NOTE: I put "giddy" when it asked what mood I was in, but what I really wanted to say was "smug" !!! I am feeling very pleased with myself and my body indeed!!
Went to the Hospital yesterday to see my doc and get the dreaded results. The thing is I had to have 2 separate smear tests recently (the test for cervical cancer) and my hiv doc was gonna give me those results too and that really had me worried BUT:
It turned out fine! He said the smear test results were fine, I'm ok "down there" and all is in proper working order lol! And perhaps more importantly he gave me my numbers for the first time since starting treatment on Atripla….(drum roll please) My CD4 was a horrendous 139 on 6th October last year but it has gone up to 372!! WHOOP!!! Out of the danger zone! Still a way to go I suppose but the thing that makes me laugh is now my CD 4 is higher than my partner's and he has been told his is a much more recent infection than mine, so I've gone from being not far off full blown AIDS to better than someone with a recent infection in a matter of months (FYI they reckon I've had it for 4 years and I was only diagnosed in June 2010).
And my viral load has dropped from 308417 (Three hundred and eight thousand four hundred and seventeen) to just 145!!! Does anybody know what a "good" viral load is? undetectable I suppose…the thing is these results are from a blood test I had on 16th December so I suppose by now the numbers could be even better.
And the best thing was, I told him I wanted children (again) and he says there is a city about 3 hours drive from here that has a hospital that does sperm washing and stuff on the Spanish Social Security system so he will refer me and my fiance there soon!! I can't tell you how happy that makes me, I was crying tears of joy when I left his office, I thought I was going to be on the receiving end of prejudice (people thinking I'm selfish for wanting kids when there's a tiny chance I could pass the hiv on) but he was great and the best thing is I can get it all for free!
So just wanted to share that with you all cos ideally I'd love to shout it from the roof tops but I haven't "come out" yet so there's not that many people I can tell! Thanks to everyone who wished me luck, and I wish you all luck with your next test results!
Big hugs to all xxx
Thanks Debbie, it's good to know another woman who knows what I'm on about, in the last few years ALL of my hiv negative female friends have had kids and some are pregnant again and I was thinking I'd be joining them soon until my diagnosis in June 2010 so it was a right kick in the teeth. But like you say there's no reason to give up hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel and let's see if I can follow in you rfoot steps and be a great positive mum!!
Also thanks for info on the viral load guys, I'll let you know if I am undetectable after 27th April when I get my next results!!
And I'm gonna fight it!!!! Every single step of the way! I'm nothing if not pig headed!
happy for you . congrats..
Great News! Congratulations! Good luck with having a child, if you follow your doctors advice the risk of transmitting it to the child is extremely low.