In all the times that I've written about being Hiv+ there's always been a little sidenote that I kept forgetting to tack on to those previous entries of mine but in spite of my unintentional forgetfulness towards it, it's still a very extremely important message to get across to everyone out there, especially those who have been recently diagnosed. Please do not allow anyone to negate, degrade or humiliate you in any way, shape, or form just because you were diagnosed years after what has been considered some of the roughest years of the AIDS epidemic, the early to mid-1980's. I'm very serious about this. More than several of my readers have recently written in to me voicing their genuine concerns and fears that the stigma levels that old-time Hiv'ers such as myself have experienced over the years is vastly becoming minimal when compared with the degree of increased stigma that those who have been recently diagnosed have been encountering. Without intentionally making myself sound like a dinosaur, which I suppose in a way I am for as long as I have been living with Hiv, if there is indeed a rising incidence of this form of harassment and/or discrimination taking place, then I'd like to say something about it right now.
In my opinion, it is TOTALLY IRRELEVANT on when a person contracted the Hiv virus. I dont care if it was several years before I was infected back in August, 1989, or if someone received their results just this morning - any person who is diagnosed with any form of chronic disease and/or terminal illness deserves nothing but unconditional moral support and abundant compassion from anyone and everyone they come into contact with. They do not deserve to be belittled, jeered at, judged and/or condemned by others. Such behavior is inexcusable in my eyes and it should not be tolerated regardless of what anyone's circumstances regarding their infection entails. Yeah, it's really that simple.
Though some people out there will ask "Well how, how could they become infected after all the education and prevention efforts that have been poured into fighting this disease???" that too is something I personally feel is irrelevant. Beating oneself over the head and people damning themselves for becoming infected is extremely unhealthy and does not accomplish a damn thing; but, taking extra good care of yourself and educating yourself on how to take better care of yourself, those are the positive, productive things everyone should be doing. As a veteran survivor of this disease, yes, it does shock me when I read about the rising Hiv infecton rates in the various factions of the world we live in today, but for me or for anyone to scrutinize the recently infected is just plain wrong - we need to continue to help others, not be their jury-n-judge. In addition, as a collective community, we all should continue to work at improving Hiv prevention education and making certain that everyone out there knows the facts about this disease, as well as having the tools to make the right decisions regarding their personal choices.
My only concern, or perhaps it could even be considered a friendly and well-intended suggestion, is that those who are recently or newly infected do not fall into a false sense of security if they dont have any major-major medical situations in the first few years after diagnosis. Living life day-to-day is the best way to approach dealing with this disease, but living by the seat of ones pants, being an irresponsible party animal, thinking one is invincible, attitudes such as that are foolhardy. People need to just not take better care of themselves but they need to immediately start educating themselves on what to and not to expect regarding the disease once they are diagnosed. Dont get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that all the newbies instantly start immersing themselves in reading and viewing every book, magazine article, medical journal update and/or film regarding Hiv/AIDS that's been produced in the past 30 years, but rather when their healthcare professionals and specialists make suggestions on what they can do to improve their daily-life experiences, that they listen and think about what they've been told versus going with the attitude "Well, I feel great, I am perfectly fine, I dont need to know any of this." Yes, yes you do for one day it may very well save your life. Just some food for thought.
As for the term "newbies" that's what us old-time Hiv'ers use to call folks, from around the mid 1990's up until now, where the newer politically correct terms of "newly infected" and/or "recently infected" are now the new norm. Actually, if I had my way I would do away with all 3 of those terms because I dont want anyone else getting infected with this damned disease. Yes, I have been extremely fortunate in dealing with it thus far but you will never find me glorifying it because frankly, I dont think it deserves that, I think it deserves to get as knocked on its ass as much as is humanly possible. Either way, the bottom line is that people need to stop giving shit to newbies. Dont drill others with "When did you find out??" or "How on earth did you get this now???" rather ask them how they are doing, ask them if there is something you can do to help and try to be there for them in some way if you truly care about them. Remember, whether you're an Hiv'er or not, we're all in this world together and should do what we can to embrace and help others, not make their reality any harder or anymore difficult to deal with than it already is. Thank you for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment