I am 40 year old gay man living with HIV. When I was 25 I was in a committed relationship. What I remember was that we always liked to frequent the bars and clubs.
One particular night when my boyfriend had gone to the bathroom, a guy came up to me and whispered “please be careful with him because he is HIV+” and walked away. I confronted my boyfriend when he returned. He told me not to pay him any mind and that they had a falling out.
Six months went by and all was well, until he told me he wasn’t feeling well and took a trip to the doctors. It was there that his doctor recommended he get tested for HIV. A week went by and the doctor called him to come in to his office for the results. The results came back positive and he told me that I should get tested as well. I took his advice and the results were negative but the doctor advised me to come back three months later.
I decided to stay with my boyfriend to be supportive and make sure he took care of himself. After all, we were in a loving supportive relationship. After three months, I went to get retested. This time my result came back positive. I was confused and scared, but denial took those both over. At the time, my doctor advised me to not take medications for HIV.
After being there for my boyfriend while he has going through his own diagnosis, I found out during the relationship that I wasn’t the only one who he was intimate with. So it was in our best interest to part ways. It was hard for me because I was still in denial about my diagnosis.
Two years went by and it was time to take medication. It was not an easy road, as I was not good with being adherent to medication. Adherent issues made me resistant to my medication. After that I decided to be serious with my medication because I did not want to be defeated.
My doctor advised me to get case management to help me navigate my diagnosis. My care team gave me adherence tips and accompanied me to the doctor. That helped me a lot, and gave me hope and a new lease on life.
My case worker suggested that I check out Alliance for Positive Change to go for social support. It was there I met other HIV+ individuals and finally felt like myself again. While I was there I was told about their Peer program and an upcoming training called PREP (Peer Recovery Education Program).
PREP was an intensive 8 week training that allowed me to prepare myself to become a Peer educator and advocate for my community. I interviewed to be in cycle 50 and graduated in 2018.
After I graduated, Alliance hired me to work as a Peer for Health Homes case management. The advice my case worker gave me to come to Alliance was a blessing. I was able to come terms with my diagnosis and now I help others as well.