A Letter to HIV from Mom

This is a big moment for my mom, we don't normally talk about HIV and when she offered to write a letter to HIV out of the blue I was very humbled and offered her to publish it for her.  I know she would love your feedback and support as she continues to work through the emotions of her son living with HIV.  Feel free to comment as I know she'll be following this post.  - Thanks Mom - your son, Tommy.

A Letter to HIV from Mom

Hey there….you…..that’s right I’m talking to you with the big red HIV letters.  Didn’t think I was noticing you. Think again!!!

You just think you’re so sneaky wandering around inside those who don’t even realize that you came to visit, and usually when it’s already too late.  And the wonderful gifts that you bring along…. Karposi’s Sarcoma, pneumonia, extreme cases of diarrhea and vomiting… WOW!!!!

I just love giving gifts like that to people I love. And let us not forget the possible end gift…DEATH!!!! That’s a good one.

JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE????? Don’t you realize that the human race has no want or need of you, and yet you still persist in trying to hang around doing your slow & painful dirty work. Do you have any idea how many people you have hurt, how many hearts you have broken, and how many families you have destroyed????

Some people say that you are a wrath of God. But the God that I love & believe in would not send you to wreak havoc upon his people, especially the young & innocent. Take poor Ryan White for instance, what was that all about? A boy from a middle class family became a superstar certainly not by his own choosing. Thanks to you, people mocked him, feared him & hated him and then you had the nerve to take his life at such an early age and leave his mother without a son , devastated, and broken hearted for the rest of her life.  Nice going HIV, are you proud of yourself???

Now, let’s talk about me for a moment, yes, me a mother with fear in her heart and tears in her eyes.  Thanks so much for coming into my world! I got the news of your arrival one night about 10 years ago. You just had to take my son too, haven’t you had enough sons and daughters already?  I did not bring my son into this world only to watch him suffer with your torturous effects, having to worry about him taking his medications every day,  hoping that every time he sees his Infectious Disease Dr., that the news of his stats are good. Try sitting on the phone with the news that your only son is in quarantine and no one knows what’s wrong with him. I know, you just wanted to remind him I’m Still Here!! So what are your plans for my son? Up till now he’s been able to walk along side of you and beat the odds, but what will tomorrow or next week, month or year bring? Or will you strike again and destroy the only son I have?

Then, there is my friend who you visited on behalf of her cheating husband. I’ll never forget the morning I also got the same call. She had no idea you were hanging around till she saw her Dr. and you were with her for a few years before she discovered your presence. Maybe her cheating husband deserved you, but not her. She was a good faithful wife and mother, and oh yes, the scare of her two daughters possibly having you too. Geesh… you just don’t quit.

You are a God awful creature, a monster inside. Where did you come from, and why are you here? How many more people have to become and ill and die before you just give up and go away. Medical science will get rid of you once and for all one day, and I pray that I’m alive to see that happen. There’s nothing I would like more than to dance on YOUR grave. Go away HIV and take all your minions with you. Please leave the human race alone, we have enough problems, stop making us worry, stop spending our money and STOP HURTING THOSE WE LOVE!

P.S.  Did I forget to mention that my son’s stats are good and undetectable??? You can be controlled. Ha, how that make you feel?

MOM

                                                                                                       

VERY SERIOUS: How the 'Fiscal Cliff" will affect HIV/AIDS Services

This is taken from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation - http://www.sfaf.org/hiv-info/hot-topics/from-the-experts/the-fiscal-cliff.html - I encourage everyone to contact their elected officials (see link below on who and how to do this) 

With the election behind us, all eyes are on Washington as lawmakers face the looming “fiscal cliff.” It’s making big headlines, but what does it mean for people living with HIV and what can we do about it? We pose those questions to Ernest Hopkins, director of legislative affairs at San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

What is the “fiscal cliff?”
The fiscal cliff is a term used to describe the confluence of serious budgetary decisions that must be addressed by government in order to avoid dramatic consequences. If Congress does nothing, cuts mandated by the failure of the Joint Congressional Budget Committee to reach an agreement will go into effect at the beginning of January 2013. Sequestration, as the cuts are called, was never really designed to be enacted. It was viewed as a “poison pill” incentive to avoid a mutually unacceptable outcome for both parties. If it is enacted, sequestration would result in dramatic cuts to both defense and non-defense discretionarily funded programs.

Why should we be concerned about it?
Federal HIV/AIDS programs are entirely funded through discretionary funding that is determined annually by Congress. The cuts proposed to discretionary budgets would automatically impact all program line items threatening to oust thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS from many of our most important and effective programs like the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), housing assistance, and medical care through Ryan White. HIV prevention programs at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and thousands of research projects at the National Institutes of Health also face cuts or elimination.

These cuts really would impact some of our most vulnerable citizens?
It would hit them hardest.  Uninsured and underinsured people who rely on federal programs to address their health care and support-service needs would risk losing access to services that they consider essential to their health, well-being, and quality of life.

Is there anything we, as average citizens, can do about it?

The President and Democratic caucuses of the House and Senate have said that any budget agreement must be balanced. This means raising revenues, or taxes, to mitigate the size of cuts needed in discretionary programs. If you believe that federal government programs like ADAP and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), that provide a critical safety net to people living with HIV, are important, please contact your congressional leadership in the House and Senate to let them know that you care about these programs and do not want them cut. A personal visit to the district office is best, written letters are next best, phone calls to the district office are good, and emails tied to a constituent address are also very helpful.

FIND YOUR DISTRICT OFFICE 

Additionally, policy experts at San Francisco AIDS Foundation are busy meeting with members of Congress to make the case for people living with HIV/AIDS. The foundation is a member of the national AIDS Budget and Appropriations Coalition (ABAC) and the AIDS community is working with the larger health care community to make the case for essential, safety net programs.

What is the most important message for members of Congress to hear?
Over the last 20 years, Congress has funded the Ryan White CARE Act. It is the largest single disease discretionary program and is a model for comprehensive, community-based medical care and supportive services. As we integrate people living with HIV into the broader framework established under the Affordable Care Act, we will need resources to transition and coordinate seamless access to care for people living with HIV, and Ryan White can provide those resources.

For people at risk for HIV, new research reinforces the critical importance of routine testing and early access to treatment. Early HIV treatment improves the health of the individual and also dramatically reduces the viral burden in communities. That, in turn, reduces the likelihood of new infections. Early investments in preventive health services ultimately reduce overall health care costs on federal, state, and local systems.

The Medicare and Medicaid programs are essential to people living with HIV/AIDS, the elderly, the low-income, and individuals with disabilities and chronic diseases. They are truly the lifeline for millions of Americans and must not be undermined, but strengthened, at a time when the aging population in the U.S. is increasing. Now more than ever, the partnerships between community-based health care organizations and government-centered systems must be enhanced and maximized.