positive hivblogger

some light relief

hivblogger — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:02:28 +0000

As I was sitting doing some work this afternoon, I was pointed in the direction of this video. It is quite good fun.

World AIDS Day statistics pose more questions…

hivblogger — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 11:59:46 +0000

How many people are living with HIV in Northern Ireland? It seems that that questions brings different answers from different organisations.

The latest figures from the Public Health Agency stated

There are now 474 people living with HIV infection in Northern Ireland.

However, Rob Anderson, Chairman of The HIV Support Centre said:

In Northern Ireland there are approximately 1000 people living with HIV in Northern Ireland however it is estimated that this could be as high as 1250.

It would be interesting to know what the true figure is.

With a little bit of curiosity I found the following information…

The HPA shows that there have been 812 diagnoses of HIV in NI. Where have all these people gone?

The Health Promotion Agency (UK) has a report stating that there have been 812 diagnoses of HIV in people in Northern Ireland since before 1995 until June 2011. This is very interesting. Although it states that there have been just under a hundred deaths this still means that there about 720 people diagnosed in Northern Ireland who are still living.

The questions has to be asked. Are they still living here? Have they moved? Are they not showing up in other information because they are not accessing care?

It is clear that without testing many more of the population, we will never know how many people are living with HIV here. But perhaps that is one way forward. Test everyone.

GP visit – progress on some issues

hivblogger — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:20:20 +0000

This afternoon I had an appointment with my GP. It’s the first time I have seen an actual doctor at my current practice.

The problem is I’ve been blacking out and having migraines for some months and after last weekend’s problems in Bedford it seemed like something needed to be done.

So with a referral to neurology being requested, I’ve walked out with another prescription not only for Sumatriptan, but also for Pizotifen 500micrograms to take 1 or 2 at night.

Let’s see if that helps to stop the migraines. As for the black outs – we have to keep a note of when they occur.

misinformation doesn’t help a migraine sufferer in his hours of need

hivblogger — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:27:31 +0000

It was bound to happen at some point. Usually I make sure that I have two sets of my medication for however long that I am away from home in my back just in case. One set in hand luggage and the other in the hold luggage. This didn’t happen this weekend. Somehow, I managed to leave it all behind. This means that I have missed two doses of my daily meds, but hopefully it won’t be too damaging to my health.

However, yesterday afternoon I had an awful migraine. Little more than a year since I first knowingly had a migraine attack which had me stuck in a dark room in the Emergency Department and later in a side room in the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, I suffered what became the second worst migraine in that year. This developed mainly due to not having any Sumatriptan with me.

Off we set to Boots the Chemist to see if I could buy some over the counter. Sadly, due to the frequency of attacks this was not possible, so we were directed to the local walk in clinic. The address was written down on a slip of paper and off Peter and I set. Fortunately, Peter knew the way (it’s always helpful to have local knowledge).

We arrived at Putnoe Medical Centre, registered, and then sat down to wait in the brightly lit waiting room. I am sure that you can see why that would make me feel worse.

After about an hour, one of the duty doctors called me in. By this stage I could hardly walk, and he offered no assistance. However, I got in, explained what was going on – and he just wrote out the prescription. All well and good you say. A great success for the NHS in England. Well not really!

The prescription was written at about 1657 by my watch, 1640 by the computer in the consulting room and all the local pharmacies close at 1700 on a Sunday. We asked at the reception if they knew of anywhere that may be open. Eventually we were informed that

the Sainsbury’s store in Kempston did cover the out of hours pharmacy for an hour after the main store closed on a Sunday.

So it was back into Peter’s car, and drive off to Kempston. (A slight aside, I wish that I had been visiting Kempston in better light: it would be good to see where a great uncle had been Vicar.)

We arrived, located the pharmacy window and got told that

It’s closed mate, we close at 5pm. The Clapham store will be able to help until 6pm

And so the hunt for a dispensing pharmacy continued. Sadly, this too was misinformation. The Clapham store closed also at 5pm. So, my head got worse as I got more and more stressed about not being able to get the pills. I’ll be writing to the Primary Care Trust to complain, and also to Sainsbury’s in Kempston. As we made our way back to Bedford, I remembered that Primary Care Trusts are set to be abolished and local councils to take on the commissioning.

That’ll put Pills and Potions in the care of Dave the Mayor. I hope he does better with that than Bedford’s Civic Theatre. Indeed, I have heard that even the Youth Service looks like it is about to be cut. If this is how Dave Hodgson works, I dread to think what he may do to the NHS in the area.

Of course, none of this would help my migraine, but lying down in a lovely hot, foamy bath, in a darkened room, by candlelight did assist me when we got back to Peter’s flat. This morning, my head is not as bad as it was, but there are still the remnants of a migraine about. But I don’t think it is worth me paying the £7.40 prescription dispensing charge as I am about to head back to Northern Ireland where prescriptions are free – that’s one benefit of devolution!

The Best Way To Control Your Own Headache Along With Migraine Symptoms (thediamondringreview.com)
Migraine (puddinggirl.wordpress.com)
Main Causes of Headaches (healthadel.com)
Botox approved to treat migraines in Canada (theglobeandmail.com)
Fighting Misconceptions About Migraines (nytimes.com)

Watch out, this blog is coming back to life!

hivblogger — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:10:14 +0000

It hardly seems that a year has gone past, but it has. Last year, I finally decided that this blog should be merged with my other one Gyronny Herald. However, I have taken the decision that that idea did not really work. Some people complained to me that there were no posts to this one.

So, watch out – this is about to change. And just in time for World AIDS Day. So don’t forget that you can support many charities across the world that support people living with HIV. My first choice for this at the moment is The HIV Support Centre in Belfast.

England is advised to have better testing for HIV – can N. Ireland do it too?

hivblogger — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 09:03:03 +0000

It has been announced that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued new guidelines on the uptake of testing for HIV.
Unfortunately, this is really only advice for England due to the devolved nature of the governance of the United Kingdom nowadays. My quick question to the Northern Ireland Minister for Health is

Will you seek to have these guidelines extended to Northern Ireland?

Anyone who wants to read the guidelines (for England) can read them here

last night’s worry – is taken away today

hivblogger — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:37:25 +0000

Last night, I was really worried. I had been out shopping with Andy and our friend John, during the afternoon. We had been to Tesco, followed by Ikea. By the end of it, I could hardly walk, and I was very worried. I came home, and started to run a bath, and as I undressed – well you didn’t expect me to get in fully clothed now did you – I found some more abscess-like marks on my body.
One I had known about – and had yesterday not been a Public Holiday here in Northern Ireland, I’d have gone to the Gay Men’s Clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital in the evening – and so the others were not exactly a surprise. However the one that was most inflamed – had indeed burst. Really good fun – Not!
Fortunately I had enough gauze and stuff from the nurses when I was dressing the wounds after surgery. So that tidied it up for bed last night.
This morning we made an appointment for me at the Royal for 1.30pm. I went up fully expecting to be given Zyvox (Linezolid) once again, but in the end after examination by the doctor during which he took some swabs for cultivation, was prescribed Fucidin® cream.
We were told just to put it on until we knew anything further.
So hopefully it won’t be too bad this skin infection. Not like the other times in the last year.

and three became one

hivblogger — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 18:43:12 +0000

As of today, no further posts will be posted on this site. This does not mean that I am stopping writing on this issue. No, it means that they will be available on my other, and longer running, blog,

Gyronny Herald

I would ask that you go there to read them.

HIV positive porn star calls for barebacking to be banned

hivblogger — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 11:40:29 +0000

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that a porn actor who contracted HIV while filming has called for condoms to be made compulsory across the adult film industry.
Derrick Burts, 24, tested positive for HIV in October after starring in US gay and straight porn films.
http://latimes.vid.trb.com/player/PaperVideoTest.swf

Derrick Burts: HIV-Positive Porn Actor Calls for Condom Use (cbsnews.com)
Porn Actor Derrick Burts Is ‘Patient Zeta’ Who Tested Positive for HIV (VIDEO) (blippitt.com)
HIV positive porn star Derrick Burts calls for mandatory use of condoms (dailymail.co.uk)
“HIV-positive porn actor was told: ‘You’re not going to make any money if you wear a condom’” and related posts (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
HIV-positive porn actor calls for mandatory condom use (ctv.ca)
Porn actor claims HIV contracted on the job (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Derrick Burts aka Cameron Reid aka Derek Chambers calls for Condoms in Adult Film Industry (manolith.com)

1 day after World AIDS Day – and the clinic winds us up

hivblogger — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:41:52 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

It is only the day after World AIDS Day, and I am not the only patient that has had issues with the nursing staff in the HIV clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, this afternoon.

I cannot go into the specifics of the incident concerning another patient, but the problem that I had was that they didn’t read the notes that the doctor had made in my notes.

results

CD4 = 90 (6%).
VL = 300.

More Linezolid prescribed and as a result of the CD4 count being so low, I am back on my old favourite of Septrin….
There was a specific test that he wanted them to do.

With a persistent cough, and some difficulty in breathing, I was meant to have tests done on breathing before and after exertion. However, the nursing staff had another view. They saw that there were the usual blood tests to be done, and so they did that then told me to go.

When I asked if there was something else to be done, I was told that there was not. Yet I knew that I had to go for a chest X-ray and then for my meds from pharmacy; as well as the test on my breathing.

When I questioned, I was told that if ‘she wanted me to go for that test it would be with special investigations’. I pointed out that the doctor was ‘he’ and not ‘she’ as would be obvious from the writing and the signature in the notes.

In the end, I walked out; the breathing test did not get done, but the X-ray department and pharmacy were both visited.

Later on, I came back to the clinic to make an appointment for two weeks’ time and then asked the reception staff if they could apologize to the nursing staff for my having walked out.

World Aids Day 2010 (theangryhedgehog.com)
World’s AIDS Day: A Day of Reflection and Action (ybpguide.com)
World AIDS Day around the globe (theglobeandmail.com)