Ramblings of An Aging Gay Guy

Today I am saddened to hear about the suicide of transgender teenager Leelah Alcorn.  She killed herself by throwing herself in front of an 18-wheeler truck on an interstate by her house.  She was demonized by her parents and ostracized by her peers.  How does anyone’s soul deserve such cruelty?  How does such hate exist in this world that people fear that which is different?  I just can not wrap my mind around that. Here is Leelah’s suicide note, left on her blog http://lazerprincess.tumblr.com/ : If you are reading this, it means that I have committed suicide and obviously failed to delete this post from my queue. Please don’t be sad, it’s for the better. The life I would’ve lived isn’t worth living in… because I’m transgender. I could go into detail explaining why I feel that way, but this note is probably going to be lengthy enough as it is. To put it simply, I feel like a girl trapped in a boy’s body, and I’ve felt that way ever since I was 4. I ne...

So today I went to the doctor's office to get my pneumonia and flu vaccinations.  She gave me a shot in each arm.  It didn't hurt at all when she gave them to me, not like I was expecting it to.  I always fear needles and I hate getting shots, but each time is never as bad as I feared.   The pneumonia vaccination she gave me was called Prevnar 13 (www.prevnar13.com) is a newer vaccine, one which guards against 13 different strains of pneumonia.  People with HIV are at much higher risk of pneumonia infections (not just PCP) so we must get this vaccination to guard against this risk.  What is additionally scary is that 70% of healthy adults carry the S pneumoniae bacteria at any given time.  Also, over 302,000 adults over the age of 50 are hospitalized each year for pneumonia.  Concurrently, we are seeing higher numbers of people over 50 contract HIV (because the ones who have always had HIV get older and also because of a rise in infections in peop...

So today I had an interview and I think it went well, though I suck at being able to judge such things.  In the past I have sworn that an interview went perfect and then not get the job, and I have also felt as though an interview went really awful and then ended up getting a job offer.  So, I am not good at guaging such things.  I do know that it was easy to interview with the two ladies; they were personable and easy to talk to.  I gave honest answers with a positive spin, so all I can do is hope I did OK. I spent the rest of today just doing nice things for myself.  I had lunch at the town square downtown.  I had an amazing veggie burger, and the veggie burger was made from scratch.  I also splurged and got myself 4 sea salt caramel chocolates from the chocolate store.  I had a nice relaxing time today, though I am so ready to go home and crash into my pajamas.  (I am at Taco Bell at the moment, having a very naughty early dinner.)

Thankfully I have a modern doctor who uploads the full lab report to a secure patient portal.  Incidentally, I am also able to utilize this portal for questions in btween my twice-yearly HIV doctor visits, which makes me feel secure. So I received my lab results back yesterday and they are not good.  Oh, the biggies (at least the labs I thought were the most important) were good.  My CD4 and CD% are both increasing and I am still undetectable.  But...then I looked further at my lab report.  My triglycerides were 385!! And my fasting glucose was 119.  These are terrible numbers.  I dug a little deeper and looked at my previous few labs for the past year and a half.  The numbers were just as bad, the triglycerides are much worse now than before, though they have been rising each lab.  My glucose is one point away from a diabetes diagnosis. My doctor has chided me before on my triglycerides, cholesterol, and blood sugar.  For whatever...

Well, the unthinkable has happened.  A week ago I contracted the dreaded man cold.  It started out on Thanksgiving morning when I woke up with a sore throat, a burning awfulness at the back of my throat.  Then came the sneezing, then came the 24/7 runny nose and nasal congestion. I must have went through 3 or 4 rolls of toilet paper.  I was blowing my nose so often, it made more sense to keep a roll of toilet paper nearby than multiple boxes of tissues. Then again, I have always preferred toilet paper to tissues, but that is neither here nor there I suppose. At first I thought it was allergies, as I was visiting my brother and his family in Nashville.  I assumed I was having a reaction to the different pollen that is there, that my body was not acclimated to the new fauna and flora.  Or I thought it was an allergic reaction to my brother's menagerie of pets.  I have an innate weakness for cute, sweet animals and I kept his fur babies close most o...

AIDS Is Going to Lose | Chevron Today is World AIDS Day, a day set aside that is dedicated to raise awareness of the global AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. We also take time to remember those we have lost to this pandemic. People often associate HIV/AIDS with third-world countries; you may imagine an African child with flies swirling around them, an orphan to AIDS due to lack of resources. But you may be surprised to know the Washington DC metro area has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world. As of 2013, HIV has killed more than 36 million people. Just last week, we lost a 29 year old here in the US due to HIV. People still die from HIV, even in the US. 2 million people die yearly from AIDS, 270,000 of which are children. Why do people still die? Red tape. Lack of public interest. Lack of will. Lack of easy, affordable access to life-saving medicine or care. In the US, one must spend hours and hours each month just to secure medicine, even...