which I am beginning to hate more and more - it’s so noisy and stressful and the transport is so bad. I have the opportunity to leave London later this year to get a permanent job somewhere different, such as Devon or Cornwall, but worry that being positive outside of London will be much harder. Am I being unduly concerned, does support exist out there and am I kidding myself that London is particularly HIV tolerant?
MATT, LONDON
