Reading the personal stories of people making significant changes to their health and lifestyle, as result of HIV in last week’s Positive Living supplement (MCV #395, Thursday July 24) were not only uplifting and inspiring, but it gave me the chance to think long and hard about my own lifestyle.

When I found I that I was HIV, it was without doubt one of the most important moments in my life. It is a date you don’t forget. Like many of the people that wrote their own personal stories, I have smoked, taken drugs, believed I am invincible and taken the live of self-destruction at times.

We all get to a point where we need to reassess our situations. For me, starting AVR treatment was one of the biggest challenges for me. The thought of becoming unwell on treatment, or changes to my body, were things I could not contemplate. I believe it is something that makes us wake up and realise. For me, it was a relationship with someone that was not making me happy. It was more the fact that I was with someone because they were there. At the end of the day, it was the relationship that was making me sick. It wasn’t till I changed that situation and took control of my life, that I started doing things that we going to enhance my life and make me feel better.

I would like to extend a big thank you to the people who took part in telling us, the reading public, about the challenges each and every one of you face now and into the future. Your stories were encouraging and uplifting. HIV may not necessarily be a death sentence anymore, but that does not mean we can live with our heads in the sand. You have to take action at some point and don’t feel that you are the only one suffering. It is not about suffering. It is about believing and having hope.

Rob, Kingsville

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