Stories

Like many HIV-positive women I have met over the years since D day, I too was only diagnosed because I was pregnant. Since my early 20's my mother informed me...

The time has come for me to bear my burden with purpose and to use my experience to educate those who stand where I stood. This is a start. I've...

"I am going to die, I won't be able to have any more kids. .. what about my son!?" I was sobbing over my doctor's desk, hyperventilating in what felt...

July 4th, 1993. I was diagnosed with HIV. My mother and I both. It was my 2nd birthday. My mother had been ill for some years but due to the...

Are there really Straight Men Living with HIV? Where are they, why are they in Hiding? These Are the Questions asked on a Continuous Basis. As we prepare for National...

I've been having a consistent anxiety attack for the past few days of the new year... I think a lot, my blood pressure is on the increase. As someone that...

I just wanted to share that my Dr put me on stress vitamins and it helps with my immune system, and I immediately can tell the difference. Interested in sharing...

Being HIV positive, we face plenty of fears; one of mines was losing my pretty privilege. Our society applauds those who are attractive and awards them in every aspect of...

I have been living with HIV for 26 years. I was 26 years with a 9-month-old baby. I have seen medication evolve. I went from 21 pills to 2 pills...

In May 1984 little was known about HIV/AIDS. I cashed in points from a hotel chain and headed to Acapulco, México for a week. On Tuesday of that week at...

I'm grateful to be able to share my story. It's been a long and bittersweet journey since my HIV diagnosis in 1990. I can't say I was shocked when I...

First, being diagnosed feels like you have been given a life sentence. You feel isolated and alone. You are left within the whirlwind of your thoughts and emotions. It is...

Exactly one week before my twenty-first birthday I got dealt a card that wasn’t just going to turn me into another statistic. I did not sulk and I did not...

I was 20 years old, in my 3rd year in the university when a school club I belonged to arranged for free HIV testing. I was just curious because I...

Who is Octavia Y. Lewis, MPA, and what makes her who she is? Octavia often struggles with this question because at times she tries to be so many things that...

When you were a kid, you were probably asked at least once, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I never really knew how to answer this...

My story with HIV starts from my very beginning. I was born with HIV in 1988 to a mother that received her HIV from a blood transfusion. I was on...

Found out I was positive three weeks before partner passed of pancreatic cancer. He had been positive for over a year and didn't tell. Leading up to that point, I...

I was married to my ex-husband and he went behind my back and slept with a woman that was HIV positive. He did not tell me and I slept with...

Often in my work in person or online I’m asked, “How long did it take you to feel better after your diagnosis and back to your old self?" Well, before...