WELLNESS STARTS WITH AWARENESS - CD8 T cells - The Body

Photo © Russell McGonagle
This Shouldn’t Happen
Recently I ran into a friend of mine, Jim, at the Center on Halsted,
Chicago’s beautiful and somewhat lavish GLBT center
which opened earlier last year. Th at particular sunny, summer
aft ernoon the Center was hopping with a diverse group of folks,
a few straight, most of them gay—all of whom were comfortably
lounging in the café, which is immediately adjacent to the spacious
Whole Foods housed within the same building.
Not long into my conversation I happened to inquire about a
mutual friend of ours, who I’ll call Sam, who I hadn’t heard from
in a while.
No, Jim said, he had not heard from Sam, but another friend of
his had, just a few weeks earlier, when Sam had called him from a
pay phone. Sam informed his friend that he wasn’t doing well, that
his phone had been disconnected, he was about to lose his apartment,
and his health was quickly failing.
I was shocked. For a second I was speechless. Sam and I have
known each other for more than 25 years—he was one of the fi rst to
befriend me when I moved to Chicago way back in the early eighties.
We became close friends, and shared a lot in common, having
moved in many of the same social and professional circles. He tested
positive around the same time as I did. Aft er I became positive
and started working at TPAN, he would periodically call me on the
phone for advice about his treatment or health care, or sometimes
just to talk. We would get together from time to time, but our lives
eventually grew apart, and we began to see less and less of each
other, as friends oft en do. He eventually moved out of state, but we
still kept in touch. And we always made it a point to call each other
on our birthdays, which are exactly six months apart.
Th e last time I had tried calling Sam was a few months ago,
on his birthday. I got a recording telling me the number had been
disconnected. Somewhat confused, I quickly leafed through an old,
tattered address book, searching in vain for an alternate number, or
an old snail-mail address. I dialed directory assistance, even tried a
search using Google. But it was to no avail, Sam always made sure
his number was unlisted, and he had never learned to use a computer,
so there was no e-mail address to try sending him a message.
When Sam and I had last spoken, he was doing well and living
on disability. Although he suff ered from chronic pain and neuropathy,
and experienced complications from the drugs and from
HIV, he had recently gone back on meds, aft er having been on an
unplanned, extended drug holiday. His numbers were up, and he
was feeling pretty good, most of the time anyway. While he had initially
had some diffi culty accessing services and care when he had
moved to a large city in a nearby state (a place that makes Chicago
look like a walk in the park), he had fi nally gotten assistance from
a local organization to help him navigate the system.
PA • September / October 2008 • tpan.com • positivelyaware.com
Positively Aware
Editor’s Note
Yes, wellness begins with awareness. But once we are aware
of our HIV status, and we start to become more in tune with our
own health—and do what it is we need to do to learn how to navigate
the oft en confusing maze of Medicare and our broken-down
system of care, it still doesn’t always guarantee wellness. A recent
poll showed that 90% of the people who called the 1-800-Medicare
hotline—a helpline which was mandated by Congress in order to
assist people who had questions about all of the recent changes in
Medicare— were given at least one piece of incorrect information.
90%! And the majority of callers were given confl icting answers
from diff erent operators.
People with HIV/AIDS still struggle on a daily basis just to get
the basic necessities such as decent and aff ordable housing, access
to care and treatment, case management and mental health services,
and to be free from stigma and discrimination. Th is shouldn’t
be happening in the United States, one the wealthiest nations on
the planet. And tell me, just who is going to advocate for these individuals
during this next administration, which stands to inherit a
budget defi cit upwards of 10 trillion dollars?
As we go to press with this issue, the CDC released the 2006
HIV incidence statistics which show that new cases of HIV infection
are actually 56,300 annually, not the 40,000 that had previously
been reported. Th ese numbers have probably been at that level
for at least the last 10 years. Th e report indicated that this does not
actually refl ect an increase in the rate of transmission, but rather
that the previous estimate of 40,000 was too low. Some consolation.
And these statistics are already two years old.
So we push to test, test, test. People are still becoming infected.
And they continue to fall through the cracks in a system in desperate
need of repair.
Th is shouldn’t happen.
Sam, I know you’re out there, and if you’re reading this—I love
you, man. Call me. I’m here for you.
Take care of yourself, and each other.
Jeff Berry
Editor
publications@tpan.com
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