Here’s another short outtake from the pre-show walkthrough that John Grosso and I had in a G+ Hangout On Air (HOA) earlier this week for tomorrow evening’s Rainbow Show. Live stream begins at 7 pm CST.
Please drop in to view the show live, and ask questions via the comment stream on YouTube or Google+. The stream can be viewed on Facebook, but comments may not come through to us in the Hangout.
97. That’s my latest CD4+ count, less than half the count from six weeks ago.
That’s it. I have tried as many alternative treatments as I can think of to reverse the decline. I will be starting my third round of pharmaceutical ARVs as soon as I can get a prescription and fill it.
This decision has been a long time coming, and in hindsight, I probably should have restarted a few months ago. There’s nothing magical about 97, or being below 100, but it’s as good a breaking point as any. I’ve long argued that there are two things to keep in mind about CD4 counts: one is the long-term trend; the other is single- or low double-digit counts.
Note: I’d like to welcome those of you visiting this site from the forums at aidsmed.com. This may be the first time that a mainstream AIDS site has referred to this blog as a “clear-eyed ‘alternative hypothesis’ site,” and I’m flattered. Given that, I hope you will look around a bit. A good place…
A whole year?! It’s hard to believe that it has been more than a year since I’ve written anything on my blog. I don’t even know how to begin to catch up. I blame Facebook, mostly. I’ve been addicted to the lightning-fast pace of information exchange there, and I’ve written hundreds, maybe even thousands of posts and…
I embarked on my third course of ARVs since 1998. For ten of the sixteen years I have been HIV-positive, I was able to manage well enough without ARVs and I continue to believe there is no reason for otherwise healthy HIV-positive—let alone negative—gay men to take these drugs. To those who want to wave a recent study about the benefits of early intervention in my face, I would ask them why they put so much faith in a science that has utterly failed us to date.
During our last office visit a couple of months ago, the infectious disease specialist I am now seeing repeatedly referred to “The Guidelines”, as if they were some kind of Holy Grail for treating her patients. The guidelines she was referring to are actually several documents, published by the U.S. Department of Health and…
When I received my HIV diagnosis in 1998, I withdrew from my community of gay men. I “went to ground”, thinking that isolation was the only safe place to avoid being criticized for seroconverting at such a late date, when we were all supposed to know better.
This past week has been yet another bifurcation point in my life. I returned to a community I have known about, if not been a steady part of, for more than 30 years. A community of men whom I could touch and hug. Men whose tears might wet my face and whose body heat and life forces I could feel in ways that can only happen in person. It really did feel like coming home.
This site is no longer updated, but kept online for reference. You should not see this popup notice on future visits.
While much of the information on this site is no longer current, it represents almost a decade of my life. It was a period of considerable reflection and writing was my therapy.
I have moved on from that era and am now moving into what will undoubtedly be the last chapter of my life. My love for writing and telling stories-mine, as well as those of others-goes with me. Join me, if you will, at jondbarnett.com for the adventure.
