After ARV, my doctors now prescribe an immunization for me. A different kind of vaccines. Hepa B vaccine which will be having a 3 shots the 0-1-6 the Pneumococal for anti Pneumonia for one shot that lasts for five years, and a flu vaccine shots every year.
Scheduled of my 2nd month CBC and SGPT test, i go to RITM and got my blood extracted to find out if my hemoglobin is lowering due to ARV, if my SGPT or liver enzymes is rising because of ARV and Izoniasid.
I got also a one shot of vaccine for my 0 schedule. Then 2 shots after a month and last shot after 6 months. Then Booster nalang.
The Hepa B vaccine is for free at RITm but the Pneumo costs me 1500 and the flue costs 600. And theres another vaccine that i might to have, the meninggo and anti cancer vaccine.
"Loving God means keeping His commandments, and really, that isn't difficult."
-- 1 John 5:3
As days, weeks and months passed by. Im getting ok. Everything is under control. Im ready to face the life of full of trials. I pursue my business, but still i want to work as an employee to practice what i've learned in school. I applied severals companies in our provinces. I dont want to get away from home again. I want to be always with my parents. But after several interview still i cant landed a good job. Im still afraid if theres a company which conducting an HIV screening. But i found out that according to the law of the Philippines nobody can initiate and of an HIV screening without a consent of the patients. So i tried again.
While waiting for the surprise in my life on my career breakthrough. I run my business as a sort of income.
And still waiting for the company to hired me.
I dont want to give all the burden to my sister who finances my medical needs. I want to get employed for a self support.
Go on in Life. I met some of the friends all the and keep me happy and strong. I attended some reunions and party to forget what i am going through. I attended Christian prayer meeting to ask for a divine help. I enjoy attending to that service, especially you meet different kind of people who believes in Jesus. After that service i feel relief,
I feel strong. And i feel blessed.
Thats how i run my life with a battle.
"Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you."
--Proverbs 4:25
After a months of grieving, self-pity, anxious, and asking God why i messed up? I totally moved on. Instead of understanding things with my own thoughts why i would not let God to do his will upon me?
I commit myself to the Lord, i attended Christian services even though im a Catholic, and read some Christian's book and of course the Holy Bible and that Help me a lot in moving on. Thought me of everything that i should learn and the things i wanna know. In that situation i learned that everything's happen for a reason, and the reason why this happen to me is the challenge for me to found out. I know theres a big plan that God created for me, and working in Other country is not part of His will. I accepted that peacefully, even though all through this years, i made myself a worthy of success, and my thinking of working overseas will be my success im wrong! God uses situation that i might hurt but in the end of the day theres a reason why!
Now, i begin to start all over! My thinking of working overseas was reformatted in my thoughts and heart. And the contentment of being loved by my family is there! I am contented to work here with my parents and siblings. Half of my siblings are on abroad, i should be here to take care of my parents. I know i cannot gain the salary that i should get when i work abroad, but what is important is that iam contented and at peace! And i am willing and able to follow God's will for me. My success is to accept Christ as my savior, not to be fame or to be rich. But to have a happy, loving and peaceful family in spite of what our we going through. Having true people and true friends surrounds me, thats my new appreciation of success.
And i started to accept the fact that it is hard for me to creat my own family because of my Bday Gift, but in fullness of hope im still praying, to have a wife and a children. But if thats never be happen, i accepted it full heatedly.
Anyway im living my life for Christ not for my self. But the main point of it all is that im at peace and contented. Sound cliche but thats the truth.
Now iam starting to find a new job that can practice my profession but will not compromised my health. And ill have to have the quality of life that i should have. With the support of everybody, I CAN. For with God all things is possible!
"All those who want to be my disciples must come and follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And if they follow me, the Father will honor them."
---John 12:26
After i talked to my sister, who will take care all of my hospital finances she asked me to go to St. Lukes Medical Center. Together with my mama and with my kuya. To ask for a second opinion if its true. But unfortunately no doctor specializing in infectious disease were on duty that time. On the same date we go to Makati Medical Center, and then i met Dra. T. Gler, specializing in infectious diseases. After i talked to her, i feel relieved. I got all the things that i need to know, shes so kind, and i feel very private when im at her clinic. So she explained to me everything, yes, everything. Then every other day i got to visit her clinic for a blood test. Another hIV screening. And a viral load panel. Then i have to wait for another two weeks for confirmatory result of my screening.
After two weeks i got my confirmatory. And boom! Positive. Got same result im not surprised anymore. Then she started my baseline tests. Such as viral load, cd4 panel and others.
Since MMC's cd4 panel is expensive she asked me to do it at NKTI in Quezon City. I contacted NKTI and they are expensive too. Someone suggested that San Lazaro Hospital offers it low because they are under DOH. At all risk. I went to SLH alone. And yes they are chip compare to the 2 hospitals. Ive seen other carrier at that time. I got scared because some if them were so sick. Since sabi ni Dra. Gler im probe to viruses and other complication natakot ako, baka mahawa ako sa mga malala nang may sakit. Ang tagal kong hinantay ang turn ko to extract my blood. There are so many patients kasi.
Then after 2 days i got all the baseline and cd4.
"O my people, trust in HIM at all times. Pour your heart to HIM for God is our refuge."
--Psalm 62:8
When you are in a battle :
First step is knowing your opponent.
What is HIV?
Doctors use simple criteria for diagnosing a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection: A person has HIV if they have a detectable level of the virus on a blood test, or (with the exception of babies of HIV-positive mothers) a positive blood test for antibodies (infection-fighting proteins) against the virus. If you're infected with HIV, it's possible, but not certain, that you will eventually develop AIDS — acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
The criteria for diagnosing HIV is slightly different in newborn infants because HIV antibodies can be passed to the baby from the mother before or during birth, but the infant may not actually be infected with the virus. In such cases, the antibodies may be detected in a baby’s blood at birth, but there may be no evidence of antibodies by the time the baby is 12 to 18 months old.
In 2006, the most recent year for which statistics are available, an estimated 56,300 people in the United States were newly infected with HIV. Also, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of 2006, approximately 1,106,400 people in the United States were living with HIV infection, with 21 percent of those undiagnosed.
HIV: How Does It Affect the Body?
As HIV infection progresses, it weakens a person’s immune system. A person with HIV frequently will fall ill with diseases that a healthy person would be able to fend off.
HIV: How Is It Contracted?
The highest concentrations of HIV in the body are found in blood, semen, and vaginal secretions, so any contact with these bodily fluids from an infected person may be a route of transmission.
This includes heterosexual or same-sex contact with any of these fluids, as well as sharing of used needles.
HIV also is present in sweat, saliva, and tears, but in much lower concentrations. The CDC reports that it has never documented a case of HIV transmission through any of these routes.
HIV: What Are the Symptoms?
It is possible to live with HIV infection for years, even decades, without any significant symptoms of HIV infection, though some of the more frequently seen signs are weight loss, fever, or unexplained fatigue.
As HIV progresses, two factors generally indicate the severity of infection. The first is the number of cells produced by the body to fight HIV, called CD4+ T-cells, or simply “CD4 cells.” Lower counts indicate that the disease is gaining in severity.
The second factor is the presence of one of 26 so-called AIDS defining conditions, most of which are rare in a person who does not have HIV. Some of the more common AIDS-defining conditions are cryptococcosis (a fungal disease), tuberculosis, a type of pneumonia called pneumocystis pneumonia, and a type of skin cancer called Kaposi’s sarcoma.
How is HIV Different From AIDS?
HIV infection generally progresses through stages until a person reaches the final and most severe stage, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS.
But HIV infection does not always lead to the development of AIDS. Rather, the introduction of effective therapies for HIV infection (highly active antiretroviral therapies, or HAART) has disrupted the progression of HIV infection to AIDS, says Kali Lindsey, vice president of federal affairs for the National Association of Persons with AIDS (NAPWA), in Silver Spring, Md. It is increasingly possible for someone with HIV infection receiving HAART to live for many years without developing AIDS.
The success of HAART for HIV infection has helped de-stigmatize the disease, says Lindsey. Additionally, the CDC recently pushed for broader HIV testing in a move that may help even further to “normalize” HIV infection, so that it is regarded more as a manageable chronic disease rather than a death sentence. Lindsey and others who work with HIV/AIDS patients hope that this will encourage more people to seek early testing and treatment, a cornerstone of the HIV/AIDS awareness movement.
Medically reviewed by Lindsey Marcellin, MD, MPH
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding."
--Proverbs 3:5
