This disease scares the crap out of me, honestly. I really cannot imagine my life with the disease, so I try not to. I feel like it is easy to sympathize with others like the character in my book or hypothetical situations like we deal with in our assignments. I don't think anybody can fully empathize until it happens to them. All I can do now is try to educate myself as much as possible and make the right decisions regarding the disease. I usually put it into the back of my mind after I finish the assignments or write these blogs, but it really does affect me while it is fresh in my mind. This is a serious disease and I am so thankful I have HIV free. Yet there are a few more months of learning left in the semester I am sure I'll be an HIV/AIDS expert by the time our final grades come out!
DID YOU KNOW....
While searching for my fun fact for the week I came across some interesting ones dealing with a HIV positive mother giving the disease to their newborn baby. This was also fresh in my mind after reading the novel for the book report assignment. What are the chances?
"What is the likelihood that an HIV positive mother will transmit her HIV infection to her newborn baby, if the mother does not receive any anti-retroviral therapy?"
---->>25%. If women receive a combination of anti-retroviral therapies during pregnancy, the risk of HIV transmission to the newborn baby drops to below two percent. (HIV and Women 2009)
"Which factor does not increase the likelihood that an HIV positive mother will transmit her infection to her newborn child?"
---->>Delivery by Cesarean section. A delivery by Cesarean section decreases the risk for HIV transmission to the newborn, and is strongly recommend for HIV positive mothers with high viral loads. HIV is transmitted by breast milk, and for that reason HIV positive mothers should bottle feed their infants. (HIV and Women 2009)
I thought there would be a 100% chance since the child grows inside the infected mother's body? You learn something new everyday!
source: HIV and Women. 2009. Retrieved September 30th, 2009 from http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/HIV-and-Women-187490.html
Hey Murb,
ReplyDeleteI really think you speak my mind in this blog! I totally agree with you that after reading the books we chose and learning more about the disease that can take control of your body if you have HIV changed my way of thinking about life. I know I was about to throw up when I was doing module 4, and looking at the pictures Teach had on the slides. They were very, very, very disgusting but they got me thinking: What would it feel like if I looked in myself in the mirror and saw all the lesions on my tongue?, and the holes in my skin?, I think that alone will kill me!!!
When I read the book "Naked Truth" for my assignment it also had an impact on me. You say that HIV scares the crap out of you. I don't think that is your fualt. The disese is a major problem. However I think that the way we grow up being tuaght about the disease creates fear in us about HIV at a young age. If we spent more time educating about HIV then more people would not have to be so scared of it. I think that this fear is not helpful its what helps create the stigma we have about HIV right now. If we could erase any fears then maybe more people may not be affraid of getting tested. Also, it might stop any of the negitive stigmas and utlimate promote people to safe guard themselves from HIV.
ReplyDeleteI think we can all agree on this class being an eye opener. The life of someone who is HIV positive has many complications outside the health realm. Like you were saying in the book your reading, people's lives are hurt in more than one way. I see it as such a shame that this is happening everyday somewhere in the world. Also like Noor said, those pictures we have been looking at, are on somebody somewhere. It could be anyone, and we need to become aware of that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, being in this class makes you think a lot about what happens if you discover you have HIV. I honestly don't know how I would be able to tell the person I was involved with or even my family. I would be afraid of how they would treat me or how they would think about me, especially since it is sexually transmitted. Reading the story about someone else life and how they break the news to their families makes me a little more nervous.
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a good post. You came across as very honest and sincere in your thoughts and concerns. The HIV pregnancy data was interesting too.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will all be better informed on this issue and will continue to learn about it long after this class. Don't be afraid of HIV; respect what it can do to the human body and you will never put yourself in harms way. I learned early to give it respect rather than fear. It allowed me to adopt two children who were tested positive at birth because I knew I wouldn't do anything with them that could put me at risk and yet I could still be a mother and love them.
ReplyDelete