grief/loss

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

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

Hope, age 62/Francistown, Botswana

June 6, 2017 by admin

I was working with a family, and somebody had some kind of blisters that week. I was in Australia then. I was away from home, I was away from a lot of people. I was alone. Even though I was in denial, I knew what this was, because I had been unwell. I don’t remember […]

Categories: Africa, Age 60-64, Female • Tags: ageism, Art/creativity, Australia, body image, Botswana, caregiving, Caring for Older Adults, class, dating, death/dying, disclosure, doctor/patient relationship, employment/retirement, family, grief/loss, healthcare professional, helping others, HIV & the law, HIV/AIDS education, Immigration, isolation, married/life partner, Neuropathy, pain, polypharmacy, sex/sexuality, shingles, side effects, stigma, stress, support, treatment access, United States, weight

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

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

Charlie, age 58 / Auckland, New Zealand

July 15, 2016 by admin

People were just dying in ’83 and ’84. All my friends were dying around me, and then a very good friend of mine was diagnosed with it in ’84. And he moved home to his place in Taroma. Some people shunned him, but I never did. When I was told that it was HIV, I […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Asia-Pacific, Male • Tags: burial, death/dying, grief/loss, HIV/AIDS myths, isolation, moving home, New Zealand, stigma

Betti, age 51 / Abidjan, Ivory Coast

July 14, 2016 by admin

I discovered my status after I gave birth, in 1997. I was sick and I went to see a doctor at the hospital. I asked for a checkup and they told me that I had HIV. The child was breastfed, and I didn’t know, so she got contaminated. It was already difficult for me to […]

Categories: Africa, Age 50-54, Female • Tags: children/parenthood, cost of treatment, denial, family, fatigue, grief/loss, Ivory Coast, libido, married/life partner(s), menopause, mother-to-child transmission, NGOs, positive outlook, sex/sexuality, stress, support, treatment access

Jane, age 57 / Auckland, New Zealand

December 10, 2014 by admin

Sometimes, I allow myself to have a wallow day. But it doesn’t happen much now. It used to happen. I cried a lot in the first years. I find now that it’s very difficult to cry. I seem to have hardened quite a lot. And I guess it’s just about, you know, you see a […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Asia-Pacific, Female • Tags: AZT/early medications, children/parenthood, dating/relationships, denial, disclosure, family, grandchildren, grief/loss, helping others, insecurity, isolation/loneliness, Lipodystrophy, moving home, New Zealand, positive partners, weight/body image, Work/Career

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

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

Glenn, age 50 / Newcastle, Australia

November 30, 2014 by admin

I think it’s harder now to live up to the expectation that you’re well. People think that HIV has been finished. That the treatments are great and everyone’s fantastic. Because “the drugs are working so well now.” “We’ve solved the issues.” “There’s no more side effects.” “Yeah, it’s all done.” Um, no it’s not. And […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Asia-Pacific, Male • Tags: Australia, fear, grief/loss, Healthcare access, HIV/AIDS community dynamics, Illness/Wellness, side effects, treatment access, Work/Career

The Graying of AIDS

Stories From An Aging Pandemic

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