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Committed to her community services work and maintaining family life, Dianne’s diagnosis came late in her journey. She had been chronically ill for approximately eight months and, after having a grand mal seizure, was taken to hospital experiencing memory loss.
Doctors did a brain scan and diagnosed her with five brain tumours and secondary brain cancer. Within four days, she was operated on to remove what they could; however, what they found in that operation was a significantly compromised immune system and toxoplasmosis on the brain.
“I remember being in Recovery and the medical team started asking questions about previous illnesses I’d experienced,” Dianne explains.
“By this point, I was six months into some of the most horrible illnesses – fungal infections so bad I was losing toenails and a debilitating cough, which I eventually understood to be pneumocystis phenomena (PCP).”
Dianne had been doing her best to self-manage these illnesses: going to her GP as needed, taking sick leave and persevering, hoping to get on top of them.
“While I was in hospital, I started to understand that the doctors were recognising each of these conditions as AIDS-defining illnesses,” she recalls.
A test and treatment offered Dianne a lifeline.
A few days later, while still recovering from surgery in the Neurology Ward, she was visited by a specialist and a social worker.
She says: “They were clearly anxious about the news they brought, and simply said, ‘You know the test you signed for?’, and I acknowledged I did, and they nodded affirmatively. I took a big breath in and breathed out a sigh of relief and said, ‘Thank god for that!’”
Medical staff were shocked by Dianne’s reaction, but to her, a diagnosis of HIV and AIDS was a treatable condition.
“All I could think was you have just given me a life sentence, when I’ve been living the last week with a death sentence,” she explains.
As a mum of four, Dianne’s disclosure and recovery came with many layers.
Treatment started immediately, with Dianne continuing in hospital for the next few months to get on top of her late diagnosis.
She chose to tell each of her children and had to manage not only their emotions, but who they might speak with about it, and her youngest had to be tested himself.
Stigma, even in 2010, was very real. Medical staff encouraged against sharing her diagnosis, but Dianne – knowing her health depended on living her truth and doing all that she could to build her immune system back up, which included taking antiretroviral treatments, was honest with herself and her close circle.
“My partner, who I had been with for years since separating from my ex-husband, was my rock. Without his love and support, I’m not sure I would have coped,” she says.
Nine years on from Dianne’s HIV diagnosis and many challenges later (she survived a rapidly advancing breast cancer in 2018), she manages her life and health a little differently to the earlier years.
“I’ve changed how and what I eat, and I know that I can only work two days a week to keep myself optimal at all times. Earlier on, I used that time as the National Chair for Women with HIV, and in speaking opportunities with the Health Minister and for Pozhet. More recently, I give that time to working in an HIV outreach team and speaking publicly about being a woman with HIV,” Dianne says.
“I think when you get that diagnosis, you go into a state of grief and shock. You must be gentle on yourself – give yourself time and space to accept it, find your place and move forward. For me, that took a couple of years. There is no right or wrong time.”
After a lifetime of regular blood donation, Colin realised he hadn’t donated for a while and wanted to start again. He was living in Wollongong and studying nursing at the time. Prior to attending the Red Cross Blood Bank, he had recently been sick to the point of having a temperature of over 41 degrees. He was admitted Wollongong A&E in which they had done a variety of tests, but they all came back negative. However, they did not test for HIV.
After he was better, he went to the blood bank and gave a litre of blood. A week later, he received a call from the Sydney-based blood bank requesting he come in for a follow up test as his blood donation had shown he was HIV-positive.
At the time of Colin’s diagnosis, he was 41 years old; however, he clearly remembers being in his mid-20s when the National Advisory Committee on AIDS (NACAID) aired its controversial Grim Reaper awareness campaign on Australian televisions in 1987.
“My first thoughts after that call were, ‘I’m finished – I’m dead’,” Colin says. “I didn’t know what to do, I had no one to talk to and I was recently separated from my wife, which became permanent after my diagnosis was confirmed.”
When Colin visited the Sydney HIV clinic and consulted with a doctor there, he realised it wasn’t all “doom and gloom.” Immediately, he commenced treatment and continued to travel to the Sydney clinic for his medication and blood tests, out of fear he would be recognised by attending his local clinic.
“When I eventually switched to my local clinic, they were great – they reassured me of confidentiality in the industry, which was important because I was a registered nurse working in a hospital by then. Once I learned my diagnosis wasn’t the end of me and that I could still have kids if I got treatment, I was able to be a bit more upfront about my situation, especially with colleagues,” Colin explains.
Colin rode with the bumps and decided to wear his HIV on his sleeve.
In addition to his HIV, Colin deals with an unrelated, hereditary blood condition called Factor V (five) Leiden, which increases his risk of blood clots. So he now has to take Warfarin. To top it all off, he had to come to terms with being diagnosed with depression, which actually came first. How does he deal with these setbacks? By playing a sport he is passionate about. As a goalkeeper in field hockey. It keeps him very well grounded and now plays with his youngest son.
But you can never know how someone will react when you tell them that you are HIV+. He says: “I’ve had an ambo freak out when I told him of all the meds I’m on, that I’m also on antiretroviral medication. I even got one whole wall of the emergency department to myself on that occasion, but I’ve learned to wear it on my sleeve. I’ve even made myself a friendship bracelet with red ribbons on it for World AIDS Day. I’m not ashamed about it. I just manage it.”
Colin has four kids and told all of them about his diagnosis, and – like the bracelet – he started putting HIV-related stickers on his fridge, which opened the door for conversations at home with his kids.
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there and even while I was going through my treatment, teachers were teaching my kids the wrong ‘facts’.
My youngest was 14 at the time and I came up with some myth-busting style questions, like: did you know I’m not going to die from HIV? He started crying because, from what he had learned, he thought I was.”
Colin has found solace in opportunities that enable to create better awareness of risks of infection with mates in his hockey team. He has also embraced his ability to recognise moments, in his profession, where those facing a possible diagnosis needed to talk to someone ‘who knew’ that being HIV-positive was not the “be all and end all.”
Living his best life.
“My philosophy now,” he says, “is – I’m positive, get over it. You’re negative. Everything is fine. When people find out I’m positive – whatever their reaction is, that’s on them.”
For Colin, learning of his HIV-positive diagnosis hasn’t changed the way he lives. He manages his condition, which means his viral loading is non-existent. “It always is undetectable,” he says.
As for advice for someone newly diagnosed, he offers this: “It’s not the end of the world. Life still goes on. You can still have a normal life. You can still have a relationship. If you are a woman or a man – you can still have kids. The biggest thing is the shame factor and I’m not ashamed of being HIV positive. I will always be positive about being positive.”
Some people find relief from allergies using herbal remedies such as butterbur, stinging nettle, or quercetin. However, it's essential to use caution with herbal remedies as they can interact with medications and may not be safe for everyone.
Colds are never fun and trying to mother with a cold can be downright difficult. If you are not feeling well with runny nose and cough, lots of fluids and rest is always a good recipe for getting back to normal. Cold symptoms last 6-10 days with symptoms peaking on day 4-5 and subsiding by day 7-10. If your symptoms are worsening by 7 days into a cold, you should see your doctor. If you run a fever beyond 3-4 days, medical care should be sought. Flu-like symptoms are not a normal part of a common cold and may be indicative of a breast infection or other illness. Consult your physician if you experience these. Otherwise rest and sleep when baby sleeps.
If you are ill and not feeling well, you may inadvertently skip feedings or feel the need for someone else to feed your baby. This may cause a decrease in your milk supply. To maintain your supply, make sure you get plenty of rest, drink fluids, and continue to eat three meals a day and three snacks. It is safe to continue to breastfeed even when you are ill unless your doctor advises otherwise. Your body will produce antibodies that pass into your milk and protect your infant from your infection. Breastfed babies do experience illness and can pick up illness from others in their household but generally, the breastfed babies illness is less severe than formula fed infants and the infant recovers from illness sooner
Menstrual migraine refers to migraine attacks that are linked to menstruation, and that occur with your period.
They tend to be more severe and less responsive to treatment. They can also last longer than other types of migraine.
Most women also experience migraine at other times of the month. It’s thought that fewer than one in ten women have ‘pure menstrual migraine’. This is where you only have migraine during menstruation and not at any other times.
There is a link between migraine and falling levels of the hormone oestrogen. The natural drop in oestrogen levels before your period starts is linked to menstrual migraine. Women who have heavy and painful periods have higher levels of prostaglandin (another hormone), which has also been identified as playing a role in a menstrual migraine.
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