Why I Shouldn't Be Afraid to Call My Doctor BackThe first time I heard the term AFRAIDS was several years before I tested positive for HIV. A friend said it was a new disease killing people. It made people... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments3 comments
How (and Why) I Took Control of My Treatment PlanI could not choose the time and place I became HIV positive. But I did decide when and why I would begin my treatment. I believe my ongoing participation in... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments2 comments
How I'm Handling My Cancer DiagnosisMy first opportunistic infection was Kaposi Sarcoma. It was a viral cancer that created dark purple lesions across my body. In the plague years, it was also one of the... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments2 comments
What It Means to Get a Late-in-Life HIV DiagnosisLike everything else in life, things weren't supposed to turn out this way. In 1995 I was told to get my affairs in order. The next thing I knew, the... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments3 comments
Why Letting Go of What I Lost Was Actually a MistakeDespite being HIV positive for 30 years, only recently have I processed what happened to myself and my friends. I thought that acknowledging those I had known was enough. But... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments1 comments
An HIV Test Saved My Life, but Not How You ThinkI took my first and only HIV test 3 decades ago. It saved my life, but not in the way you might be thinking. I already knew the results, even... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments2 comments
What I Do When I Can't AnymoreIronically, I did not consider pursuing a career until I became HIV-positive. I had been very happy working front-line service-level jobs in the food and beverage industry. But something changed... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments4 comments
How I Handled the Failures on My Path to Treatment SuccessAs treatment options for HIV have changed, so have my personal views evolved. When I was first diagnosed, I resisted taking AZT, and now 30 years later, I am discussing... By Robert Brunet4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments1 comments
How Shingles Reminded Me HIV Health Is My Top PriorityYears ago, after a long Mardi Gras weekend, my partner woke up with a rash on his side. Within a few hours, it changed from a series of bumps into... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments8 comments
Planning a Vacation While Living with HIVI'm starting to get plans together for our upcoming Alaskan cruise. While I'm making sure I have the recommended attire and the suitable excursions planned, I know that as a... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments3 comments
Ready to Start ForgivingMy mother had a stroke on the morning of my 13th birthday. My father found her on the bathroom floor where she had fallen. I was the youngest child and... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments2 comments
How Anger Took Over My Life and How I Took My Life BackI don’t remember the first time I allowed my anger to take over. But there have been too many instances not to do something about it over the years. Allowing... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments1 comments
HIV Changed My Thoughts on Nutrition and How I EatI don’t think I gave my eating habits any thought until I received my HIV test results in 1994. I was 29 years old and had dabbled in "healthy food"... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments3 comments
What Are the Little Routines That Keep Me Going?Recently, I was confronted with a startling fact. During my annual physical, my doctor referred to me as 'someone in your age group.' It took me a moment to process... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments0 comments
When Disclosure is a Lifelong Experience, What Do You Do?My viral load has been undetectable for 20 years. This has kept opportunistic infections at bay, leaving me to deal with other challenges to my health. Like the time I... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments6 comments
Being HIV+ is Not a Crime, and That's Why I'm Speaking Out!I learned that being HIV+ was a crime in 1989. It was during a training session for a demonstration I participated in to protest the lack of and high cost... By Robert Brunet4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments3 comments
How I Spent Two Months Being ImmobilizedThe combination of an undetectable HIV viral load and avoiding serious injury to my body over the years led me to a false sense of invulnerability. That illusion was shattered... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments12 comments
From Kaposi Sarcoma to High Blood PressureIt started with a bruise on my thigh. I thought I had bumped into something, except it didn’t go away. I could run my finger over and feel the texture... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments2 comments
My Life With HIV and the BlahsDespite the gratitude journal and the affirmations posted in my bathroom, I sometimes feel uninspired about life for lengthy periods. Long-term living with HIV can be very repetitive. The daily... By Robert Brunet3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments6 comments
My Anxiety was Killing Me, So I Took 3 Deep BreathsI knew something was wrong when I cried every time I put my shoes on in the morning. It wasn't my feet that were hurting; it was everything else. Anxiety... By Robert Brunet4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments3 comments