..out wait, I did that awhile back; from the GLBT closet anyway but this is my coming out from the HIV+ closet. I'd like to thank Tom for allowing me a space on his great site to share my thoughts in the HIV world. He mentioned an e-mail I sent out on World AIDS Day so I thought I would share that with you as my first entry. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and learning so much more about Who's Positive and the other greater bloggers on the site!
For some background, I was diagnosed in March 2008 and had only shared my status with a few friends; I sent this e-mail to about 75 people from all over my life; from work, to friends, to acquaintances. Over the coming days I'll share some pieces of responses I've gotten from all kinds of people. If you have any questions, feel free to message me at dan@journal.whospositive.org
"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do."
~Edward Everett Hale
Friends,
As some of you know I was diagnosed in March of this year as being HIV-Positive. I've spent the last several months learning about the disease and how to maintain my health, adjusting to this new ME and trying to decide how I would mark today, my first World AIDS Day as a person living with HIV. Everytime I tried to come up with something I came back to the same thing, just keep living. To do that I've decided on this message, to people from all different aspects of my life; family and friends, some of whom I barely know and some of who I talk to on a daily basis. I might eat with you, cry with you, laugh with you, have a night out on the town with you, work with you or any combination of these.
As a member of the LGBT population I know we all have to make the decision if and when to tell those people around us that we're Gay. Just the same, I understand that not everyone who is Positive is comfortable with everyone or anyone around them knowing their status. The stigma associated to HIV/AIDS in this country to this day, 27 years after the pandemic was identified, is baffling to me. I expect that from this message my status will no longer be a secret and I'm prepared to deal with those consequences, this is my choice. However, if you're a member of my family, I ask that you keep this to yourself until after Christmas. I'm planning to tell my parents over the Christmas holiday as I think this will be a conversation best had in person and I would very much like them to hear it from me first.
I expect that lots of you will have questions about my health as well as the who/when of my infection and I'm happy to answer any of them about the former but none about the latter. Though I do know the who and when I believe it is something between the two of us and it isn't my place to disclose their status to anyone else. On my health: I've started drugs that are working to keep the virus from replicating in my blood stream and they are doing just that. My CD4 count, which is a measure of the health of your immune system, is well within what is considered a normal range for an HIV-Negative person. Overall I�m doing well both mentally and physically.
I don't point out my HIV+ status as a reason to receive your sympathy or be treated differently. I sincerely hope neither of those things happen. I simply want to show everyone that this can, does and is happening to people all around us. I hope you'll all take a moment to consider that HIV/AIDS, while considerably more treatable today, is still around and people are still being infected and dying every single day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that at the end of 2006 there were more than 510,000 people living in the U.S. with HIV/AIDS and more than 53,000 new diagnoses. These disturbing figures show that this pandemic isn't anywhere near its end and we all must take steps to end both the pandemic and the stigma associated with an HIV/AIDS diagnosis.
I also want to take a minute to thank those people who have been helping through this incredibly difficult year: Ryan, TJ, Adam, Lynn, Carol Anne, Erin, Brent, Brian, Jonathon, Chris, Michael and all of the dallasyoungpositive guys. I really wouldn't have made it through this year without you guys.
With Love,
Dan
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