The Graying of AIDS

Michael, age 62 / Auckland, New Zealand

December 2, 2014 by admin

I was diagnosed in September 2010. I’ve only had it 4 years. It couldn’t have been much earlier than that. Because I was in a relationship, and then after that relationship finished I got promiscuous and thought to see if I still had it at my age. And yeah, then started experimenting again. I’m a […]

Categories: Age 60-64, Asia-Pacific, Male • Tags: children/parenthood, disclosure, family, grandchildren, HIV, HIV/AIDS education, New Zealand, Recent diagnosis, sex/sexuality, stigma, support

Suzanne, age 59 / Melbourne, Australia

December 1, 2014 by admin

I first learned that I was HIV-positive in a letter from a doctor. I’d been working in a little hospital in rural Africa, but I had to go away somewhere else to find a GP to take my blood, because there was just the risk of too much scrutiny, and confidentiality – I didn’t feel […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Asia-Pacific, Female • Tags: Australia, children/parenthood, China, dating/relationships, disclosure, family, healthcare professional, HIV & the law, HIV/AIDS community dynamics, HIV/AIDS education, Immigration, pre/post-test counseling, support, Zimbabwe

Rodney, age 67 / Melbourne, Australia

December 1, 2014 by admin

I didn’t come out. I didn’t tell anyone. No one knew for 10 years. And I think that’s what helped me. You see, on that day I was told – because this was what you were told in those days – I was told that I could possibly be dead in 5 years, but if […]

Categories: Age 65-69, Asia-Pacific, Male • Tags: Australia, death/dying, disclosure, fear of transmission, grief/loss, pre/post-test counseling, support, treatment adherence

Luwiza, age 51 / Lusaka, Zambia

December 1, 2014 by admin

Despite the health personnel saying that, “You isolate her,” my sister was there for me. My mother was there. Would sleep in the same room. My sister would be next to me on the same bed, you know. And that helped a lot. Because when your close relatives neglect you: Oooh! That is the worst […]

Categories: Africa, Age 50-54, Female • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, children/parenthood, cost of treatment, employment/retirement, exercise/fitness, faith/spirituality, family, grandchildren, helping others, HIV/AIDS myths, keeping busy, NGOs, stigma, support, treatment access, Zambia

Stephen, age 59 / Kampala, Uganda

December 1, 2014 by admin

When I started working in 1984 as a doctor, I saw so many people whom I now know had AIDS, but we were never trained – it was not there during that time from ’79 up to ’84, when I went through the medical school. So, I worked – I’ve worked with hundreds, thousands. I’ve […]

Categories: Africa, Age 55-59, Male • Tags: Art/creativity, children/parenthood, death/dying, depression, fear, healthcare professional, memory/brain health, Occupational HIV Transmission, privilege, Uganda, working in HIV/AIDS community

Meng Lin, age 53 / Beijing, China

December 1, 2014 by admin

I told my family, and I do not have a full knowledge about HIV/AIDS, but I tell them I’m HIV-positive. The same day I’ve been kicked out by the family. And all my friends get away from me. But I am so lucky that I meet a very good doctor. She’s just like my mother. […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Asia-Pacific, Male • Tags: ACTIVISM, China, death/dying, depression, doctor/patient relationship, family, stigma, support, treatment access

Ella, age “nearly 50” / Selangor, Malaysia

December 1, 2014 by admin

In year 2003 I already need to be on medications, but at that particle of time, that we need to pay about 1,000 ringget Malaysia, and my salary is less than 1,000. So… I, I stop seeing the doctor because the doctor says, “You need to be on medication.” I rather, you know, feed my […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Asia-Pacific, Female • Tags: children/parenthood, cost of treatment, death/dying, faith/spirituality, grandchildren, liver health, Malaysia, support, treatment access, Tuberculosis

Katherine, age 56 / Adelaide, Australia

December 1, 2014 by admin

I always wanted a big family, you know – four to six children. My career was in childcare. I found out that I was positive and pregnant at the same time. My partner came with me, and we found out that he was also positive. And they basically said three things to us: “Don’t tell […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Asia-Pacific, Female • Tags: Australia, children, death/dying, family, grandchildren, grief/loss, guilt, jail/incarceration, joy, married/life partner(s), pre/post-test counseling, stigma, substance use/recovery, support, working in HIV/AIDS community

David, age 61 / Melbourne, Australia

December 1, 2014 by admin

I’ve really had a lot of AIDS-defining illnesses in the ‘90s, some of which I’ve lived with since. I’ve developed diabetes, and, as a consequence, probably accelerated by my use of the drug Tenofovir, I’ve developed some renal disease. It’s okay, but it needs to be watched. I had excessive HIV wasting in the ‘80s, […]

Categories: Age 60-64, Asia-Pacific, Male • Tags: Australia, AZT/early medications, co-morbidities, diabetes, exercise/fitness, frailty, Illness/Wellness, inflammation, mobility issues, pain, renal disease, support, wasting, weight

Deloris, age 54 / New Jersey, “Jamerican” (USA & Jamaica)

December 1, 2014 by admin

I am very fortunate.  I’ve been able to educate myself to the graduate level.  I hold down a really decent job.  I make, in nonprofit, nonprofit-decent money. (Laughs) That’s a disclaimer. I think to live with HIV you have to have a lot of support.  And if they’re not coming from your family? You have […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Female, North America • Tags: Art/creativity, children/parenthood, companionship, dating/relationships, faith/spirituality, fear, grandchildren, HIV/AIDS education, isolation/loneliness, Jamaica, keeping busy, support, trauma, United States, Work/Career, working in HIV/AIDS community

Art, age 62 / Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation, Anishnawbe / Toronto, Canada

December 1, 2014 by admin

I’m 62 now, but I came out when I was 26. So it was quite late. And back then, being out was not– it was sometimes, in the aboriginal communities, you might bring shame to the family, to the community, by announcing. But when I came out, then it was no going back. And I […]

Categories: Age 60-64, North America, Trans / Non-Binary / Two-Spirit • Tags: Aboriginal/Indigenous/First Nations, advocacy, Canada, discrimination, family, support

Bev, age 63 / Gunditjmara Nation, Wangaratta, Australia

December 1, 2014 by admin

I don’t feel OLD old, ‘cause I’m still feeling young, because I’m still here, you know. I feel really grateful that I don’t ponder on, oh, you know, I’m turning into this old woman or anything. I used to be offended when, say 10 years ago, when people would stand up for me in the […]

Categories: Age 60-64, Asia-Pacific, Female • Tags: Aboriginal/Indigenous/First Nations, Australia, children/parenthood, grandchildren, gratitude, life experience/age as an asset, positive outlook