A
medical opinion
I wanted to congratulate you all on a fantastic publication. Although I do
not have HIV myself, the information in Positive Nation is very accurate and
informative, and as a medical student, it is great for keeping up-to-date.
I have been working with the BMA medical students’ committee for a number
of years on their own policies regarding blood borne viruses and health workers.
Medical schools can prove particularly difficult, so please do keep your eye
on them.
You should definitely be aiming Positive Nation at hospitals, medical schools,
other health professionals and universities so they know what information
is available for clients and carers. The magazine immediately normalises the
condition. If people were given a copy straight away [on diagnosis] so they
knew they were not on their own, it may have a tremendous effect in terms
of acceptance. I know if I was newly diagnosed I would want this kind of information
to be offered.
Name and Address Supplied
Letter from America
I am curious if people living with HIV in Britain are experiencing the same
frustration as me. According to my doctors in the States, I was supposed to
be dead by now. And here I am, now 32, and not even sick enough to warrant
pity assistance from social services. When you are 19 and doctors announce
you are HIV positive and have ten years to live, you believe them. The doctors
advised me to live in a bubble: no smoking, no drinking, to stay away from
raw meats and fish, bleach everything, get monthly check-ups, don’t
even think of sex or having children, blah, blah, blah. I responded: “If
the Titanic is going down, I am going to enjoy the ride.”
This did not mean I was going to go on a self-destructive spree of unsafe
sex or a drug and alcohol binge: I decided I was going to be a hero. I was
going to be a volunteer and save the world from itself and then catch some
horrible unpronounceable germ in Uganda and swiftly die, as a minor do-gooder.
I smoke, I drink, I have sex, and I’m addicted to sushi. And I have
never taken any meds. I have spent almost ten years living in disease and
crime infested crevices on this planet in the name of international development
work and most of the time, as a volunteer.
So it comes as a surprise that I find myself back in the States and visibly
healthy. So why would I be furious when apparently I have proved the doctors
more than wrong? I should be grateful. Well, I have no credit, no savings,
my CV is five pages long (when one is convinced they are going to die they
don’t stick with unhappy/boring jobs). I don’t own a single thing.
No one told me about investments, or credit, or frequent flyer miles, because,
we thought, why invest in a non-existent future? So this means, now, at 32,
and relatively healthy, I am fucked professionally, economically and, most
importantly, psychologically.
We do not have a national healthcare system in the US and only the poorest
of the poor (already welfare recipients) or the ridiculously wealthy can afford
ARVs. Anyone remotely in the middle is stranded and driven into poverty trying
to pay for these drugs.
Everyone I know in the States who is HIV positive gets some kind of assistance,
whether it is free health care or housing or food stamps or disability, or
all of the above. I am not sick enough to get any help. I don’t even
have medical coverage right now and there is a waiting list everywhere I phone.
And almost everyone I know outside of the USA with HIV gets fuck all and this
upsets me even more.
I cannot find a job in the US because they take one look at my prolific CV
and decide I am not stable. I cannot find housing because I have no credit;
well, how could I, living abroad for so many years? With no credit, I have
to pay double what everyone else pays for basic services. The other week,
after a visit to the ER (to fight an acute depressive spell), I had to make
the decision, medicine or food? I chose medicine. What kind of life is that?
Kelly Patterson, USA
Stand up for love
I remember people I knew with HIV dying miserable deaths while everybody else
went about their daily lives. Let’s help people and each other, even
if we lose face. I saw a friend lose a job, and a week later his car and house.
He died alone. I was helpless too, but what made me even more helpless was
that something could have been done to alleviate the suffering. Another friend
struggled with illness too, being unable to make it to the office in the morning.
He also lost his car, but died before he could lose his company house. The
memory of his family taking his things apart after his death and sharing his
money haunts me. Why is it that when someone is suffering or in need, people
just watch?
I am a firm believer in people and in doing everything possible to assist
a fellow human being in whatever circumstance they are in. It should not always
be about the money, or how much something will cost, or the benefits it will
bring to an individual. I believe it’s the invisible hand of co-operation
that will save our lives when we are in need.Let’s stand up for love
this year.
Name and Address Supplied
Oral history
We’ve all heard the saying that oral sex is ‘safer’ sex,
which I, to an extent, believe to be true. However, since my diagnosis in
June 2005 I’ve learnt of many people claiming to have contracted HIV
through oral sex. We are shunned and even called liars, dismissed as false
statistics and accused of trying to scaremonger. Well, the fact of the matter
is that oral transmission of HIV is a very real threat, and one we should
wake
up too and invest more research into. With the huge increase in herpes, syphilis
and other STIs, our mouth is becoming a more suitable route of transmission
as HIV has an increased ability to ‘piggy back’ into our system.Since
the Thatcher years of information on HIV, I decided it was something I would
never catch. I was always safe. In May last year I had oral sex with a stranger.
Without warning the guy ejaculated in my mouth.
I was angry but not concerned as oral sex was considered ‘safer’
sex.
After four weeks I fell dreadfully ill. I had an HIV test and the result was
negative. However, I had also developed a rash and the consultant was concerned
I was suffering a seroconversion illness, but from my sexual history and negative
HIV test thought this improbable. Due to the severity of my symptons, it was
decided that a special P24 test should be carried out. This test finds the
HIV itself rather than the antibodies. I was to return in four days time for
the results.
The waiting was fine; I had been given a negative HIV result and thought my
illness was something doing the rounds. I wasn’t worried; oral sex is
‘safer’ sex, right? Wrong.
I was told that HIV was present in my body and that I was also suffering with
herpes.
The consultant concluded the guy who ejaculated in my mouth may have been
shedding the herpes virus and that HIV came with it. I was gutted. The turmoil
worsened as I was advised it could be a false-positive result, so more bloods
were taken to see if my body had yet produced antibodies. Two weeks later
it was a definite. I was HIV positive from oral sex.
We use lube and condoms for our arse, but what protection apart from saliva
do we have for our mouths? How healthy are our gums? How often do we bite
our tongue while eating? What gum damage do we cause when flossing or brushing?
How safe is our tongue after cleaning it? Toothpicks, knives and forks, sharp
crisps, and other foods damage our mouth tissue. Hot drinks can burn the lining
of the mouth causing small blisters. Could all these make a perfect opening
for HIV and other STIs?
Perhaps through the circumstances surrounding my infection, others may consider
a little more regarding what risk they are prepared to take when having oral
sex.
Do I feel cheated out of a healthy life? Yes. I didn’t ask the guy to
ejaculate and would not have invited such an act. The actions I took were
considered ‘safer’, but how safe was my mouth?
Name and address supplied
We hope to look fully at the dangers of HIV transmission through oral sex
in a future
edition of Positive Nation
Stop the slanging match
I am fed up with the term ‘dole scrounger’. This is a hangover
from Thatcherism and is still being used today.
Young people are doing better than ever in education and more of them are
going on to university. We live in a knowledge-based economy and are becoming
better educated.
However, for some working class people, holding a job down is still difficult.
These young people should not be vilified but supported so that they can realise
their full potential. It is still difficult for people from single parent
families who may turn to drink, drugs and crime.
I am not some wet liberal and I believe that if our wayward teenagers fall
into a life of crime, they should be shown the error of their ways but they
should also be inspired, encouraged and supported financially to
pursue their chosen goals and career paths.
I remember talking to my dad about this years ago and he told me that life
was much easier for him when he first entered the world of work in the late
50s/early 60s. He said you could leave one job in the morning and start another
one that afternoon.
So when people denigrate people who are out of work as ‘dole scroungers’,
remember the following:
1) Have you ever been out of work and survived on benefits?
2) Aren’t you lucky to have a job of your own?
3) How many people are currently out of work?
4) Do you know what it is like to lose all your confidence, be sick or come
from a single parent family?
Philip Rock
Seeing straight
It’s very good to see a basically hetero support group such as STR8
Talk finally making some progress [Straight From The Hip, PN 119, February].
As someone who has himself tried launching a website and running such a group,
I appreciate the effort Nicole and Martin have put into it. Unfortunately,
I live in leafy Hertfordshire and find it all but impossible to attend these
meetings and nights out. I also have a lousy clinic, social services that
don’t give a toss, and, if it weren’t for my own efforts in finding
a partner, I would be completely isolated, only 30 miles from central London.
I’m genuinely happy for those Londoners who can benefit from the group,
but when will there be support and friendship for those of us in the sticks?
Or do I have to sacrifice my beautiful view and move back to the big smoke?
Allan Morris, Hertfordshire
Straight support
Your article on STR 8 Talk was a fantastic read. Congratulations to Martin
and Nicole for spotting a gap in the market and with very little in the way
of resources developing an obviously much needed and appreciated service.
Though we have been struggling with the idea of developing such a service
in Birmingham for too long, your article has finally prompted some action.
As for being a ‘minority’, well, aren’t we all?
Tom MatthewS
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