Drop-in center patients, staff say get tested for HIV
If you stop in at THE (Total Health Education) Group on Wednesdays, you could meet a great-grandmother, a young man who is a recovering alcoholic and a young woman who first came to the Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center simply to have a physical exam.
While their backgrounds and interests are varied, they all have something in common. They are living with HIV.
"I just didn't know what to do from there (being diagnosed). I felt like I was going to stop breathing," said Crystal, who started coming to THE Group three years ago after being told she was HIV-positive.
THE Group is a drop-in center in Waukegan for counseling, peer support, treatment education and sharing through the Health Department's confidential and anonymous program called NEED2KNOW for those with HIV-AIDS. People from all walks of life participate to share their views about an illness that has taken thousands of lives since the Centers for Disease Control first reported the disease in gay males 30 years ago.
Much has been learned about HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and the AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), but members of THE Group agree there are still misconceptions, stigma and a lack of awareness.
Probably the largest misconception, they agree, is people generally believe HIV is AIDS. It is not. A positive result from an HIV test does not mean the person tested has AIDS. Those with the virus do not have AIDS until they develop serious symptoms. AIDS is only a diagnosis, not a separate illness. With early detection from testing and medications that have improved over time, people are living longer and stronger. Many who attend THE Group sessions are diagnosed as having undetectable viral loads, which means their medications are stopping destruction of white blood cells that help protect the body.
Without testing, there is no early diagnosis and members in THE Group point out the importance of being tested for HIV. June 27 is National HIV Testing Day as designated by the National Association of People with AIDS. Typically not a test requested by a physician during a routine physical exam, HIV can be carried by someone for years without any symptoms. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control says one of every five people living with HIV is unaware that he or she has the virus.
Liz Arias, the new peer advocate at the Health Department's Medical Management Clinic, was unaware until something traumatic changed her life. Liz discovered she was HIV-positive five years ago after her architect husband crashed their car into a tree. He was diagnosed after a visit to the doctor, but did not inform her. Instead, he decided to take his own life, her life and that of their unborn child by crashing their car into a tree. She learned of his diagnosis from insurance companies investigating the crash that killed him.
"Get tested every year to protect yourself. You are not with your partner for 24 hours a day," she said.
She and the unborn child survived the car crash, but Liz said she had to overcome several injuries, including loss of sight in one eye and three teeth, a broken arm and a burned leg. Liz gave birth to the baby, her third child, but she was turned away from family members in the United States because she was HIV-positive.
"I had to do what I had to do," she said, adding that she and her children lived in a shelter until she could find a job. "If you're alive, you have hope always."
The Medical Management Clinic, which provides medical services to individuals diagnosed with HIV-AIDS, and THE Group Drop-In Center are located at the Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center's Belvidere Medical Building in Waukegan.
The Group meets from noon to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. For clinic information or more information about HIV testing, call (847) 377-8450 or visit: www.lakecountyil.gov/health/want/Pages/HIVAIDS.aspx.