This blog was submitted by one of our clients. He is a GIPA volunteer blog writer. It’s his first blog and we wanted to thank him for sharing his story! For more information on the GIPA position available please check out http://www.aidscalgary.org/getinvolved/gipa.cfm
THE BREAK UP
HIV what can I say about that topic. Well the only way to talk about it is to share my experience with all of you. And the only way to describe my misadventure is to start from the beginning.
Once upon a time... No I am totally kidding, this was definitely no fairy tale story, however I totally wish it had been. You know, one of those stories where the prince saves the day, gets the girl, and lives happily ever after?
13 years ago I thought I was in love with a beautiful girl and she was in love with me. We had it all - wonderful jobs, going to college lots of amazing friends and quite a beautiful life at that time. I know what you are thinking; sounds like a fairy tale, well I thought that as well. To top it all off we found out on New Year’s Eve of all days that she is pregnant and we couldn't have been happier. It was a straight man’s fairy tale.
9 Months had passed without a hitch and everything was going swimmingly well for us. It was just perfect - until a few complications with the birth. It was nothing life threatening but nonetheless still extremely stressful. This caused us to have a horrible detrimental break up. Don't get me wrong we are best friends now and have a truly amazing healthy daughter, but I am jumping ahead a bit. It wasn't always that way.
GETTING HIV
I was completely devastated by our break up. I like to call it "THE BREAK UP OF 98". It was like it was a natural disaster or something. Pathetic I know but that is how I saw it.
I had decided one fateful night that I needed to go out by myself and have some me time. Well I spent the night bar hopping and getting completely hammered. My misadventure took me to a gay bar where I was hit on a few times, well more like a lot of times as I am not completely flawed with looks and personality. Then I got the OFFER to go home with someone from the gay bar and by this time I was so drunk that I was in no position to argue. I would have gone home with an alien at this point in the night. No I am kidding. I thought to myself that night what the heck don't knock it until you try it. That used to be the phrase I lived by. I say that because before having our daughter I had gone skydiving and bungee jumping and caving as well. I am getting off track here, back to my one fateful night. I had now tried it and I liked it, jeepers I sound like a Katy Perry song lol.
In case anyone is not really following the story right now I am talking about the S word o.k. I'll just say it anyways "SEX" and not just any sex, sex with a man. And you have to understand why I am talking like that because when I was younger I grew up in a house where you must watch baseball and football. Whenever we had family dinners it was the women cooking and the men would eat go in the rumpus room as my grandmother would call it and lie on the floor and stick their hands in their jeans and watch baseball or football. So that is why I had never tried anything with the same sex and I had a girlfriend and child, a dog and a white picket fence. So old-school I know!
FINDING OUT
Now back to "THE BREAK OF 98". Before we became friends my ex and I had a battle for custody in the courts. I am not going to go into detail about the ordeal that I had gone through however I am going to say this. She tried to keep my daughter from me at first and I was not going to stand for it so I sought a lawyer and took her to court. You may ask what does this have to with my finding out I am HIV positive? Well it has a lot to do with it. In fact it is a key part of the story, I want to say heart of the story but I don't want to use the word heart as to me that is a positive word used in that text.
The stress of the trial (I'm kidding again I was trying to make the story more exiting like a John Grisham novel) had made me extremely ill and I could barely make it to the court room but with the help of my mom supporting me in court I made it through. Everybody had thought I should go to the hospital but I being the stubborn person I am made it very clear that I will go to the hospital as soon as I had joint custody of my daughter. The outcome of that was that I did win joint custody of my daughter.
I went to the hospital right after and found out I had pneumonia. They treated me for my health problems and took some blood samples from me. Later in the week I had gotten a phone call from the hospital asking if I could come in immediately and discuss a few things. I had a gut feeling what the problem was and I ignored the docs for months. They kept bugging me to come in so finally...
My mom, a friend of the family’s and I went in to see what the problem was. I remember waiting there and thinking it couldn't be what I thought it was. That could never happen to me. Well it did happen to me and it could happen to anyone of you if you are not careful or maybe it already did happen to you and I am right here with you struggling with this long term health problem.
After we had left the hospital with the detrimental news I remember standing beside my mom’s red Dodge Ram truck and I just started to cry and cry. My mom came running up to me and hugged me so tightly and I said to her being the non-selfish person that I am "I am so sorry". She said to me "You have nothing to be sorry for and don't ever apologise for anything, we will get through this".
I was living with my sister at the time, my mom had dropped me off at home and I came in to the dimly lit basement suit to find my sister sleeping on the couch. I sat down beside her and started to cry again this time I didn't have to say anything she just knew and she got up and just hugged me and cried with me.
I have many, many more experiences with dealing with this heart wrenching disease, but I will save that for another time. I have learned one very important lesson here. Never go out and use drinking as a way to cope with your problems at hand, it could lead you to even greater heart ache than what you had started with. One other thing that helps me deal with my stress is humour and laughter; if you don't have that then you don't have anything. I have 12 years more to talk about but that will be in a second part blog that I am still working on and thank you all for taking the time to listen to my story.
Showing posts with label origins of HIV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label origins of HIV. Show all posts
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
HIV 30th anniversary edition: Origins of HIV part 2
As discussed in part one of this blog, confusion about the origins of HIV/AIDS often adds to the already extraordinary stigma surrounding the pandemic. Questions such as where did HIV come from, how did it spread, and why was it only occurring in certain populations continue to linger for many people. Fortunately, over the past 30 years the scientific community has compiled a massive canon of sound scientific evidence that clearly demonstrates HIV is the direct descendant of a common virus found in many species of non-human primates. HIV came from monkeys, and then proceeded to pass unnoticed among human populations for decades. Not until the early 1980’s, when young American men began presenting with rare infections and cancers, did the scientific community recognize that an unprecedented, unidentified, and potentially lethal epidemic had taken root.
SIV, the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, is a natural virus that affects monkeys and apes in the same way HIV affects humans. Though often milder and less pathogenic, SIV progressively weakens a primate’s immune system by attacking white blood cells and potentially causing many of the same AIDS defining illnesses seen in humans1. Recent research shows that SIV has been in monkeys and apes for at least 32,000 years, and possibly as long as 75,000 years2. Certain strains of SIV are genetically very similar to HIV. The most common type of HIV, HIV-1, is directly related to SIV found in chimpanzees, while the more rare HIV-2 corresponds to SIV found in a type of west African monkey called the Sooty Mangabey.
How SIV moved into humans is also well supported by scientific research. Evidence points to bush meat as the primary source of SIV transmission into the human population. Hunting, butchering, and eating monkeys are common practices that present a number of opportunities for primate viruses to pass into humans. Furthermore, a 2004 study shows that various simian retroviruses continue to be prevalent among individuals who prepare & consume monkey meat3. SIV infection has also been well documented in animal handlers and people working with primates in laboratory settings1,3,4. The transmission of pathogens to humans from other species, known as zoonosis, is natural and ubiquitous. Other zoonotic illnesses include ebola, rabies, H1N1 flu, malaria and bubonic plague.
Recent research indicates that HIV was likely initially confined to small, rural communities in parts of central Africa. The eventual spread of the virus beyond isolated communities correlates to the urbanization and infrastructure that came with European colonization2. Railways and roads, urban migration, high density cities, labour camps where monkey meat was a dietary staple, as well as intercontinental travel are factors that worked together to create an ideal environment for the rapid and widespread transmission of HIV.
Through phylogenetic analysis, a process akin to building a family tree of HIV, researchers estimate HIV has been in the human population for approximately 100 years5. Because viruses mutate at relatively constant and known rates, by comparing HIV samples and subtypes, researchers are able to develop timelines based on how far the virus has drifted from ancestral forms 5,6. Looking forward, we can expect to see the phylogenetic origins of HIV increasingly clarified and articulated through emerging research. Recent studies have even suggested links between HIV-related pathogens in present-day lemurs, as well as ancient tigers dating back more than 100,000 years7.
While HIV’s viral ancestors have existed for millennia, the virus remained unknown until relatively recently. Fast forward to 1981 when a handful of young, previously healthy gay men presented to doctors in Los Angeles with a rare infection called pneumocystis carinii pneumonia8. Doctors noted that all patients also had other symptoms of an underlying suppression or deficiency of the immune system. The following year, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported 19 cases of confirmed pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and a rare form of skin cancer known as Kaposi’s sarcoma among young, previously healthy gay men in southern California9.
At this point, the scientific community began to understand that something unknown and increasingly prevalent was occurring. GRID, or Gay Related Immune Deficiency, was the first term used to describe the phenomenon, based on incomplete assumptions about who was at risk or how the illness was being contracted. However, shortly thereafter reports of similar infections were identified among more diverse populations. The illness that would later be coined as AIDS was described as affecting a set of populations sometimes called the 4-H Club: Homosexuals, Haitians, Hemophiliacs and Heroin Users.
Recognizing that GRID was an inappropriate description, the term AIDS, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, entered the vernacular. It is interesting to note that AIDS was defined before anyone even knew what caused it. Until the 1983 discovery of HIV as the pathogen that leads to AIDS related illness, very few people had any idea what were or were not risks for contracting this new and alarming disease making headlines across the country. With the eventual discovery of HIV, scientific knowledge progressed in leaps and bounds towards understanding specifically how the virus is transmitted and which activities involve risk. And the rest is history. Or is it?
Unfortunately, because HIV was first identified in the gay male community, some people continue to assume that sexual preference or identity has something to do with individual risk. On the contrary, the most recent 2009 epidemiological data show that 51% of all new HIV infections globally were among women10, and heterosexual transmission accounts for the majority of all new HIV diagnoses in Alberta11. Furthermore, some people believe that HIV/AIDS is a result of activities or lifestyles which may be judged or moralized. Looking forward, part of addressing the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS lies in helping people understand that this is not a gay plague, a moral punishment, or a government conspiracy. Only when we are able to move past the value based judgments and taboos surrounding HIV/AIDS, will we be able to effectively address the pandemic.
This article was written by AIDS Calgary Awareness Association's Community Engagement Coordinator.
Sources
1. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. (1988). Perspectives in disease prevention and health promotion guidelines to prevent simian immunodeficiency virus infection in laboratory workers and animal handlers. 37(45):693. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/prevguid/m0001303/m0001303.asp
2. Worobey, M. et al. (2010). Island biogeography reveals the deep history of SIV. 1. Science. 329(5998):1487. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/329/5998/1487.abstract
3. Wolf, N.D. et al. (2004). Naturally acquired simian retrovirus infections in central African hunters. Lancet. 363(9413):932. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15043960
4. Reitz, M.S. et al. (1992). On the historical origins of HIV-1 (MN) and (RF). AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. Republished 8(9) 2009. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/aid.1992.8.1539
5. Worobey, M. et al. (2008). Direct evidence of extensive diversity of HIV-1 in Kinshasa by 1960. Nature. 455:661. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7213/abs/nature07390.html
6. Abecasis, A.B. et al. (2009). Quantifying differences in the tempo of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype evolution. Journal of Virology. Vol. 83(24):12917. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from
http://jvi.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/83/24/12917
7. Bambara, R.A. et al. (2010). A sequence similar to tRNA3Lys gene is embedded in
HIV-1 U3–R and promotes minus-strand transfer. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
17:83. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from
http://www.nature.com/nsmb/journal/v17/n1/full/nsmb.1687.html
8. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (1981). Pneumocystis pneumonia - Los Angeles. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 30(21). Retrieved June 13, 2011 from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/june_5.htm
9. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (1982). A cluster of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis carinii pneumonia among homosexual male residents of Los Angeles and range counties, California. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 31(23). Retrieved June 13, 2011 from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001114.htm
10. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. (2010). UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic 2009. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from http://www.unaids.org/en/dataanalysis/epidemiology/2009aidsepidemicupdate/
11. Alberta Health and Wellness. (2010). HIV and AIDS in Alberta–2009 annual report. Retrieved June 13 from http://www.health.alberta.ca/documents/STI-HIV-AIDS-Report-2009.pdf
SIV, the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, is a natural virus that affects monkeys and apes in the same way HIV affects humans. Though often milder and less pathogenic, SIV progressively weakens a primate’s immune system by attacking white blood cells and potentially causing many of the same AIDS defining illnesses seen in humans1. Recent research shows that SIV has been in monkeys and apes for at least 32,000 years, and possibly as long as 75,000 years2. Certain strains of SIV are genetically very similar to HIV. The most common type of HIV, HIV-1, is directly related to SIV found in chimpanzees, while the more rare HIV-2 corresponds to SIV found in a type of west African monkey called the Sooty Mangabey.
How SIV moved into humans is also well supported by scientific research. Evidence points to bush meat as the primary source of SIV transmission into the human population. Hunting, butchering, and eating monkeys are common practices that present a number of opportunities for primate viruses to pass into humans. Furthermore, a 2004 study shows that various simian retroviruses continue to be prevalent among individuals who prepare & consume monkey meat3. SIV infection has also been well documented in animal handlers and people working with primates in laboratory settings1,3,4. The transmission of pathogens to humans from other species, known as zoonosis, is natural and ubiquitous. Other zoonotic illnesses include ebola, rabies, H1N1 flu, malaria and bubonic plague.
Recent research indicates that HIV was likely initially confined to small, rural communities in parts of central Africa. The eventual spread of the virus beyond isolated communities correlates to the urbanization and infrastructure that came with European colonization2. Railways and roads, urban migration, high density cities, labour camps where monkey meat was a dietary staple, as well as intercontinental travel are factors that worked together to create an ideal environment for the rapid and widespread transmission of HIV.
Through phylogenetic analysis, a process akin to building a family tree of HIV, researchers estimate HIV has been in the human population for approximately 100 years5. Because viruses mutate at relatively constant and known rates, by comparing HIV samples and subtypes, researchers are able to develop timelines based on how far the virus has drifted from ancestral forms 5,6. Looking forward, we can expect to see the phylogenetic origins of HIV increasingly clarified and articulated through emerging research. Recent studies have even suggested links between HIV-related pathogens in present-day lemurs, as well as ancient tigers dating back more than 100,000 years7.
While HIV’s viral ancestors have existed for millennia, the virus remained unknown until relatively recently. Fast forward to 1981 when a handful of young, previously healthy gay men presented to doctors in Los Angeles with a rare infection called pneumocystis carinii pneumonia8. Doctors noted that all patients also had other symptoms of an underlying suppression or deficiency of the immune system. The following year, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported 19 cases of confirmed pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and a rare form of skin cancer known as Kaposi’s sarcoma among young, previously healthy gay men in southern California9.
At this point, the scientific community began to understand that something unknown and increasingly prevalent was occurring. GRID, or Gay Related Immune Deficiency, was the first term used to describe the phenomenon, based on incomplete assumptions about who was at risk or how the illness was being contracted. However, shortly thereafter reports of similar infections were identified among more diverse populations. The illness that would later be coined as AIDS was described as affecting a set of populations sometimes called the 4-H Club: Homosexuals, Haitians, Hemophiliacs and Heroin Users.
Recognizing that GRID was an inappropriate description, the term AIDS, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, entered the vernacular. It is interesting to note that AIDS was defined before anyone even knew what caused it. Until the 1983 discovery of HIV as the pathogen that leads to AIDS related illness, very few people had any idea what were or were not risks for contracting this new and alarming disease making headlines across the country. With the eventual discovery of HIV, scientific knowledge progressed in leaps and bounds towards understanding specifically how the virus is transmitted and which activities involve risk. And the rest is history. Or is it?
Unfortunately, because HIV was first identified in the gay male community, some people continue to assume that sexual preference or identity has something to do with individual risk. On the contrary, the most recent 2009 epidemiological data show that 51% of all new HIV infections globally were among women10, and heterosexual transmission accounts for the majority of all new HIV diagnoses in Alberta11. Furthermore, some people believe that HIV/AIDS is a result of activities or lifestyles which may be judged or moralized. Looking forward, part of addressing the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS lies in helping people understand that this is not a gay plague, a moral punishment, or a government conspiracy. Only when we are able to move past the value based judgments and taboos surrounding HIV/AIDS, will we be able to effectively address the pandemic.
This article was written by AIDS Calgary Awareness Association's Community Engagement Coordinator.
Sources
1. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. (1988). Perspectives in disease prevention and health promotion guidelines to prevent simian immunodeficiency virus infection in laboratory workers and animal handlers. 37(45):693. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/prevguid/m0001303/m0001303.asp
2. Worobey, M. et al. (2010). Island biogeography reveals the deep history of SIV. 1. Science. 329(5998):1487. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/329/5998/1487.abstract
3. Wolf, N.D. et al. (2004). Naturally acquired simian retrovirus infections in central African hunters. Lancet. 363(9413):932. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15043960
4. Reitz, M.S. et al. (1992). On the historical origins of HIV-1 (MN) and (RF). AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. Republished 8(9) 2009. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/aid.1992.8.1539
5. Worobey, M. et al. (2008). Direct evidence of extensive diversity of HIV-1 in Kinshasa by 1960. Nature. 455:661. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7213/abs/nature07390.html
6. Abecasis, A.B. et al. (2009). Quantifying differences in the tempo of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype evolution. Journal of Virology. Vol. 83(24):12917. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from
http://jvi.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/83/24/12917
7. Bambara, R.A. et al. (2010). A sequence similar to tRNA3Lys gene is embedded in
HIV-1 U3–R and promotes minus-strand transfer. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
17:83. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from
http://www.nature.com/nsmb/journal/v17/n1/full/nsmb.1687.html
8. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (1981). Pneumocystis pneumonia - Los Angeles. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 30(21). Retrieved June 13, 2011 from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/june_5.htm
9. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (1982). A cluster of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis carinii pneumonia among homosexual male residents of Los Angeles and range counties, California. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 31(23). Retrieved June 13, 2011 from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001114.htm
10. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. (2010). UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic 2009. Retrieved June 13, 2011 from http://www.unaids.org/en/dataanalysis/epidemiology/2009aidsepidemicupdate/
11. Alberta Health and Wellness. (2010). HIV and AIDS in Alberta–2009 annual report. Retrieved June 13 from http://www.health.alberta.ca/documents/STI-HIV-AIDS-Report-2009.pdf
Thursday, June 9, 2011
HIV 30th anniversary edition: Origins of HIV part 1
As mentioned in this article, June 5th marked the 30th anniversary of the first reported accounts to what later became known as HIV/AIDS. Over the past 30 years, millions of people globally have been affected by HIV, and many have dedicated their lives to HIV prevention, education, support and research. AIDS Calgary Awareness Association would like to acknowledge all of these individuals, as we recognize that without their support, participation or courage the fight against HIV would not be possible.
A few weeks ago I had a conversation about the origins of HIV with a well educated, socially conscious, wonderfully informed and non-judgemental friend. After describing how HIV is the naturally occurring human form of an ancient pathogen in monkeys, I noticed her expression was both surprised and a bit ashamed. “What did you think about the origins of HIV?” I asked, “There are many myths about it and believe me – I have heard them all!” Somewhat reluctantly, my friend described how she always thought HIV resulted from some lonely, randy person who found himself deep in the jungle without human companionship. More specifically - she, along with many others of our generation - believed that someone had sex with a monkey and proceeded to spread the virus among the human population. “I always thought it came from some unnatural act – you know someone doing something deviant” she explained.
My friend’s belief is not uncommon. More importantly, she had identified one of several misconceptions that work together to form a key component in the unprecedented stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. What could be more taboo than sexy times with a monkey? Well, it depends on your perspective. Other examples include: moral punishment, a gay plague, government conspiracy or biological terrorism. Shame and blame are subtle yet undeniable nuances in many people’s understanding of HIV and AIDS. Misunderstanding about the origins of the disease often adds to the confusion and discomfort surrounding the topic. What's more, stigma and myths can make it difficult for people to focus on the fact that this is a 100% preventable virus that continues to devastate communities across the globe.
First identified in the early 80’s, little was understood of the who, what, where, when, and how of HIV/AIDS. Questions and fears fuelled the fires of HIV/AIDS related stigma: stigma which is internationally recognized as the greatest barrier to addressing the pandemic. Over the past three decades science has come a long way towards understanding HIV. Unfortunately public opinion has not always followed suit. June 5th marked the 30th anniversary of the discovery of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. However, scientific evidence now illustrates that HIV and its viral ancestors have been around for much, much longer – tens of thousands of years in fact! Watch this space next week to read about recent research and current scientific knowledge about the origins of HIV and its eventual transmission in the human population.
This article was written by ACAA’s Community Engagement Coordinator.
A few weeks ago I had a conversation about the origins of HIV with a well educated, socially conscious, wonderfully informed and non-judgemental friend. After describing how HIV is the naturally occurring human form of an ancient pathogen in monkeys, I noticed her expression was both surprised and a bit ashamed. “What did you think about the origins of HIV?” I asked, “There are many myths about it and believe me – I have heard them all!” Somewhat reluctantly, my friend described how she always thought HIV resulted from some lonely, randy person who found himself deep in the jungle without human companionship. More specifically - she, along with many others of our generation - believed that someone had sex with a monkey and proceeded to spread the virus among the human population. “I always thought it came from some unnatural act – you know someone doing something deviant” she explained.
My friend’s belief is not uncommon. More importantly, she had identified one of several misconceptions that work together to form a key component in the unprecedented stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. What could be more taboo than sexy times with a monkey? Well, it depends on your perspective. Other examples include: moral punishment, a gay plague, government conspiracy or biological terrorism. Shame and blame are subtle yet undeniable nuances in many people’s understanding of HIV and AIDS. Misunderstanding about the origins of the disease often adds to the confusion and discomfort surrounding the topic. What's more, stigma and myths can make it difficult for people to focus on the fact that this is a 100% preventable virus that continues to devastate communities across the globe.
First identified in the early 80’s, little was understood of the who, what, where, when, and how of HIV/AIDS. Questions and fears fuelled the fires of HIV/AIDS related stigma: stigma which is internationally recognized as the greatest barrier to addressing the pandemic. Over the past three decades science has come a long way towards understanding HIV. Unfortunately public opinion has not always followed suit. June 5th marked the 30th anniversary of the discovery of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. However, scientific evidence now illustrates that HIV and its viral ancestors have been around for much, much longer – tens of thousands of years in fact! Watch this space next week to read about recent research and current scientific knowledge about the origins of HIV and its eventual transmission in the human population.
This article was written by ACAA’s Community Engagement Coordinator.