It has been a goal for many months, indeed it has been a goal since I was diagnosed back in March 2009. Suffice to say the goal posts have moved now… but what happened in the Royal yesterday?
Up at the HIV Clinic in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast it was great to see new faces, a few old ones and ones that have been there most days that I have been up.
New social worker
With Corinne having retired in June, there was a new social worker who has been in post for some months, he was very pleased to meet me, and I was very glad to have met him. Now I know who is responsible, if I need to contact him, I can do so. I look forward to working with him in the future. BTW his name is George.
Welcome back to the consultant
My HIV consultant has been off on maternity leave for quite some time, and today was the first time that I had seen her since she has been off. Great to see her back and she has been very pleased with my progress. Very surprised that I now take my meds myself she was pleased to tell me that my goal for many months, if not years, that my CD4 count to be out of the 100s and into the 200s had been achieved when my bloods were done three months ago. Guess who was a happy boy with those results? —Not just me, but Andrew as well.
And so it was back to the vampires in the nursing staff for bloods to be done, and temperature, and weight…. Apparently I am now a heavy lad at 12st 12lb – or for those who work only in lbs – 180lbs. Anyone who needs it in metric can go here…
Pharmacist
With Andrew up with me, it meant that I could send him down to the hospital pharmacy to get my meds while I waited for the vampires… but before that happened, I asked to speak to Paul the pharmacist. This meant that it was a little quicker for Andy down in pharmacy.
Next steps
- Next appointment is not until April 16th
- Continue taking the Eviplera once a day
- Try and eat a bit more healthily
- Exercise a bit more as feel overweight…
And finally…
I kept getting asked,
Do you sign autographs now?
I laughed all this off, but it was great to hear positive feedback to my interviews with The Belfast Telegraph and Ulster Television.
HIV Blogger | living positively 
Hi,I live in Manchester and also take Eviplera. I switched from Atripla. Had really bad depression while taking Atripla. I never get depressed but taking Atripla made me feel really low. I was underweight before starting on Eviplera,now I have gained a stone, probably because of the way it has to be taken. Do you take your pill at exactly the same time every day? Mine varies depending what time I eat in the evening. I can take it anytime between 6pm and 10pm. My doc said this is fine,and has no effect on the way the drug works.