Entertainment
CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
An acquaintance, who has had a rough time medically in recent years with his HIV condition, sent me a link from his wellness coach. It was challenging the most commonly held beliefs about HIV and its treatment. Reading these arguments against the validity of HAART make me crazyI want to scream at people who believe them to get real! And then I remember that I myself used to be a serious doubter that I resisted the belief that AIDS was always fatal as stated in the media for years, and that I, too, have embraced alternative and holistic approaches to maintaining health. Whats dangerous is the rigidity, the all-or-nothing approach to pharmaceuticals and the pharmaceutical industry. I do not blindly trust big business, but I do see that treating HIV has saved many lives, including my own.
In recent weeks, I have dealt with the effects of denial: A man went into a coma a few days after finally being diagnosed with HIV after several years of mysterious illness. Since he was a monogamous heterosexual no one had tested him for HIVin 2005! He is recovering, I am happy to report, home from rehabilitation. And there was another man, who was so adamant about not taking anti-virals that he, too, ended up in the hospital with multiple opportunistic infections, all of which are treatable, but which hadnt been responding to his natural doctors care. He, too, is also home and doing better. And still I read that HIV is an illusion, that its caused by medications and that the medications side effects cause more deaths than HIV does. Death by side effect can be a luxury
I remember the days before the identification of HIV, when seemingly healthy people got sick one day, went to the hospital the next, were on life-support the next, and were dead shortly thereafter. They were dying of AIDS, not medications. In the next few years progress in treatment of infections and prophylaxis were made, but it was only 10 years ago that the new AIDS paradigm arrived with HAARTand for 10 years people have been surviving, often thriving with HIV, even after an AIDS diagnosis.
Side effects from HAART can be devastating, even fatal, but most people are having greatly increased longevity and quality of life. I am one of them.
Ten years ago this week I began HAART. My T-cell count was 22. I was highly functional, but tentative about my long-term future. I couldnt have dreamed that today my T-cell count would be over 800, that I would have an undetectable viral load, and that I would be privileged to be living such a rich vital life: In this decade I have traveled to Europe and Asia, and bought property in Brazil during one of my 11 trips there. I have developed a satisfying career as a counselor and group leader, and I have designed homes for clients and myself. I am in my healthiest relationship (hes HIV-, by the way) and I even have the opportunity to write about it!
I attribute this to my refusal to accept HIV as a death sentence, and to my refusal to be in denial about what is available. It all comes from God: That means wheat grass and AZT, acupuncture and MRIs. I embrace everything that my intuition/gut tells me to do. Which is what I encourage people dealing with HIV or cancer or other illnesses to do. See the surgeon, see the Dalai Lamas doctor, see the shamanput together a comprehensive program for the mind, the body, and the spiritand live as fully as you can with the resources you haveinternally and externally.
I am so grateful for this past decade, for the present, and for the prospect of a future. My goal is not to live forever, but to be as fully alive as I can be until I die.
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
38 Male Celebs Who Did Full Frontal Scenes
November 17 2023 5:18 PM
These are all the celebrities Who came out as LGBTQ+ in 2023
December 31 2023 12:19 PM
These Pics Prove Maluma Has Always Been a Certified Daddy
October 20 2023 1:13 PM
32 LGBTQ+ Celebs You Can Follow on OnlyFans
October 25 2023 3:15 PM
26 actors who showed bare ass in movies & TV shows
February 28 2024 1:50 PM
16 Times Celebrity Men Had to Say They Weren't Gay
February 29 2024 1:19 PM
15 Unforgettable Gay Kissing Scenes From TV & Movies
February 14 2024 10:20 AM
13 Queens Who Quit or Retired From Drag After 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
November 24 2023 10:11 AM
40 steamy celebrity Calvin Klein ads we'll always be thirsty for
January 04 2024 10:54 AM
The 15 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of 2023
December 04 2023 10:32 AM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
Sapphira Cristál just made herstory & broke an all-time 'Drag Race' record
March 22 2024 9:35 PM
Big Dipper apologizes for comments about giving potential hookups a false address
March 22 2024 4:40 PM
Who's the better 'Hunter,' Beefcake or Czech? This TikToker explores
March 22 2024 3:54 PM
Prohibition Wellness & revolutionizing self-care for all
March 22 2024 1:19 PM
21 LGBTQ+ TV shows we loved that only lasted one season
March 22 2024 11:53 AM
March 22, 2024
March 22 2024 11:49 AM
Did Lukas Gage just apologize to Shania Twain for 'unhinged' wedding to Chris Appleton?
March 22 2024 11:49 AM
Did Nicholas Galitzine just soft launch his girlfriend? Here's what the internet thinks
March 22 2024 11:43 AM
These brand new 'Wicked' cast images have us excited AF for the movie
March 21 2024 4:21 PM
Colton Haynes reveals which 'Teen Wolf' cast member he'd hook up with
March 21 2024 4:13 PM
8 dating tips for gay men from a gay psychotherapist
March 21 2024 3:23 PM
Mother! 15 iconic pictures of RuPaul throughout the years
March 21 2024 2:53 PM
Unleash your fiery spirit with The Pride Store’s Aries gift guide
March 21 2024 2:08 PM
Jake Gyllenhaal's sweaty new workout video is making the gays go absolutely feral
March 21 2024 1:21 PM
Virginia professor found dead at gay men's sauna after vanishing from conference
March 21 2024 1:09 PM
Jordan Firstman declares it's 'bi bottom spring' & we're ready to bloom
March 21 2024 11:50 AM
RuPaul, Out's cover star, is ready to be a role model
March 21 2024 11:01 AM
Lukas Gage says a 'manic episode' led to his marriage to Chris Appleton
March 21 2024 10:37 AM