JT Otis, M.Mus.

Doing anything takes practice and patience with yourself as you begin new medications. Experiences with PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis), or ART (antiretroviral treatment) require taking the drugs on...

Life for me has been about intensely pursuing routine lately. Occupying my mind with things to do. Being intentional about my time and my thoughts. Staying busy has become a...

Taking PrEP every day isn’t complicated. If you are taking it i pill form, it’s just one pill a day and you have pretty excellent protection against HIV if you...

If you’ve been following my PrEP journey, you might want to know a little more about me. My name is JT and I am a proud Black musician from the...

I have a newfound appreciation for the communities I am apart of. In times of separation, we cling tighter to the communities in which we can’t physically interact with. Church...

I am one of many Americans that are pre-hypertensive, meaning my blood pressure is usually slightly elevated than normal. However, it’s not chronically high to the point that I need...

I feel like the battle of all battles is being fought in our communities. In one corner, you have the newcomer: a little blue pill that you have to take...

At the height of the HIV epidemic resources were allocated heavily to urban areas. This was the site of the most cases and the center of most research institutions and...

When I receive a phone call or a video call unexpectedly, I am always surprised a little bit. I am so accustomed to the quick and short responses of text...

In a time of social distancing, keeping up a routine is a perfect way to remind ourselves of what we need to take care of ourselves. This may be mother...

Have you ever held a grudge against someone? My grudge partner is my older brother. We’ve become seasoned veterans of the blame game. Our usual point of contention has always...

I’m not sure if I shared this with you, but I came to learn about PrEP through being broke. I was just out of school and need some cash to...

PrEP or pre-exposure prophylaxis has been out here for over seven years, I believe. It has been shown to reduce the transmission of HIV by more than ninety percent when...

Sex continues to be a taboo subject for most people I know in my community in the United States. There's a lot of shame and embarrassment surrounding a topic that...

Talking about sexual health is awkward. There are personal barriers that prevent friends and family from being that go-to person to talk to about issues affecting someone with HIV. So...

I find that I am constantly bombarded with visual images from my television, phone, ipad, and computer. I feel constantly connected to work, friends, family and strangers through ‘timelines’, ‘likes’...

The spread of HIV has drastically improved over the last thirty years. As medications and therapies get better, less and less cases are becoming the norm and people living with...

Working out is one of the things that bring me joy. As a kid I disliked it quite a bit. I was that person in gym class that never liked...

It is amazing to have access to thousands of profiles with a glimpse of an individuals’ face and a little blurb about them. You are about to private message them...