WHEN MY HUSBAND AND I MARried in September 2020, the biggest obstacle in our minds was COVID.
We never anticipated that an entirely different virus was about to have such a profound impact on our lives.
We bought a house together and one year after we were married, I was nine weeks pregnant and attending a prenatal visit.
During what I thought would be my first ultrasound appointment, one of by the doctors pulled me aside and gave me the news that shook my world: I had tested positive for HIV.
When they brought my husband in and shared the news with him, he took my hand and assured me that we were in this together.
All I could think at the time was that I was going to die, and possibly my baby, too.
Fortunately, the news from the doctors was not as grim as my initial fears led me to believe. They said that my viral load the amount of HIV in my blood was low, meaning it could be well managed with the use of antiretroviral drugs.
These medications would not only keep me healthy but also prevent HIV from transmitting to my unborn baby.
I started on the medications three weeks after I was diagnosed. Only three weeks after that-a mere six weeks after receiving my diagnosis the doctors tested my blood again.
I was thrilled to hear my viral load was undetectable, meaning I was very unlikely to pass HIV on to my husband or child.
The advancement of treatment gave me hope, but next step was overcoming the stereotypes associated with my HIV status.
Denne historien er fra December 29, 2023-utgaven av Newsweek US.
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Denne historien er fra December 29, 2023-utgaven av Newsweek US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Can Alternative Therapies Treat Cancer?
Doctor and breast cancer survivor Liz O'Riordan addresses misinformation around managing the disease
Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
