It’s so weird. My sister has had a chronic illness since she was 8. Everyone caters to her and makes sure she’s ok. Family constantly checks in and makes sure she is comfortable. Me on the other hand, even when I was at the worst part of my illness, had very little support. I think it’s because they see me strong and healthy so they forget how draining this can be. I don’t remind them too much though because then they also get very worried and anxious for me. I think that the fact they forget my status means that I’m doing a great job at kicking major ass when it comes to my illness. That brings me joy and comfort.

Well to me it's an odd question. HIV has been part of my life since late 1980s..So I never was stigmatized by it not cared what other people thought about it. so henceforth, reminding people is not something I would normally do...since it's my HIV and no one else's. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜♥️

Such a good question, my answer is that I tend to just keep it to myself and deal with the consequences later (not the right thing, I know). I think I’ve just got tired over the years of trying to explain what it means to be positive, people now think it’s totally manageable with one pill a day so I get on with it, they don’t understand the other years of toxic meds and what they have done to my body. My last year and a half has mainly been off work, I’m back full time now but usually still have around 2 medical appts a week - and the guilt of having the time off! I agree, we’ve worked hard to try and destigmatise the virus but possibly at some cost that it is simply now seen as a manageable chronic illness, though it’s not without its side effects.

I had to remind my friend when she was nagging me about the all my good Grindr action. She said you don't want to catch HIV. I told her not to worry because I already have it and can't catch it again...

I am trying to keep my HIV to myself I just had a challenge and had to politely educate some people and I gave them the information from the CDC and WHO funny I thought everybody knew the basics but again I was mistaken. My sister is and always have been supportive. I have a food preparation certificate that is acceptable in all the USA, have it for Meals on Wheels and our free Community Dinner and someone actually ask if I could prepare food as I have HIV, I almost laughed at them thinking they were joking. So I got to educate them.