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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Susan, age 54 / New York, USA

June 19, 2017 by admin

I guess I don’t even think about it too much anymore. In the first few years? Like, almost 24/7, it was something that was on my mind: am I gonna be around for my kids? I didn’t even think about grandkids at that time. And I always worried that my daughter would […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Female, North America • Tags: advocacy, anger, cancer, caregiving, CD4 count, children/parenthood, death/dying, disclosure, employment/retirement, family, grandchildren, helping others, HIV/AIDS education, intergenerational, isolation, life experience/age as an asset, married/life partner(s), mother-to-child transmission, nutrition, positive outlook, stress, stroke, support, United States, Women & Girls, working in HIV/AIDS community

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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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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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Jesus, age 56/Mexico & California, USA

June 5, 2017 by admin

I arrived to USA in 1984. I knew what started to be in the news, everything about the gay cancer and things. Honestly I was not jumping from bed to bed or things like that – I was kind of “a good boy” – but still, I was having sex. And I was really […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Male, North America, uncategorized • Tags: ageism, alternative medicine, dating, denial, dignity/respect, disclosure, helping others, HIV & the law, Housing, Immigration, Kaposi sarcoma, long-term survivors, Mexico, Neuropathy, pain, stress, support, United States

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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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Dave, 68 / California, USA

December 2, 2014 by admin

We got kicked out of our church. We got kicked out of our small group. The pastor was in visiting me when the doctor told me, and he told his wife. And so we ended up having to leave the church, and then about a year later we walked into our small group that we […]

Categories: Age 65-69, Male, North America • Tags: faith/spirituality, helping others, married/life partner, stigma, support, support group, United States

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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

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Claire, age 55/ San Francisco, CA, USA

November 30, 2014 by admin

I just remember being very naïve, you know, and people would tell me to do something, and I would do it. I didn’t know any better. The good news is is that they told me– this is when AZT was the only treatment. And they put me on AZT and I just took it, because […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Female, North America • Tags: AZT/early medications, gratitude, HIV/AIDS education, HIV/AIDS myths, Illness/Wellness, life experience/age as an asset, privilege, shame, side effects, treatment adherence, United States

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Hazel, age 54 / San Francisco, CA, USA

November 30, 2014 by admin

Getting older is like, um… Things are happening with my body that I don’t like. You know, my mind is still 25– my mind wants to be 25, my body is not. You know I wanna, like, run around with my 15 year old step son, and I can’t. For me, getting older with HIV […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Female, North America • Tags: caregiving, children/parenthood, married/life partner(s), positive outlook, United States

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Lorena, age 53 / New York, USA & Mexico

November 6, 2014 by admin

Al principio– sí, mucho rechazo. Primero porque era transex– soy transgénera, mujer transexual. Y luego el VIH, luego no saber el idioma y luego venir de un país “bajo.” Pues el VIH no era muy bien visto, en las mujeres y sobre todo transgéneros. El rechazo era visto, se miraba de lejos. Ahora ya no. […]

Categories: Age 50-54, North America, Trans / Non-Binary / Two-Spirit • Tags: Mexico, United States

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Andrea, age “51 and a half” & Edward, age 55 / New York, USA

November 6, 2014 by admin

Edward: She used to follow me around all the time. I was 15, she was 11, so I looked at her like a kid, like my little sister, and she became my best friend. Andrea: We lived in the same neighborhood in New York. Long Island. I’ve always been in love with him, […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Age 55-59, Female, Male, North America • Tags: Couple, United States

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