Long-term survivors living with HIV about 30 years after diagnosis: “We are still here”

new york – continuation AIDS Walk New York It focuses on long-term survivors diagnosed before 1996.

Aundrea Cline-Thomas of CBS2 introduces the man who beat the odds.

“They started me with AZT. It was the only medicine available at the time, and I was taking a handful of AZT daily,” David Boger told Cline-Thomas. “I ate a cereal with AZT on it.”

“Poison pills” are what Boger called them. He was diagnosed with HIV in 1993. Later, due to an infectious disease, he was admitted to the hospital and doctors stated that his survival time was 6 months.

“Well, I thought I’d die someday, at least now I know when I’ll die,” Boger said. “The hard part was when I went to bed at night, I lay down on my bed and thought,’I’ll die in six months.’ It’s very disorganized and scary.”

At that time, HIV and AIDS were considered death sentences. Diagnosis also involves catastrophic stigma.

“In the 80’s and 90’s, there were no medications or treatments. Then there are one or two treatment options,” said Senior Director of GMHC’s ACRIA Center, formerly known as the health crisis for gay men. Douglas Hill says.

Hope came in 1996 as the number of new AIDS cases declined for the first time after the advent of effective antiretroviral therapies.

Currently, almost half of people diagnosed with HIV in the United States are over 50 years old. In 2018, one in six new cases of HIV were included in this group, but people who have lived with the virus for decades are known as long-term survivors.

“Why didn’t you spare this when you should have been dead,” Boger said. “Lazarus Syndrome, they call it when you come back to life and you weren’t expected.”

Boger and his family, armed with a sense of purpose, have raised funds to launch a long-term survivor hub at GMHC to expand services for the fastest growing population. The program is now named after Boger and is in memory of his longtime partner, Terry Brennais, who was also HIV positive.

“Long-term medication can have physical effects on people’s kidney, bone health, or other types of unexpected results and side effects,” Hill said.

In addition, regular health concerns associated with aging. And the isolation that COVID just made worse.

This year, Boger’s illness will prevent him from fully participating in AIDS Walk New York, but he is still celebrating.

“It’s one of the rallying points for all of us. We’re still here,” he said. “We may not seem to you, but it isn’t.”

I’m still here, celebrating many friends and loved ones who lived deliberately and died too early.

On March 31, GMHC will host a national conference for long-term survivors. click here Information about webins and resources for a population of 50 or more.

Aundrea Cline-Thomas

Aundrea Cline-Thomas is an Emmy Award-winning journalist. She participated in CBS2 News as a general affairs reporter in October 2018.

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