There are more than 1.2 million persons infected with HIV in the United States. While the number of new HIV diagnoses has slowly fallen over the last decade, it remains a critical discussion topic. Mainly because about 14% of people with HIV do not know they have it. These are the experiences of 5 individuals who use their HIV recovery stories to inspire people to:
- get tested,
- share their stories,
- or determine what decisions are right for them.
1. Morgan Molthrop
A New Orleans resident and blogger, Morgan Moulthrop, describes himself as ambitious. His reaction to an HIV diagnosis in 2005 was to leave the country and launch a new overseas business venture. As it failed because of the economic crisis, he returned to New Orleans to face HIV and redefine his future. I had to make an honest turnaround to say, ‘I will not die. I’m going to be braver now than I was before,” he said.
Moulthrop, 51, in his HIV recovery stories, says that he takes regular Hiv medicines, workouts, and good health. He is still living his dream of becoming a writer. Also, he operates the Custom New Orleans website, an event-planning company. “Nowadays, what contributes to success is tying up the threads of all the things we do,” says Moulthrop. Organizing the community is not separate from my art or my fiction or presentations. I am not defined by a box that says, ‘I am my work.’ These days, we are Renaissance people. His HIV recovery stories inspired many people.
2. Chelsea White
Chelsea tested positive for HIV when she was 20. After being in a monogamous relationship, Chelsea and her boyfriend tested positive through her high school and college years.
That was not where the news came to an end: Chelsea was also pregnant. The doctor told her that he thought it was a false positive and not to panic about it. Chelsea tested again after the child was born. She was positive, but the baby was negative.
Her boyfriend, as it turned out, contracted HIV during sexual intercourse with another person. He then moved it on to Chelsea.
That was ten years ago. Today, after her diagnosis, Chelsea is married to an HIV-positive man she met. And they have two children together—and both are HIV-negative.
Chelsea now runs a youth outreach program for HIV and AIDS. Cause of her HIV recovery stories experience of finding out and feeling lonely at such a young age. She sits with HIV-positive teens every week. And tell them about her HIV recovery stories. Also, teach them about their medical and personal opportunities.
Chelsea herself is not currently on any medicine to cure her HIV. “I took medication every time I was pregnant. But I feel like I wasn’t able to be as compliant as I should be,” she says. However, over the last few months, I have understood that it’s time for me to start looking at my medication choices.”
3. Josh Robbins
“I’m still Josh. Yeah, I’m dealing with HIV, but I’m still the same guy.” The knowledge led Josh Robbins, a 37-year-old talent agent in Nashville, to tell his family about his illness that he was HIV-positive.
Josh Robbins said the only way my parents would be at peace will be for me to tell them face – to – face, to see me and to come in contact with me, and to look into my eyes to realize that I am still the same guy
The night Josh got news from his doctor that HIV had triggered his flu-like symptoms. Then he informs his family about his newly diagnosed immune disorder.
Once his family knew, Josh was determined not to keep his diagnosis hidden. “It wasn’t for me to hide. I thought the only way to fight shame or prevent gossip was to share my HIV recovery stories first. So I just started a blog.”
In his HIV recovery stories blog, Josh relates his experience with other people like him. In the beginning, he has a hard time.
He was feeling lonely. Plus, he was afraid, even scared, because of his health.
Since his blog launch, he’s had thousands of people coming to him, nearly 200 of them from his own country.
“I’m not alone at all right now. It’s a wonderful experience and a lot of humbling that everyone would want to share their HIV recovery stories via email only because they feel some connection because I wanted to tell my story on my blog.”
4. Vaughn Ripley
Vaughn Ripley, of Washington, D.C., was born with hemophilia and received HIV from a blood transfusion when he was a child. At the top of his hemophilia, the diagnosis threw his life in a downward spiral for a bit, he recalls. Still, he outlived the dire predictions of his doctors. As a child, doctors advise him to stop exercise, but in adulthood, he discovered that exercise and fitness could be the key to his longevity as he studied nutrition and health. He was riding the train, and then he saw a marathon poster that helped people living with AIDS. Marathon training was “like an epiphany,” he says. He quickly turned to triathlons, a multi-part race of swimming, cycling, and running. As he trained, he created a motivational concept called his leverage: “Stay fit or die.”
Today, as a public speaker dedicated to inspiring people to make their dreams come true, the 49-year-old says finding your inspiration is the key to success. And his third major achievement—his family—keeps him grateful every day, he says. He and his wife were able to have twins, both HIV-negative—another dream that seemed impossible when he was diagnosed with HIV decades earlier.
5. Kamaria Laffrey
Kamaria Laffrey found that she had HIV in 2003, after the birth of her daughter. The hospital staff talked me through the fact that HIV was not a death sentence. But that the baby would have to be examined. In the first year after my diagnosis, I wasn’t so worried about my survival. I was more worried about what I did to my child, she said. Fortunately, though, her daughter was got tested negative. Despite learning more about HIV, she spent those early years when the two lived with her mother and grandma. And they were desperately trying to avoid spreading the virus to other people in her household—such as cleaning her plates separately after the rest of the family fell asleep. “It was very isolating,” recalls Laffrey.
Laffrey lives in Polk County, Florida, where few support services are available to people with HIV. She approached the Positive Women’s Network-USA online. And that connection motivated her to become a public HIV advocate and educator. She quickly fell in love with a man who is also HIV-positive, and she is now her husband. “It was eye-opening and life-saving,” she said. Today, she is expanding her HIV recovery stories as a public defender. With the hope of introducing more HIV support programs to her local community.
