I went for my checkup yesterday and something is not right with my test results. It seems that my CD4 count keeps dropping and they can't say why. It went from 778 in January, 2013 to 690 in August, 2013 and 577 in a April, 2014. I can't remember the last time I had a viral load test run, because in Nigeria most treatment centres don't provide that service. I can't tell what could be the cause of this, and if my viral load is increasing or not, nor can tell if I am having drug resistance or not. But what I have been observing is the fact that I get weak most time. Or maybe it is due to the...
boseolotu's blog
Life for me and my family is a big struggle but in everything, we give thanks to God. There are so many challenges to life here in Nigeria. My daughter took ill and we could not afford to take her to the hospital, she was very sick and vomiting for four days. Most parents do safe medication for their children since they can take them to a clinic, even our so called primary health centers you can get treatment free. But the government will tell us it is free for children but not until you get there to find out it is a different ball game. My elder brother narrowly escape from the second...
In this part of the world were I come from (Nigeria), our people do not see female circumcision as a big issue that needs to be talked about or to educate people about. It happened that I was called upon by a friend, to help talk to his brother who's marriage is at the peak of breaking up. The man in question called me and I just let him talk, but before we start I made sure he understood that I am not a marriage counselor but I could try with my experience and knowledge about the issue. After he have told me everything, I need to know about him and his wife. I asked him a question, if I can...
I currently work at the National Call Center on HIV/AIDS and related disease in Nigeria. This has given me more opportunities to counsel lots of people and educate them on HIV/AIDS. We receive calls from the 36 states in Nigeria, it gives me joy to touch and impact other people life in through this medium. On a daily basis I counsel over thirty-two people on different issues of life even outside the scope of HIV/AIDS. Sometimes I receive calls that are so emotional and very sad, families are calling to find out how they can or should relate and better manage their relative who is tested...
Attending AIDS 2012 was an experince I shall live to always cherish for the rest of my life, and I have shared with PLWH women in the clinic (in Lagos, Nigeria) where I access treatment from just two days after I got home. They are all happy about the fact that someone has been cured of HIV. That is what I love to do --giving HOPE and having hope! I was able to give some of them The Well Project and A Girl Like Me buttons and wristbands, there was not enough to go around. After I got back, I spoke with many mothers at the children's HIV clinic. After I finished sharing my experience from the...
Let me start from the time I found out my HIV status.... Twelve year ago when I took the HIV test, I knew nothing about the virus and mode of transmission of the virus. In the year 2001, I was a young single mother to a little boy of seven years old. My goal then was to be a mother and father for my son! And this I have been since his birth. I was offered a job as a receptionist in one of the private medical laborotory. I learned on the job, how to conduct some test including HIV test, this lab work was in partnership with a private hospital. In year 2002, the MD of the hospital called and he...
My name is Bose Olotu Oladayo. I am from Nigeria, from one of the south/west states, Ekiti state, to be precise. I am a woman, born in August 1975 to a family of seven. I am married with three children. I live in Lagos, Nigeria. Some eleven years ago I tested positive to HIV virus. Why Bose wants to be a part of A Girl Like Me: I would like to share my expirence on the blog because it will help me learn from others and many can also learn from my experience as a woman living with HIV. I can also find relief and encouragement from lots of other women on the blog.