The Graying of AIDS

Stories From An Aging Pandemic

Main menu

Skip to content
  • ABOUT
  • FAQs
  • View Trailer




Search By:

image Archives

Show Grid Show List

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

0

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

0

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

0

Kim, age 59/Melbourne, Australia

June 7, 2017 by admin

  I first learned I was positive in 1994. I was unwell and went to a friend of mine who was my doctor as well, and he just threw every test at me possible, and a couple of weeks later he hadn’t got back to me, so I rang him. I just happened to be […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Asia-Pacific, Female • Tags: advocacy, Art/creativity, Australia, caregiving, children/parenthood, doctor/patient relationship, family, helping others, HIV/AIDS community dynamics, HIV/AIDS education, pre/post-test counseling, stigma, Women & Girls, working in HIV/AIDS community

0

Olive, age 53/ Saint Catherine, Jamaica

December 1, 2016 by admin

I actually don’t do “My Story.” I don’t do testimonies. People like other people’s business, so it’s not what I do. It’s about the issues. The challenges of really living and coping, and serving, and supporting, and peer needs and so on. Yeah.  It’s fine what we are going to be doing, in that it […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Female, North America • Tags: celibacy, dating, disclosure, doctor/patient relationship, employment/retirement, faith/spirituality, family, helping others, HIV/AIDS community dynamics, HIV/AIDS education, intergenerational, Jamaica, life experience/age as an asset, pre/post-test counseling, sex/sexuality, stigma, support groups, treatment a, working in HIV/AIDS community

3

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

0

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

0

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

1

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

1

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

0

Post navigation

© 2023 The Graying of AIDS