Growing up there were no stories about the birds and the bees, periods or HIV. These conversations were never had with my parents and so the cycle continued. This is a common theme among families of minority descent and mine was not exempt. After having been diagnosed in 2016, I struggled with accepting my diagnosis and eventually decided to go public so that these conversations could be at the forefront for families. There were several driving factors to this decision, but when I think back, I really believe the decision wasn't clear until I learned HIV directly impacted my family. After...
Marig2016's blog
I've lived in Southwest Florida (SWFL) since 2004 and I've experienced a few storms with my family since being here. Charlie was my introduction, not even having lived here a month. I moved to Cape Coral about two years ago, and this was the first storm that was headed for the west coastline of Florida.
I haven't written in what feels like an eternity; not even sure I've written something that's been publicly shared at all in 2022...
When I applied to join the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), I had little faith that I would be chosen as I clearly have no scientific background or knowledge, like not even a little.
It's inevitable that anything virtual will have some hiccups but I was honestly just so excited to be in attendance that I didn't care. It was a bit annoying but the experience heavily outweighed the annoyance of technology. After becoming positive in 2016, I went on a research binge and USCHA was one of the very first things to come up and with reason! This is the most anticipated conference for HIV/AIDS, in my personal opinion, and I quickly learned why. Virtual attendance wasn't part of the dream but the dream came true ya'll! Since making the decision to be public with my status, I dreamed...
The day we all anticipate for yummy food and store deals but the one day out of the year where many intentionally pause to remember all they are thankful for!
I've kinda been in weird place mentally and emotionally. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with my physical health, but that's a story for another day. You'd think by now some of the negative responses towards my status wouldn't get to me, but maybe it's because my strength is just a little low and my tolerance is thin. I've been pouring so much into others that I've been neglecting myself. But lately I'm just not feeling it, anything, nothing at all. I know so many of us are commended for our strength and resilience, but as I write this I'm reminded that we don't always need to wear a brave face...
Let me start by warning you that this will be a pretty long blog; we've got three weeks of misery to cover. First, I want to acknowledge that HIV can be a tricky virus. That's apparently the reason they haven't come up with a vaccine or a cure. BUT Covid, Covid took me on a very wild ride!
Geez!! Anyone else feeling really really tired, exhausted and unmotivated?! I have been for awhile, and I can't even blame covid although it certainly hasn't helped. I was talking with a coworker about how my bestie has all this energy and I just can't seem to hang anymore BUT years ago you couldn't stop me; I was always on the go. And that's when she said it: "A body in motion stays in motion and a body at rest stays at rest." ? Mind blown, lol... Like, how could I have forgotten such a simple concept?! I can admit things in life have caused me to become idle or complacent, to be okay with...