Yesterday

I didn't post as much as I could have yesterday. I wanted to process the day before setting it in here.

I went to the dr. appointment as I said, the CD4 / T-cell count wasn't back. That bothered me, but what can you do? The dr. said he would call me when the result was in. He called later in the day - the result was essentially unchanged from the previous visit - up only by less than 10 points and still where he would like me to begin treatment.

I had thought about this quite a bit over the last week. I have been leaning towards starting regardless, but - and I know this sounds weird - I want to start because I want to, not because somebody else tells me I should. I weigh the pros and cons - and I know it is the right thing to do. If I wait, I risk serious damage to my immune system to the point it may never recover to pre-infection levels. The cons are damage to the liver and kidneys, although this appears less likely with the new medications.

The choice is made. I will start medications next week. I travel to Texas again this week, so I don't think now is the time to start. The following week will be spent working from home, so any initial side-effects will be easier to manage knowing I don't have to be anywhere.

In other news, I went to a local club called Hydrate for an HIV+ social / get together, whatever you want to call it. I was hesitant to go - just really not my thing in many ways. I have never really identified myself with specific subgroups of gay culture before, and the idea of it was never really appealing. This is different though. The group at Hydrate may have been all or at least predominantly gay, but being HIV+ is really not related - different from being gay.

I had a good time. It was interesting to chat with people in person that I had met on-line. I am not the most social person in the world, so this was a big step for me. I will probably go again next month.

I am off to see my therapist - think we will chat about the second set of counts that I received this week...