The Graying of AIDS

Stories From An Aging Pandemic

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Ron, age 50 / District of Columbia, USA

December 2, 2017 by admin

I was a closeted gay man working in international development. I had been a Peace Corps volunteer and was going to school for public health, but taking short contracts to pay for school. I was living and working in Mali, in West Africa. This was the year 1994. I needed to have […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Male, North America • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, clinical trials, co-morbidities, death/dying, employment/retirement, faith/spirituality, family, finances, gratitude, grief/loss, Healthcare access, intergenerational, Kaposi sarcoma, long-range thinking, long-term survivors, Mali, meditation, NGOs, opportunistic infections, positive outlook, pre/post-test counseling, privilege, stigma, support, treatment access, United States, working in HIV/AIDS community

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Proscovia, age 55 / Tororo, Uganda

December 1, 2017 by admin

For a long time, I have been working with the media. I have been writing my stories, and that’s how I’ve been getting support. That has allowed me to be what I am today. I trained as teacher, and so at a teacher’s college I was taking charge of adolescent youth, and that was […]

Categories: Africa, Age 55-59, Female • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, caregiving, children/parenthood, class, Corruption, dating, disclosure, domestic violence, employment discrimination, employment/retirement, faith/spirituality, family, finances, grandchildren, helping others, Housing, inheritance/wills, intergenerational, isolation, married/life partner(s), NGOs, nutrition, opportunistic infections, pre/post-test counseling, side effects, stigma, stress, support, treatment access, treatment adherence, Uganda, Viral load/”undetectable”, World AIDS Day

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Jesse, age 59 / Ellicot City, Maryland, USA

June 9, 2017 by admin

I was aware that I was likely positive. My late partner died of AIDS in 1985, and I am very certain that I had a transmission in about September of 1982 because I had a sexual encounter with my partner and the immediate biological response was a classic transmission response. And those symptoms were […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Male, North America • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, AZT/pre-"cocktail" medications, caregiving, Caring for Older Adults, coordinated care, death/dying, doctor/patient relationship, drug interactions, employment discrimination, faith/spirituality, family, finances, gratitude, heart health, HIV & the law, kidney health, long-range thinking, long-term survivors, married/life partner, personalized treatment, polypharmacy, serodiscordant couple, Social Security/Medicare, support, United States

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Rick, age 60 / Pretoria, South Africa

June 8, 2017 by admin

Originally I was from Scotland. I’ve been in South Africa now for 36 years. I think I befriended my little virus in South Africa – that’s 30 years ago. AIDS in South Africa in that time was very different to what it is now. It was bad. I worked with an organization who […]

Categories: Africa, Age 60-64, Europe, Male • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, cancer, caregiving, coping, dating, death/dying, disclosure, employment/retirement, family, grief/loss, married/life partner, opportunistic infections, PCP, positive outlook, Scotland, South Africa, support groups, thrombosis/blood clot, weight, working in HIV/AIDS community

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Bob, age 69 / Warkworth, Canada

December 2, 2016 by admin

HIV is the kind of thing you can’t really understand until you experience it, because remember, in those days we’re talking about, it was a death sentence. And since then, we’ve had to go through this period where, after treatment, suddenly it wasn’t a death sentence. That’s a – I use the expression “mind-fuck,” for […]

Categories: Age 65-69, Male, North America • Tags: ACTIVISM, ageism, Canada, clinical trials, death/dying, dignity/respect, grief/loss, isolation, life experience/age as an asset, long-term survivors, memory/brain health, rural health, stress, treatment access

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JP, age 52 /Namibia and Vattholma, Sweden

December 1, 2016 by admin

My partner at the time was having problems with his eyes. I had been speaking to him for some time about getting tested together. I said to him, “It’s time, now. I’m not suggesting any more – it’s time.” When he tested positive, I said, “Forget the test. Just do my CD4 count.” But they […]

Categories: Africa, Age 50-54, Europe, Male • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, CD4 count, clinical trials, death/dying, faith/spirituality, kidney health, liver health, married/life partner(s), medication, Namibia, personalized treatment, side effects, Sweden, treatment access, Viral load/”undetectable”, working in HIV/AIDS community

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Julian, age 58/ South London, United Kingdom

July 17, 2016 by admin

I’m the typical “helper.” Actually that’s really good therapy, it makes you reflect upon yourself. I was an activist in the ‘70s, in gay liberation, and then I was part of the first UK response to HIV in 1982, 1983, and set up organizations and help lines and things like that. I never had a […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Europe, Male • Tags: ACTIVISM, death/dying, disability, early antiretroviral medications, England, family, finances, gay liberation, gratitude, grief/loss, Healthcare access, helping others, HIV/AIDS community dynamics, pre/post-test counseling, privilege, stigma, support, treatment access, United Kingdom, Work/Career, working in HIV/AIDS community

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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

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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

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Doris, age 58 & Randy, age 48 / Canada

November 30, 2014 by admin

Doris: I was caught up in my addictions, and I thought the weight loss was connected to my substance use, until I started seeing other complications with my health. And that’s when I went for an HIV test. While waiting for my HIV test, I made the decision to go back home, because […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Female, North America, Trans / Non-Binary / Two-Spirit • Tags: Aboriginal/Indigenous/First Nations, ACTIVISM, anger, Art/creativity, Canada, children/parenthood, death/dying, domestic violence, faith/spirituality, family, grandchildren, HIV/AIDS education, love, moving home, NGOs, sexual violence, stigma, substance use/recovery, support, trauma, weight

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