Once again, I had to travel up from Co. Kildare to Beaumont Hospital in north Dublin to attend the ID clinic. The appointment was scheduled for 10:50 a.m., but I didn’t arrive until just after 11.30. This was mainly due to deciding to catch the 08:27 train from Monasterevin rather than one around seven o’clock. The journey then involved a train to Heuston station, walking from Platform 1 to the station entrance, and catching the tram from there to Jervis in the city centre. At that point, I had some breakfast in one of the McDonald’s restaurants on O’Connell Street, the one that is nearer to the River Liffey, before heading on to board the 27B bus to the hospital.

I saw Felix, who told me

2023-12-21 CD4 = 165 (same as before).
2023-12-21 VL = 43 (301).

I made sure to let the doctor know that I had been hospitalised in MRHPL from Christmas Eve until 2023-12-28. The reason for that hospitalisation was having Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). I received supplemental oxygen therapy for three days twenty-four hours a day for the first three days.

In addition, I informed the doctor of my diagnosis as autistic which I received this week, following the three in-depth clinical interviews with Dr Áine Lombard, Chartered Counselling Psychologist with The Adult Autism Practice. While this does not really change any of the treatment for HIV, it will help the doctors and nurses in their general communication with me.

Although the general rule is back in six months, I am to return to the clinic in three months. After seeing the doctor, the nurses drew blood from my right arm for the usual blood tests (viral load, CD4 count, renal, liver, bone, and FBC). Then I had the longest wait of all, waiting for the medications to keep me going until the next appointment on 18 February.

All in all, today’s appointment was much more positive than the last few.