Life with HIV

A Woman With HIV Shares Her Story “I refuse to say that I am at the doorsteps of death,” said *Sharon Davis (name has been changed in this article to protect her identity) a 50-year-old East Coast native, who now resides in Seattle.. Davis is a spunky woman with a ton of personality. Words like this are not unusual for her as Davis is a woman who prides herself on being a positive individual with a positive outlook on life. You see Davis is a woman who has become more enlightened. She’s become more enlightened because of her status. Not status referring to her income or position in society, but as it refers to her health status. Davis’ status, which she contends does not solely define her, is HIV positive. Davis, who has been living with the virus that causes AIDS for 18 years, will not pinpoint exactly how she acquired the virus but remarked that she was a drug user for a number of years. More specifically she was an intravenous (IV) drug user. (You can’t link her to the statistic if she didn’t tell you that’s how she got it) It was in her environment (“her environment needs to be defined) where Davis began to see friends and people she knew (implied Redundancy???) becoming infected with HIV. At this time Davis, like many Americans, was uneducated about HIV and AIDS and didn’t fully understand the background of the disease that was infecting many of those around her. “It was an uneasy feeling at first, not knowing how you could contract the disease. I was the type of person who was uneducated (about the disease),” said Davis. “I thought if you touched someone you could catch it. But, I still kind of dismissed that because I was a loving person. I feel that everybody deserves to be loved no matter what kind of disease they have.” After seeing more people becoming infected, Davis decided to stop using drugs and to get tested for HIV and AIDS. “I was beginning to see friends of mine die. I stopped using drugs for six months before I got tested. And when I did go and get tested, it came back positive,” Davis said. Davis’ positive test result didn’t really sink in at first. Years went by after her diagnosis (Years went by before what??? Need to connect these two sentences). During those years she kept her status to herself and didn’t tell her family right away. “I told my aunt first and my first cousin second; and I told them two or three years after I had tested positive,” recalled Davis. She remembered choosing these individuals because they were close family members. As the third oldest of nine children, Davis understood her tight knit family, and knew that her aunt and cousin would accept her no matter what. She was right. “When I told my aunt it was just like I was having a normal conversation with her. I knew she didn’t care what I had, and that she would love me no matter what,” said Davis. But Informing another member of her family didn’t go quite as well. “Telling my sister was a big mistake,” said Davis. “After I told her she felt as if she was in a position to tell whoever she wanted. I feel my status is on a need to know basis.” The outcome with her sister didn’t lower Davis’ spirit or tarnish her outlook on life. She accepts that she is HIV positive. “I don’t feel sorry for myself and I don’t have a problem accepting death. (Being diagnosed with HIV) made me understand the little things I took for granted,” stated Davis. Davis’ experience has led her to find solace in her spirituality. “I have become more enlightened (since being diagnosed) – more enlightened with a spiritual connection, and more enlightened to have a personal relationship with God. It makes it easier to accept the hand I was dealt,” she remarked. In addition to living a healthy spiritual life, Davis also lives a healthy physical life. She admits she didn’t start taking medication until ten years after her diagnosis. “I didn’t really see any major changes in my health. I was running seven and a half miles every other day for six years before I started taking medication. I ate no red meat or pork,” she said. Davis continues to live a healthy life physically despite now having to take medication. She currently eats chicken, turkey, and fish and utilizes eastern medicine as well as western medicine as part of her HIV treatment regimen. Acupuncture, massage, and Chinese herbs are part of her eastern/holistic approach. “The holistic approach-holistic just means so the mind can lead/help the body-compliments the western medicine. They work better together,” remarked Davis. Her western regimen includes taking two medications twice daily. One medication is a protease inhibitor, which reduces the amount of the virus in the blood, and the other is an antiretroviral, ???. “Everyone (with HIV) ?? has to take these two medications. You can’t use one without the other. But, the amount and additional medication necessary is dependent?? on the severity of your condition,” stated Davis referring to the drug cocktails widely reported as treatment for HIV and AIDS. In the same breath that Davis discusses her condition and its treatment, she makes sure to caution others about putting themselves first, in terms of dealing with their partners and being careful to not put themselves at risk for contracting HIV and AIDS, so that they won’t have to deal with a taking a drug cocktail or not in the first place??? (clean-up sentence). “These people who are in relationships with other people care more about other people than themselves in that they don’t want to protect themselves,” stated Davis. “People are in denial. For every person like myself, there are 300 others who are the ‘if I am [HIV positive] then I don’t want to know’ people that continue to put society at risk. A lot of people have the order confused. It’s God first, then me, then you,” she continued. In the future Davis hopes the diseased is less stigmatized and not separated from any other disease just because it can be contracted through somewhat of a societal taboo, sexual intercourse, so a better understanding of the disease can be gained. “They put so much emphasis on it because it is attached to sex,” said Davis said. “I hope that people will want to be less afraid to be educated about the disease, to be able to deal with it and to be able to treat people who have it.” All in all, Davis feels she is a better person because of her experience. “Now that I’ve lived the experience, I’m more enlightened to love and care about people, no matter what walk of life people are living. Basically, I am less judgmental, and I don’t take things for granted as I used to,” she expressed. When asked if there is anything she would like to say or share with our reading audience about HIV and AIDS she responded, “Don’t be scared be safe. Don’t be afraid of knowing the truth, and don’t let fear rob you of the truth. Because we all know, the truth will set you free.” HIV can be transmitted in a number of ways: sexual intercourse, intravenous drug use, blood transfusion, blood products, mother to child transmission, infection in the health-care setting, and sometimes tattoos/piercings(anything which allows another person’s body fluids to get inside your body is risky). Studies have shown that protease inhibitors can reduce the amount of virus in the blood and increase CD4 cell counts. In some cases these drugs have improved CD4 cell counts, even when they were very low or zero.HIV/AIDS is a devastating disease that is slowly beginning to rock the African American community. While 12% of the United States population is African American, African Americans make up 50 % of new HIV infections. First discovered in 1982, HIV, human immunodeficiency virus, the virus that causes AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, still strikes fear into the hearts of many across the country. *Name has been changed to protect identity.Abstract: IV drug use is currently the second most common risk behavior and the primary source for heterosexual and perinatal transmission among persons with AIDS in the United States and Europe, accounting for 30 percent of current AIDS casesVaginal sexHIV is found in the sexual fluids of an infected person. For a man, this means in the fluids which come out of the penis before and during sex. For a woman, it means HIV is in the fluids produced by the vagina before and during sex to help make intercourse easier.If a man with HIV has vaginal intercourse without a condom, infected fluid can pass into the woman’s blood stream through a tiny cut or sore inside her body. Such a cut or sore wouldn’t always be visible, and could be so small that the woman wouldn’t know about it.If a woman with HIV has sexual intercourse without a condom, HIV could get into the man’s blood through a sore patch on his penis or by getting into the tube that runs down the penis.If there is any contact with blood during sex, this increases the risk of infection. For example, there may be blood in the vagina if intercourse occurs during a woman’s period. Oral sexOral sex with an infected partner does carry some risk of infection. If a person sucks on the penis of an infected man, for example, infected fluid could get into the mouth. The virus could then get into the blood if you have bleeding gums or tiny sores or ulcers somewhere in the mouth.The same is true if infected sexual fluids from a woman get into the mouth of her partner.But infection from oral sex alone seems to be very rare, and there are things you can do to protect yourself.For more information go to our Oral Sex page.Anal sexIf a couple have anal intercourse the risk of infection is greater than with vaginal intercourse. The lining of the anus is more delicate than the lining of the vagina, so it’s more likely to be damaged during intercourse, and any contact with blood during sex increases the risk of infection.Injecting drugsThere is a good likelihood of becoming infected with HIV if you share injecting equipment with someone who has the virus. The virus can be passed by sharing needles, syringes, spoons, filters and water. Disinfecting equipment between use can reduce the chance of transmission, but doesn’t eliminate it.For more information, go to our Injecting Drug Use page. Blood transfusionsSome people have been infected through a transfusion of infected blood. These days, in most countries all the blood used for transfusions is now tested for HIV. In those countries where the blood has been tested, HIV infection through blood transfusions is now extremely rare.Blood productsBlood products, such as those used by people with Haemophilia, are now heat-treated to make them safe.Mother to child transmissionAn infected pregnant woman can pass the virus on to her unborn baby either before or during birth. HIV can also be passed on during breastfeeding.For more information, go to our pages about Pregnancy and Mother to child transmission of HIV.If a woman knows that she is infected with HIV, there are drugs that she can take to greatly reduce the chances of her child becoming infected.Infection in the health-care settingSome health-care workers have become infected with HIV by being stuck with needles containing HIV-infected blood. A very few have become infected by HIV-infected blood getting into the health-care worker’s bloodstream through an open cut or splashes into a mucous membrane (e.g. eyes or the inside of the nose).There have only been a few documented instances of patients becoming infected by a health-care worker.We have more information about healthcare workers and HIV infection.Tattoos / piercings