My Awesome New Doc and the hilarity behind it

Kinda new to all this blogging stuff but I really think I have a lot to say. The last two posts were things I’ve written in the past and posted on FB, which has been my outlet for the past few years.

Living with AIDS in Wyoming has been difficult and easy at the same time. There are no close infectious disease physicians here and the general practitioners do their level best to help me but they are afraid they are going to screw up.  I’m constantly caught between the two.  I was having to go to Billings, Montana for treatment, which can be difficult in winter.  Because I’ve had this darn disease so long and was on so many clinical trials at Johns Hopkins back in the early 90’s, my virus has become resistant to just about everything.  I got into an argument with my ID doc about 6 months ago because, although I was failing on the drugs, she wanted me to continue on them anyway.

They make me very sick, I told her, and if they aren’t working, why should I take them? They cost around $3,000 a month, too. Granted, I have insurance, thank goodness, but with my co-pays, I still pay around $300 a month. Why would I continue to take pills that a) make me sick b) aren’t working c) are expensive???  Well, she told me that if I wasn’t willing to stay on them, she wasn’t going to do any more bloodwork!  Who works for whom here?

So, a new medical person comes here to Buffalo, a really nice Nurse Practitioner, who married a great cowboy I know.  I decided I’d give her a try. I really like nurses..surprise, surprise, being one myself.  Well, before I could make a “well woman” visit to discuss all my myriad of ailments, I had a rather hilarious event happen that made us meet a little sooner than expected!

I had gotton my husband, Rob, a new camera for Christmas and he was just dying to go check out the eagles on the prairie and see how it worked.  So, we all bundled into the F250 Super Duty, with fresh cups of coffee and headed off!  As we are driving, I decided I needed something out of my purse and instead of putting the coffee cup in the cup holder like any sane person would, I put it between my legs…..do you see where this is going?

The boiling cup of coffee spilled right into my lap, I’m screaming for Rob to stop the car, he’s not sure why…finally get him to stop…I do a stop, drop and roll out of this enormous truck, landing into soft, deep snow (thank God) but not before sustaining some serious burns between my legs…..ouch, ouch, ouch!

Anyway, so I meet Sandy Ham, NP with 2^nd degree burns all over my legs and hoohah…not a dignified way to meet your new medical savior!  She and I discussed what had been happening with the docs in Billings and she told me that she had worked with tons of AIDS patients in Dallas before coming here and that she understood that we all have our own way of dealing with the disease and that if I choose to or choose not to take meds, it’s my decision…..OMG!!! So, we are now embarking on a new odyssey together!  My latest labs aren’t near as bad as I was expecting.  My t-cells are 77, having been as low as 3 (I named them Manny, Moe and Jack back then) and my viral load is only 75,000, which ain’t too shabby.

I will go into my diet some other time but suffice it to say I am mostly a vegan now although I do love BACON! I don’t eat anything that comes out of a box or can and although a vegan I eat no soy as I’ve heard it can disrupt your hormones.

Anyway, enough for the moment.  Hope you enjoy this and feel free to write me.