Jennifer's Journal

There was an article on Poz magazines site about stigma not that long ago ( http://www.poz.com/articles/how_stigma_kills_hiv_2416_17574.shtml ). I was so saddened when I read both the article and the comments. I knew there was stigma, but I didn't realize how very very bad it still is. I have been extremely lucky that honestly I have encountered very little stigma in the last 10 years. The only place I have encountered it was from one of my brothers and even he is now coming around. There were some that commented that they were encountering stigma from their medical professionals, and I was so outraged and confused by this that I sat and cried for these people. One would thing that medical professionals would know better. The article also covered about positive women having babies and what people in general thought of that. The overwhelming consensus was against it. I'm so glad that when I was pregnant I didn't encounter those people because I might not have had my beautiful little girl.

I am now even more determined to not keep silent about being positive and I'm going to keep spreading awareness every chance I get. I hope the little bit that I do, and that others like Tom do, will make it easier for people to not feel they have to hide their status, and will let them know they are not alone we are all in this fight together.

I hope the holidays found everyone happy and healthy. Unfortunately I can't really say they found me that way. The down side to having a child in school is they get exposed to all kinds of germs. So far this school year we have had H1N1 twice which was not fun. The first case we had wasn't too bad just lasted a couple of days, but the second case was awful we were all sick for a full two weeks. It could have been worse though at least none of us had to be hospitalized. We were lucky that due to my status we were all able to get Tamiflu which helped with the symptoms. Then I had a couple of colds and my allergies started acting up. My allergies got so bad that I was put on an inhaler, nose spray, and allergy medication.

I do hope this New Year will be a great one I know everyone could use a great year. Mine other than the allergies has started out pretty good. I am finally divorced so now my other half and I can get married. It has taken 7 long years to get to this point I'm just glad my other half has been so patient and loving during this time. I am quitting smoking with the use of medication so that should help with my health a lot.