Hi all
First I like to say my best wishes,prayers and luck to those who are hiv+
My story began, back in 1998, the day I regret to this day. I couldnt say "no" to a friend. Anyway, he won money and I ended up at a brothel. The girl was young and had just came up from Canberrra - I was so nervous, as I hadnt been with anyone before. To the point, in short i couldnt have sex as i was to nervous, she kissed me which shocked the hell out of me and the condom feel off. ANyway about 6 weeks later, I had muscle stiffness, general offness and a slight burning of urine. It wasnt till 2000 that i have a UTI. So i was tested for infection - Nothing showed. Anywayz in August 2005 i finally had the hiv test. I have to wait a week of hell!! I was -ve which was great, however a month later another UTI and now there is little white spots on my upper lip. Just 2day I had another test with my doctor for HIV, Hep B and C, and other STD. I am waiting the result again. My doctor also prescribed some medication for my anxiety, but i am afraid to just that stuff.

Best to all, who have to suffer from the stress of not knowing and knowing that your life has changed.

Regards
Allen

Just wanted to tell you what a wonderful site it is! Very well done.
Regarding the Quiz, I think question #3 should have one more option:
"Tell someone you absolutely trust." No one should live for one second with this terrible truth and not be able to share it with anyone. It is a great burden! This is particularly true, since your site seems to target young people.
Thanks for this excellent resource!
Eda-

We all in our own way,have been to hell and back.I have been HIV positive since 1991,and my disability since then has come out of remission three times threatening to extinquish my very life.However now at almost 50 yrs of age,I find myself not only to be in excellent shape,but as well in exceptional health as once again I remain undetectable.

'IN LIFE,IF YOU FIND YOURSELF TRAVELING DOWN A ROAD WITHOUT ANY OBSTACLES, IT PROBABLY DOESN'T LEAD ANYWHERE

As a first time author I have written an extraordinary work of non-fiction,my autobiography-No Obstacle Too Great.I have lived an UNIMAGINABLE life,which in itself has been nothing short of a shattered and tormented existence.

In view of my acomplishments and achievements which have exceeded far beyond my wildest expectations,in my particular case I'd have to say that HIV oddly enough,GAVE ME A LIFE...

I welcome you to visit my web site at http://noobstacletoogreat.homestead.com/

'THE GREATEST OBSTACLE ANY OF US FACE, IS OUR OWN UNDERESTIMATION, IN OUR ABILITY TO SUCCEED"

Take care
Respectfully Mino

I read most of these storys and i am so sorry for all of you i know what its like to have a bad relasionship it sucks and when you think that they care about you they dont they just make it seem like they do. so i read most of these stors and i am just so sorry for all of you and i hope you just stay strong and dont give up.

In the state of California there is no law on the books (that I know of) where they can prosecute someone for knowingly giving you HIV. There is a law called "willfull exposure" its a misdamenor and all you get is 6 months in jail and basically serve 3 months. I know this because I was exposed to the virus, but did not get it, the person went on to have unprotected sex with someone else and did about 9 months in jail. So ladies do not think because a man gives you this he will stay with you, most likely he will move on and go from women to women. So protect yourselves.

i have always been carefree except where men are concerned i am this caretaker type of person and feel it my duty to abide by my mates every whim. it is crazy all the men in my life have ended up abusing me. i think since i have i have to settle for what i can get but that is bullshit. i am presently alone and living wiht my family who want me gone. i go to school which i love.

I would like to thank you for the web page.
It is an excellent notion. I beleive it intially to be an excellent tool for building empathy.

In a quick response I could say that the stories I have read are quite moving, most powerfully so through the subtle unfolding of each word. As I start to realise that I am reading human, experiential words, there is no bucket asking for coins, no question of what the actors are `really like' and no fear tactics.

I do not feel dragegd through a swamp of expert fears, morals, conjecture and `high ground'.

In many a sense I see these stories to be quite an intimate gift.
A sense of humanity and a sense of community as we meet real people.

regards to all.

Do you not think it is your responsibility to inform your future husband you have AIDS/HIV as it was your previous husband's responsibility to inform you of his illness?

My God watch and take care of each and every one. Having Aids is the greatest challenge any individual can ever be confronted with. And for those of you who have come forward to tell your story, stay strong and believe that God will take care of you! Love yourself, Life is such a beautiful experience, we just need to see this before it is to late, teach out young generation to love themselves, and to take care of each other.Please remember God loves You! Be Strong and God will see you through.

Hi all, just touching in. Just wanted to express how bad I feel for all of you living with this awful virus. These stories really touched me. I never really knew a lot about HIV/Aids, but now as I am doing an assignment on the virus for my beauty therapy course, I have learnt a lot. You are probably all thinkign, what has Aids got to with beauty therapy? Well believe it or not, you can actually contract it. It is very rare, but if the blood of an infected person gets under your cuticle,(eg, when you are doing a manicure) this is how the virus enters your bloodstream... so anyway I was researching info but when I stumbled across the amount of stories, I wanted to read them. I admire you all for being so brave to come out and tell these stories and want all of you to know I feel for each and everyone of you... try and keep your heads up high. I know it is easy for me to say... but i think by doing this, things always seem better then what they are.
Take care all, Amy.

Take the test or there will ge NO SEX!!!

Hello. I came to this site by browsing in yahoo and well i was very touched with these stories. i am so sorry for those who are HIV positivebecause they must be going through hell right now. We need to stop this crazy spread right now!! More and more people are getting infected every minute and they don't even know it. and most of them are tenagers who are probably "experimenting" with each others. Just think of it like this, sex is a drug and drugs are harmfull. It's all right if you take a little of it but you have to read the bottle first. What i mean is if you want to have sex (drug) then you have to (read the bottle) get tested first. If you don't do that there is a 50-50 chance of contracting the virus. I have to say that me being young (14 to be exact) I know much about what this virus can do to you and me. Noyone is protected.. not even i am protected. But we just have to take the necessary precautions to stop the spread. When one gets infected tha cycle begins again.

I was just informed rather informally that I may have come in contact with someone who is HIV positive. I have been tested prior to this information and I am not sure that I should get tested again what are my chances of having this disease. According to this girl who I probably only had sex with maybe once or twice, she said that all of her other partners are HIV negative and that she believes that I am the only one she was not careful with. she claims I have an obligation to get retested and to inform any and all people who may be at risk that I am seeing right now. I don't know who to go to or who to talk to. I don not know much about this virus, what can you tell me