The Graying of AIDS

Stories From An Aging Pandemic

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Sebastian, age 65 / Harare, Zimbabwe

December 3, 2017 by admin

I remember it was about 15 years ago. I was constantly sick and I didn’t know what was wrong with me. When I was hospitalized for the last time, when I was very, very ill, it was a teaching hospital. A group of students surrounded me and they were asked by a senior doctor […]

Categories: Africa, Age 65-69, Male • Tags: advocacy, ageism, burial, caregiving, Caring for Older Adults, children/parenthood, cost of treatment, death/dying, dignity/respect, disclosure, doctor/patient relationship, family, grandchildren, helping others, HIV/AIDS education, HIV/AIDS myths, intergenerational, life experience/age as an asset, married/life partner(s), moving home, pre/post-test counseling, rural health, stigma, stress, support groups, treatment access, Zimbabwe

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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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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

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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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Nomampondo, age 52 / Johannesburg, South Africa

December 2, 2016 by admin

At least be there for the mothers! I always tell my daughter that she saw me struggling in front of her, bringing them up as a single parent. She has to be there for their mother– for her kids as well. We were the faces of AIDS in the beginning, during those difficult […]

Categories: Africa, Age 50-54, Female • Tags: advocacy, ageism, caregiving, confidentiality, death/dying, disclosure, doctor/patient relationship, employment discrimination, family, guilt, memory/brain health, Neuropathy, night sweats, polypharmacy, shingles, side effects, South Africa, stigma, TB, treatment access

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Ron, age 66/ District of Columbia, USA

December 1, 2016 by admin

I was suicidal when I was thirteen. Because I was gay, or “sissy” as they used to say in those days. I was actually planning how I was gonna do it, and I heard this voice in my head that said, “Don’t do it. Wait ‘til you get older. Things will be different.” I was […]

Categories: Age 65-69, Male, North America • Tags: alternative medicine, AZT/pre-"cocktail" medications, cancer, faith/spirituality, meditation, nutrition, positive outlook, suicide, support groups, thrombosis/blood clot, treatment access, United States

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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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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

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Gerome, age 51 / Abbotsford, Australia

December 15, 2014 by admin

I think that my story is personal, it’s unique, and it is not tragic. And, I think it’s something that is probably a little bit different from other people’s stories, because I took it more as a relief that I don’t have to fear HIV anymore. I don’t have to – there was no fear […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Asia-Pacific, Male • Tags: Australia, celibacy, dating/relationships, disclosure, faith/spirituality, family, fear of transmission, France, Healthcare access, homophobia, love, Philippines, pre/post-test counseling, Recent diagnosis, relief, serodiscordant couple, sex/sexuality, stigma, Tanzania, treatment access, Viral load/”undetectable”

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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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