HIV+

‘’H I V’’

she whispered when I asked if she had any pertinent medical history

‘’& yea, Hepatitis C

What more do you wanna know from me?’’

‘’Do you smoke or drink? Any other medical problems?’’

‘’I smoke a pack or two a day, don’t drink. I do weed, cocaine.. just those kinda drugs..’’

‘‘ you know when nothing works, I feel depressed & in pain,

I’ve gotta shoot those into my vein’’

‘’But do you share those needles still, aren’t you aware you’ve contagious diseases..

how they’re spread, how infectious AIDS is!’’

‘’That’s how I contracted the virus too maybe..

No one told me though that I wouldn’t be disease-free..

I don’t like taking those HIV pills anyway

Tried them, didn’t like them.. life’s been good so far, but don’t know what happened today

Weight loss has been tremendous,

Coughing up blood, fever for months and night sweats

So decided I to see, as was so much worse, I hope I’m not really dying at 30

My boyfriend’s 25 now & we’re planning to marry!

He doesn’t have kids yet, I have 4 from my past relationships

They’re all fine though, just I wanna be done with these health checkups’’

‘’You’ve got to understand first of all, HIV is treatable only if you take medications

Your advanced stage of disease, if left untreated, puts you at risk for not just death with the disease itself, but also opportunistic infections!

As much as you may not like taking any pill..

That’s the only way we can hope HIV doesn’t make you sicker or even kill..

not just you, even your partners you may have..

Hope you’ve disclosed to them you’re positive..

For this is something you can’t get rid of ever unfortunately..

But could keep it under control, if you’d change your lifestyle, be compliant with treatment, then it’s likely!’’

‘’Prevention is the best cure

But since you’re already infected, don’t spread the virus to another..

Rather spread a message of awareness..

To prevent the spread of this incurable pandemic, but still a treatable yet illness!’’

For HIV spares no one it comes across..

It sees no color, no race, no gender or socioeconomic status

Stay monogamous, encourage your partner to do so too, say no to street drugs, high risk behavior is the etiology..

Forget about healthcare professionals at times, discriminates HIV+ people even society and your own family.

Let’s fight AIDS, let’s make it ‘history’

Each one of us could make a difference.. WE could eradicate HIV, by spreading awareness.. Yes, You & Me!!

-ELIXIR VITAE- A Story of her Love, by Pallavi Aneja MD

Disclaimer: Any resemblance to anyone dead or alive is purely coincidental. The above is part of my work of fiction, my book ELIXIR VITAE- A Story of her Love.