reply...

Sarah...  I replied to your posting bak to me ...please see 4/16/07 a few posts down... Hope you are doing well...

[sunnygirl79]

hey...the weekend went ok, was just really tired.  the lovely minneapolis weather did brighten my days though!  what a relief to see the sun!  i spent some time with my family which was really a nice diversion from all that's going on.  i've been dealing with stress coming at me from every angle as of late...it's a little crazy, just when i think there can't possibly be anymore - there is.  but i love your quote..."every bad day is a bad day that's behind you."  i won't forget that...and i won't hold in all of the emotional stress/hurt - i tried that already and it doesn't work so well.  

and i certainly don't mind the questions about my ex-husband...it really does help to talk about it.  and to be honest...he tested at around 10 weeks after he was last exposed to me (but i think i got the virus after that?)...he really should test again sometime - but how do i go about suggesting that?  ugh.  

in your first year of being positive, was there any one thing or any bit of advice you'd give to someone to help get through this?  i know it's different for everyone but what worked for you may work for others...i know keeping a positive attitude really is a huge factor and i'm trying.  anyway...i'm off.  i hope you're well.  sarah  

oh, by the way - i'm 28  :)

[boyblue]

Sarah,

Hey again- sorry for not responding sooner...So the first year of diagnosis honestly was hard for me, real hard- for obvious reasons- but also becuase of the stigma that is associated with being HIV positive... I thought for sure I was going to be dead in 6 months- here I am 7 years later and doing excellent...I do find that I do get sick more often, I am tired more often, and for what ever reason seem to get yeast/fungal infections often- don't know if that's related to HIV but just an observation I made.  In knowing what I know now- I would say to a newly diagnosed person is take things day by day- the way I look at it is yea I am HIV positive but I can get hit by a bus tomorrow on my way to work and die, HIV is not what is going to do me in I truely believe, anyway- the first year is going to be hard on you, but it does get easier- what worked for me was when I found myself getting consumed by overwhelming thoughts I would just take a step back and try to re-focus on other things- maybe taking a Yoga class, or doing a hobby you like- also just know that today's HIV is different than years ago- this is a very managable disease- the meds now are excellent- and can help you lead a very normal life.  I am not saying that I still do not have days where I am mad at the world or that I do not have my moments of sadness and frustration becuase I still do.  

Try not to let it overwhelm you- and also it is important to try and keep a positive outlook...all this is obviously easier said than done- believe me I know- another thing that may help you is finding a support group- sometimes it helps to just verbally throw up on people ya know- and it may help  listening to others stories, I dunno...  Everyone deals differently- my partner is one of those people that lets NOTHING bother him- I don't know how he does it- I wish I were like that....just hang in there kiddo you'll get through this...  Do you know what your counts are ??  Hey I know it's against the rules to put our personal e-mails on here but I would like to give you mine if that's ok- would love to chat via e-mail so if your interested here it is- ***@**** I just hope people don't send me millions of e-mails now..and how will I know it's really you that is e-mailing me ?? Well that's all for now..hope to hear back from ya..