Living The Pozitive LIfe

So another year is coming to an end. How was 2016 to you? This year has been quite exceptional to me. I received many emails from both anonymous and non-anonymous people (but don't worry, never have I once looked it up on Facebook or any social media that could have identify you as a person - I'm better than that!), some of you just wrote to me to thank me for sharing. Some have more questions than others. Some were quite lost. Whoever you are, wherever you may be, I am not a saint, neither do I claimed to be one. I'm just a regular gay guy who happens to be positive in life and HIV. But deep down you know you can identify with me because I have been there. People say, you won't truly understand something if it hadn't happen to you. I say, fuck you that's so true! Think of a time when you said something like "I know how you feel..." but in actual fact, you don't? Sucks right? Well, this is where I filled in the void. Because I know. Lik...

Another year has passed. It's been a journey indeed, made friends online and in Twitter, and many of you have wrote to me by email - I wish you all well If you have been thinking of going to test for whatever reasons, I urge you not to delay. Please get tested and begin medication right away. The rule of "wait till CD4 drops below 250" no longer applies. We can all end this. Getting to zero new infections. End HIV now. Love.

I realised I have not posted anything since last year. It sure has been a long time, but it was because I was busy with work. For the longest time, this blog was meant to record down my journey and the difficulties I faced, and to provide a sharing space for everyone. In the beginning it was a tough journey, but as the years go by, things have been easy now. No major issues, no health problems, and thus I began to fall into laziness. 4 years on, life hasn't changed much for me, except that I am no longer seeing anyone, but that was not because I am HIV+, but rather life priorities made us not able to be together anymore. So we moved on. So here I am. Happy and healthy. Cheers!

A new year, a new you. Hopefully we all will remain healthy and up and kicking around. Cheers, party if you must but don't forget meds ok? Cheers!

In my fourth year observing and following closely on World AIDS Day (funny how when you used not to give a fuck about AIDS and HIV and then the next moment, you are part of the statistic that your entire view changed?), I only wished for a functional cure in HIV. This year theme is " Getting to zero; End AIDS by 2030 ". Small words, but huge impact. In the last 4 years (diagnosed in 2012), I have seen drastic changes in my life, made to my life, made for my life. From lifestyle changes to risk behaviors. I remembered a time when I was lying in the hospital with a CD4 count of only 99. I was so weak. It was really scary. You can read about my days in the ward by looking back some of my posts, where I have told my story. My last CD4 readings showed some decline, which caused some alarm and raised some bells. I really do not want to go back there again. If you are already reading my blog, chances are you are looking for information or are as worried as I was and as ...

I just had my quarterly consultation with my doctor and I asked about the "new" Tenofovir that recently made some news about being better and less toxic. Sure, advancement in medicine has made the "new" Tenofovir less toxic compared to Combivir, however, it is not without consequences, cost being one of it. In Malaysia, newly on ARV are now given Tenofovir + a NNRTI. Both are once a day pill (anyone on Tenofovir care to share more? I know some people who previously dropped me emails have begun on Tenofovir, any thing you noticed?) So I asked my doctor, what if I switched? The answer is this: Yes there is a possibility of switching to Tenofovir, however, the government will not be paying as this will be considered a second-line as opposed to first-line med currently being fully paid for by the government. The cost of Tenofovir is roughly MYR200+ a month. Those who are newly on ARV on Tenofovir can switch to Combivir if it is found to be not suitable. However, ...

Many of us still read blogs despite the advancement in technologies that made blogs irrelevant but because I know that many of us still read yet not many are writing anymore gives me some pinch of motivation to be the one writing.  Many of you have written to me personally with your stories, troubles, thoughts, questions etc - I really appreciate that a lot that you guys see me as someone whom you can open up to, without ever knowing me. I only know so much from my own experiences but really, my experiences were worth sharing because we are all in this mess. And even more so every other thing you read elsewhere didn't  really click much since in Malaysia, there isn't much you can refer to. I know because I have done my searches before.  When I first started writing this blog, it was to pen down somewhere my journey and experiences of being a pozzie. In the beginning, like all of us, it was hard to accept but over time, I stopped wondering about the what-ifs and thi...