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A brand new look at HIV/AIDS
Lindsay Ord. 17 November 2005. Daily News. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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Nearly six years ago, businessman Alan Brand was diagnosed HIV-positive and given 18 months to live. Today, he is national HIV manager for a large hospitality services company and teaching others how to live with the disease - as opposed to living out a death sentence.
And, just in time for World AIDS Day on December 1, he has published a book Positively Alive (Jacana, R120) that chronicles his journey with HIV/AIDS and his practical and emotional approaches to it.
It also reveals how breaking the silence about his status helped Brand turn his HIV status into a positive force in transforming his life and the lives of others.
Today, his approach to the disease is a far cry from his shocked and terrified reaction to his doctor's diagnosis in 1999. It was the last thing he expected - a routine blood test during a general check-up had yielded the devastating result.
"I tried to think of what I knew about HIV and found it was very little," he recalls. "One thing I knew was that I was going to die of AIDS. How long did I have?"
I decided to remain silent about my status until I was ready to deal with it. I needed information and didn't know where to find it.
Information about HIV/AIDS was mostly about prevention and was based on frightening people into using condoms.
"I already knew I should have practised safe sex. I was well informed about the risk of HIV and that I would die of HIV/AIDS.
This information was useless at this point in my life. Every poster and pamphlet seemed intent on propagating this type of fear-based information.
"Information about living with HIV is difficult to obtain. I felt that if I asked for help, people would suspect I had HIV," writes the divorced father of two daughters who now lives with his long-term male partner.
In 1999, Brand's CD4 count had dropped to 236 and he was told to start antiretroviral therapy or he would be dead within 18 months. He was angry that a doctor could "play God" and tell him how long he had to live. But it prompted him to change his attitude.
He called a friend, Trevor Castle, an empowerment therapist, and started on the journey of accepting HIV/AIDS and learning to live positively with it.
He began therapy, taking vitamin supplements, using meditation and visualisation and also started talking to the virus.
"Looking back," he says, "the biggest change in myself was an attitude of forgiveness.
Six weeks after taking his positive approach his CD4 count had risen to 549. The viral load had dropped to an undetectable level.
He also disclosed his status to his daughters and the rest of his family and in January 2003, he was appointed group national HIV/AIDS manager for his employer, Fedics.
"HIV is not curable but is most certainly treatable and drug therapies are becoming more affordable and accessible," he says.
"Through the more effective treatment of opportunistic infections and the introduction of a healthy balanced diet and a holistic approach to wellness, HIV/AIDS has become a manageable disease and is no longer a death sentence.
I believe drug therapy should be available and affordable to all who make the choice to use it.
"The virus lives in me but does not own me. I am not a victim of HIV/AIDS. I am not a sufferer.
"We all need to know our HIV status and this will enable us to take positive steps to live a healthy life and protect the health of others. We need to know whether we are infected so we can take proper action." |
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