Not best practice
A funny thing happened to me at my GP surgery today, or at least it would
have been funny if it hadn’t been so serious.
My practice nurse wanted to give me an asthma check. Beforehand I told her
I was not at my best with a streaming cold and, living with HIV, my CD4 count
was dropping rapidly lately and had approached a critical level.
She responded: “You're a carrier then, you haven't actually got Aids?”
Noticing my perplexed reaction, she followed up with: “Some people carry
HIV but don't actually have it, don't they?”
She continued: “You know, I did read something the other day about the
difference between HIV and Aids.”
She spoke as if she was casually recalling browsing articles on the difference
between hard and fondant cake icing in a cookery magazine.
And the icing on this cake was the fact that she even admitted: “I can't
remember the difference!”
Somehow I mustered the energy to give her a lay person's outline of HIV progression,
key CD4 levels and Aids- defining illnesses.
Amazing considering I had only gone to my GP's in the first place to discuss
my dosage of antidepressants because I've been feeling down of late.
Can any other PN readers beat that? Unfortunately, deep down I know they probably
can.
PC, North London
New Fill bumps ‘rare’
I refer to the article on facial treatments for lipoatrophy in the article
One Shot Wonder [PN126] that mentioned New Fill.
New Fill was trialed treating HIV patients with lipoatrophy and its success
in this group led to it being developed for cos-metic use. The mention in
your article about lumps is misleading.
Earlier use of New Fill saw some patients develop tiny lumps below the skin
but rarely were these visible and they resolved in time.
New dilutions of New Fill and injection technique means these problems rarely
occur. It is important people seeking treatment with New Fill go to a trained
professional. Because New Fill actually activates the body’s own cells
to produce new collagen the effect is very natural and data now shows it lasts
up to 40 months.
Jennifer Garratt, MS&L
Covering all bases
I was among readers who earlier this year criticised the editor of PN on her
choice of cover pictures for our magazine.
Specifically I was critical of the fact that the covers featured more gay
men than other HIV stakeholders and that Africans were left out altogether.
I am happy that since my letter to the editor was published, subsequent editions
have represented a greater range of people living with HIV.
This to me shows PN has a highly responsible editor and editorial board that
listen and act promptly to readers’ comments.
Keep up the good work and a happy, positive new year to all the family of
positive people.
Pastor Yinusa Rex Ajenifuja, Hope for Aids Outreach, Lagos, Nigeria.
Bars and stripes
I want to thank PN for providing such a wonderful service to HIV positive
people.
We use your informative data in our prison HIV group sessions because your
information is open and more expressive than articles found here in the US
and has not been censored in a manner that damages the messages and the general
information in itself, we get a wider range of understanding of what the information
brings us. Thank you ever so much.
Here in the US prison system there is little or no information for us. It’s
a godsend that your organisation reaches out to us all the way down here,
giving us hope of learning the things that we need to know about how to fight
HIV and other ailments that go along with it.
We would like to hear from anyone who would be interested to write to us about
some of their experiences of living with HIV or who would just like to get
to know us.
Please print my name and address in your next issue so people can get in touch
with some of the HIV positive people here. All letters and information will
be answered.
Mr Gery Lee Scott, TDCJ 1123905, 1100 FM655 Ramsey, Rosharon Texas
77583, USA
A lifeline against stigma
Your magazine has become a lifeline for some of us. I await every issue and
read every page online as I feel stigmatised to be seen receiving it through
the post by my fellow flat-mates who don’t know about my status.
I would love to make a contribution but unfortunately I am unemployed. How
can I contribute to keep this magazine alive?
Name and address supplied
Please send letters to: Positive Nation, 250 Kennington Lane, London SE11
5RD Email editor@positivenation.co.uk
Name and address must be included but can be witheld on request. Letters may
be edited. Views expressed are not necessarily those of PN or UKC.
