My Lucky Number

I've just came back from a much-needed vacation.  For a few days, I made my life feel like the old days.  I wished I could just stay there in paradise and escape from reality.  But then I reminded myself that I have to face this challenge.  Life is not all about sitting by the sandy beach sipping glasses of banana shakes.  I know it's going to be a bumpy road up ahead but maybe, just maybe, I can still avoid the potholes if I am going to be careful.

Today, I went to the Hills again.  I've only realized now that going there is kind of stressful.  I work during the day, Mondays to Fridays, which means that I have to find another excuse to file another leave of absence every time I go there.  I really hate not going to work but I also hate getting sick often so I have to make a few sacrifices.  Either I don't show up at work sometimes or I don't show up at work often.

I was thankful Ate A was there.  She's one of the friendliest people I know.  It was a busy day at the Hills today.    No less than five pozzies were there and she attended to us all.  Two were there to get their supplies of Darna pills; one was having rashes just like me more than a week ago; one was feverish due to the Darna pills he took; another was a very old lady complaining about her Darna pills getting lost in transit by FedEx; and another one was just there selling some handbags to another lady pozzie.

Almost everyone was accompanied by their real moms while the lola was accompanied by her apo.  I almost cried at the thought that I went there by myself.  But no, I have to stop being such a whiny kid.  The reason my mom was not with me was because of my decision not to disclose it to her.  The rashes-kid's mom looked at me and smiled.  She looked really worried and started talking about how her son ate a can of Spam last night.  I told her that I had the same rashes a week ago and they're all gone now thanks to the anti-histamine the derma prescribed me.  I then assured her not to worry much because the rashes look like they're just allergies and I told her son not to scratch them no matter what.

Meanwhile, the lola was on the phone talking to a FedEx guy.  She was mad because according to her, she hasn't taken her meds for three days because of the delay in delivering them to her place.  She then gave the FedEx guy some directions and put down the phone.  I'm amazed at how healthy looking she was.  Yes, she is really old, probably more than 65 years old and living with HIV!  She has been so for almost two decades now; wow, what an inspiration!

Finally, it was my turn with Ate A and she told me about my results.  My lucky number is 338 (a friend already texted it to me yesterday though so I wasn't surprised anymore).  That's a bit short so that means that I am now a candidate for ARVs.  The X-ray says I've got a normal chest, whew; I've got no syphilis, yey; my overall CBC's looking good, amen; no TB exposure (I already know about that); but then, I knew there was going to be a catch.  I am also positive for another STI, HBV - transmission and the works are all the same as HIV's but it eats my liver instead which means no more alcohol for me from now on.  Ate A sent me to the laboratory right away so I could have my hepa profiling.  It's pretty much the package I've got and I think it's not that bad at all.