[ADULT - Medical Update] Angelsboi Q & A

[Darrin Drader]

What ever happened with Magic Johnson? I remember that he was one of the early people successfully treated with AIDS meds and then a few years ago they announced that he was the first AIDS patient to go through a long term treatment and have no traces of the virus remaining in his system. Did he try going off the drugs? Did it come back? Or was he effectively cured? I find the latter much less likely than the former, but I'm curious nonetheless.

 

[mythusmage]

Recovery?

I expect Ryan's virus will be under control in a few days. But full control won't happen for a few months. In the long term it's my hope he has a long, satisfying life with tons of friends and relatives gathered around his death bed wondering when the decigenarian is going to kick off so they can start squabbling over his vast fortune. Will it happen? Not bloody likely.

What I'm hearing here are young people going, "This can't be happening." It's happening, and not just to Ryan. There are literally millions of young men and women like Ryan dying, and for many of them there's damn all you can do about it.

This aint supposed to happen to people like Ryan. It's not the fact he's too good a person. It's not the fact he is, in a very real sense, a friend. He's too young, and the fact that someone as young as he is facing a possibly early death is very discomforting to some people.

To be very cruel here, Ryan could die before his meds start working. His state is that precarious. The only thing that'll pull him through is his attitude. He gives up he's gone. But I strongly doubt he'll give up, he's got me to prove wrong for one. Besides which, if he does die he'll miss Return of the King. (There's always reincarnation, but the prospect of having to wait another 15 to 20 years to catch the trilogy on local TV (with commercials) would be enough to keep me going in this life even with a terminal condition.)

In short, young people die, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it. Ryan could very well be one of them. I pray it doesn't happen, but I will not deny the possibility. Every day he lives is a victory, and when he posts here to tell us of his day, that is cause for a small celebration. I hope to see years of such celebrations, but even if we get but a few days with Angelsboi, the simple fact we got to know him for a short time is still a triumph in its own right.

And, Ryan, if you do decide to prove me right and expire come Friday, you'd better believe that when I die I'm going to have some words with you. So you'd better enjoy those 30 or 40 years of Heavenly bliss 'cuz when I show up I'm gonna blister your ears.

 

[Darkness]

What ever happened with Magic Johnson?

A quick Googling turned up this:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/basketball/5650867.htm

 

[Umbran]

1) When do you think you were infected? At what age then and what age are you now? I ask because it takes 3+ years for an infected person to develop AIDS.

I'm not Angelsboi, but I can say something here: Don't confuse the average behavior with all behavior. Usually AIDS takes 3+ years to develop, but only usually. There are cases where the patient progresses to full-blown AIDS very quickly, and cases where the HIV+ person never develops AIDS at all.

 

[Bloodstone Mage]

*bump*

Wondering where Angelsboi is and how he's doing...

 

[Benben]

<B>Questions for Angelsboi</B>
2) What made you sure it was oral sex? I remember an article in the NY Times in the mid-90s about the rising rate of infection from oral sex but you hear precious little of it nowadays.

It's there, the science (in the US anyway) has been a little weak, but a definitive study has been written:

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/oralsexqa.htm

And everything you wanted to know about AIDS/HIV:
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts.htm

 

[Benben]

I posted without giving Angelsboi kidly words or an internet hug. Poo on me.

I'm reading you livejournal and it looks like things are slowly getting better. You've got a big cheerleading and support squad for you up here in Idaho. You've touched more people than you suspect, so keep with and so you can touch a lot more people.

 

[Angelsboi]

Ok

Sorry been really depressed and sick.

1. I have less than 10 T cells, prolly none. When you reach 250 T Cells by CDC standards, its full blown AIDS. I contracted in in December b/c Everyone else i had sex with has come back negative. TWICE.

2. I knew it was oral sex b/c the guy i did it with i KNEW was positive. Oral sex, they say, is a LOW LOW risk factor for catching it. Well guess what. I botched my roll. I wasnt about to have sex with someone positive. We had oral sex, i had an abcessed tooth and no one esle i was with after has came back positive. You do the math.

Mythusmage is right. Guys im very sick. You dont know how bad this is. Im fine fora couple of days and then there are days i get really really sick.

How?

The bacteria that we normally fight off, i cant. You all have T Cells around 1000.

Mine are less than 10.

 

[William Ronald]

Ryan,

Hang in there. A lot of us are pulling for you.

Do whatever it takes to stay healthy. I hope to one day meet you at a future EN World Gathering at Gen Con.

 

[mythusmage]

Add in a guy who's immune system wasn't that hot to begin with...

Ryan, when you get to feeling better, take it easy. I know it's tempting to go hopping all over the place when you're feeling better, but it's counter productive. Take your time, and let your strength build back up slowly. Resist overdoing it.

BTW, glad to see you made it past Friday, and I hope this finds you feeling even better come Sunday.

And a note for others reading this:

One of the bad things about having friends is you lose them. Sometimes they move away, sometimes they become enemies. Sometimes they die. Even young friends like Angelsboi. And there's not a damned thing you can do about it. 'Tis my hope Ryan has a long, fruitful, and healthy life ahead of him. But I shall not deny his condition and will consider every day he lives a victory for us both.

That being said, Ryan, if your death is (in my opinion) premature, you're getting an earful when I croak. You have been warned.