The truth is that no one really dies of AIDS. The virus weakens your immune system to the point that an opportunistic disease, such as cancer, takes over and is the final cause of death. So, even though it isn’t making news on a daily basis, it is still a threat to everyone. Diagnosis is still on the rise, but especially in groups like senior citizens and young people.
I understand the senior citizens, because our generation only used condoms to prevent pregnancy. Now that we don’t have to worry about that, it seems like all sex should be safe. In my case, like Laura Peterson, my husband was bi-sexual and I didn’t know it. He had been having unprotected sex with men since he was a teenager. I found out when he got diagnosed with an opportunistic disease, which was AIDS related. I gave Laura a much happier ending than I got. I’ll spend the rest of my life alone, because I would never risk giving this disease to anyone else.
To me, the saddest group is the young people, who should have the rest of their lives to look forward to. For heterosexuals, finding someone who wants to marry you when you have HIV or AIDS is going to be difficult. If you want to have children, only about one in four are born without HIV. Those are terrible odds in my book and not worth the risk. If you want to adopt, you risk agencies asking if you have HIV, and then turning you down because of it. You run that same risk with health insurance. Even if you are gay, relationships will be harder to find if you are infected. Also, this is a very expensive disease. Granted there are programs to help out with medications (mine are $2200.00 per month), but there are constant doctor visits and blood tests. The average young person starting out will have a hard time affording medical care.
I hear all the excuses. People don’t like condoms, they are expensive or they felt the urge and just didn’t have one handy. It only takes one time, under the right conditions, to get infected. Believe me, as inconvenient as you might think condoms are, it’s nothing compared to having to take medication twice a day, fit in lab tests once every three months and follow up doctor’s visits for the rest of your life. Not to mention living with the fear of people finding out. My own sister won’t even let me in her house. She thinks she can get infected by association.
HIV really isn’t that easy to get, unless you are being stupid! There are only three ways to get infected. One is breast milk. If a woman who has the HIV virus is lucky enough to give birth to a child who tests negative, she can infect the baby by breast feeding. Another way is blood. Don’t share needles and if someone is bleeding use gloves to handle their wounds and clean up, and then properly dispose of anything the blood has touched. The good news is that the virus doesn’t like oxygen and will die after being exposed to air for a certain interval. With all the testing that is done by blood banks these days it is very rare to have something slip through.
The only other way to get infected is sexual fluids. Here is where you can be really stupid. At the risk of sounding like a lecture, have safe sex people! If you are in a new relationship and thinking about having sex, both of you need to go get tested. There are clinics in every city that will do an anonymous test for free. All you have to do is make an appointment and then wait for the results.
I have decided to step out at this point in time and get on my band wagon, because I feel that the media is being too quiet about this disease and I want to help prevent a disaster. If people are not hearing about it, they may just think it has gone away and there is nothing to worry about. I am here to tell you that this is the wrong assumption. If you doubt my word, just Google the subject and do some reading. No one is safe any more. It is not a disease confined to gay men, intravenous drug users and prostitutes. Every group is seeing a rise in the percentage of infected members, including American Indians. And these are just the reported cases. It is estimated that one fifth or more of the people infected do not even know they have it. That means that they are out there having sex, and their next partner could be you.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you go into a panic mode. I am just saying that you really need to be careful out there. The fact that teen pregnancy is on the rise, tells me that even people who should be worried about getting pregnant aren’t using condoms. And don’t use that “it’s against my religion” excuse! I am sure that having sex without being married is against that same religion! Everyone should be getting tested before they get married. It’s one thing to get infected because you were consciously being careless. It is a whole different thing to bring an innocent child into this world who had no choice in the matter.
This is a very manageable disease. It’s not that easy to become infected. If it was, it would be spreading like the flu. All I’m asking is that you use common sense, get yourself tested and be careful. I care about all of you and want you to live long and productive lives. Be safe out there.
Yours truly,
Paizley
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
The Lady Killer Page 21