I never write on here now

A picture of us with our dogs at Praa Sands, Cornwall

I never write on here now. As really does anyone but but us care??

I do not think so at all

So now I use facebook mostly now. And twitter. Jut for me as I am well aware that non one gives one iota about us or our story/
Why should then. HIV dues not implicae on your life in any way......not until the very moment it does........and then......in some aspects it is too late!!

I want to stop ' preaching to the converted ' ........too fiking late for us.
And reach those of you who do not yet live with HIV
And think it will never happen to you an if you listen to me it NEVER will be of interest ??!!


If anyone is remotely interested you can follow us on either.
And we are so really OK at the minute. Doing really well on our ARVs and now me 63 in Feb and Barry 64 in Jan.
But today in Face-book I was today reminded of how dire parts of our journey has been so I will post the memory it brought up here.

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As a post on Facebook reminded me of when Barry was really ill with AIDS and was discharged from hospital to come home as they could do no more for him. As it was by then a question of if the drugs worked for him he would live, if not he wouldn't.

One horrible night I had to call out the duty Serco doc as he was so very ill, could not breath, was puking and distressed and it was so very scary. For us both.

It has changed now and thank goodness - http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/commissioning/commissioning-topics/urgent-care/cornish-doctors-take-over-out-of-hours-contract-from-serco/20009214.fullarticle

I called the duty doctor service in real desperation, I am his partner/wife ( since 1985)  and then at that time his nurse and I also had not long found out I also had HIV myself and my numbers were also not at all good.

I was was sooooo alone with it all.
We had no help really then at all . Except for Barry's 2 friends. You know who you are and we will never forget the support you gave him and your kindness.
But no one except one of them came to see us or offered us anything at all.
We felt we were and in essence we were, truly alone.

I had therefore to call them........ I tried not to but I was so truly scared that night. I am not medically trained I am not a nurse although I had to be one. If he had died that night no one could have changed that. But I wanted his passing, if it was to happen.,  to be as good as it could be. I felt inadequate to achieve this .

So I called our then out of hours doctor service ..................got this totally disinterested doc who had been brought in from Spain to do the weekend shift in Cornwall for huge/shit loads amounts of money and who could hardly speak english and had not even bothered even to read his notes.

Nor do I even think he even looked at Barry at all - except to enter the door  just inside his room which was dark as Barry was photosensitive then and could not stand any light. Just to stand by the door and ask him a couple of questions.

I was a wimp as was so upset then and living with HIV myself was so very new to me ( and the last time I had been so 'close up and personal' with HIV was when my close friend and one time lover Derek died of AIDs in 1984)

So I was so very scared and said to the doctor I was scared he would die that night.

The doc said No he will be playing football for England in 50 years!!!!!

As he was already then in his 50s and has never in his life played or liked football and will be 100+ years in another 50 years . It was dire at the time and so scary to find in truth we did not even have any real help at all, not even from a doctor we called.

But we often joke about this now.

Whenever he gets unwell now we ask is it time for him to take up football finally before its too late?