A Town Hall Meeting: The Ruckus in Ruckersville
August 11, 2009
While Senators and Congressmen are on break, they’re taking the opportunity to hold town hall meetings to discuss the healthcare reform that is being proposed. The insurance industry is also taking advantage of the opportunity as well, mobilizing their forces and rallying folks to kill any discussions of the real life consequences/concerns about of our current profitable-for-some system.
The news coverage of these town hall battles has been abundant. Here’s a clip of “Smirky” Sean Hannity praising a “concerned citizen’s” outburst at one of these meetings.
I’ve been watching some clips on The Rachel Maddow Show, so when I heard that my Congressman, Tom Perriello, was going to be holding these meetings, I had to travel 10 miles up the road to Ruckersville for… The Ruckus in Ruckersville!
The sign-holding that greeted me upon entering the Ruckersville Elementary School reminded me of the live pro wrestling events I am so fond of. I know how hard it is to make one of those things and have them be legible from more than 100 feet away. And there’s no spell-check with a bold tip Sharpee. So a little of the magic of the town hall meeting was stripped away when signs were being given out to people on both sides of the debate.
Lame.
My attitude is that, if you really think “Obamacare = Death Sentence For Grandma” is such, you should have some Sharpee ink on your hands that said you put in the time. Actually, that sign was sloppy, and I had no questions as to whether the man holding it was the arteest. I know, I know, “Shawn, why didn’t you get a picture of that?” Well, I don’t have enough clotting factor to brave that photo op and, quite frankly, the sign was kind of scary. His grandma probably does have a death sentence- the hard-earned kind.
But that, for some, is the point. To scare the hell out of people. One of my Tool Academy Alumni, Rep. Virginia “Crazy Like A” Foxx, got on board to ring the death tolls for the elderly.
So, what exactly happened at the Ruckus in Ruckersville?
About 250 people gathered. The local news said that the majority were conservative, but I’m thinking that most of the people who weren’t sneering or shouting were in favor of something being done, or getting genuine questions answered by their representative in the House. Perriello himself said- when the one microphone they had on hand wasn’t shorting out- that as it stands now, he’d vote “No”… but wants to be a “Yes”. He seemed open to a good plan, but not willing to just sign anything because he’s a Democratic congressman, having voted no on the Bailout and yes on the Stimulus.
He was boo’d for the Stimulus, which he thought was necessary to prevent the entire United States from falling into California’s fiscal position.
I don’t pretend to know everything about the healthcare reform, but I do know that whatever goes through will not put Sarah Palin’s child with Down Syndrome in front of a Death Panel, as she stated on her Facebook page. The scare tactics are out of control as to what could happen if our evil government tries to encroach on Mister Roger’s Hugs & Healthcare monopoly, and irrational fears are being stoked because there’s a lot at stake.
What bothered me were people who grandstanded on the mic. I wonder where they imagined they were as they spoke- on cable talk show? Jerry Springer? The mic was supposed to be used for a question before being passed to Perriello, but most times it was taken hostage. Maybe Bill Clinton should moderate all these debates… okay, bad idea.
But so is the idea of handing someone a microphone. In pageants, the host always holds the microphone, and for good reason- it’s not un-American to cut some blabbermouth off. If it’s good enough for Miss America, it’s good enough for Ruckersville Elementary School. Plus, the event was only an hour and about 50 people lined up to ask a question. So when one ass asked 3 questions, and didn’t even get to the first one until the five minute mark, it was quite painful.
Probably the most succinct person on the mic was a guy with Down’s Syndrome. He had a stutter, that cheap-ass microphone didn’t help his cause. I’m not being a dick, that’s how it went down, and I’m telling this story not to be a dick, but for a reason. Glad you’re back with me. He told Tom that he would like the healthcare reform to not overlook those with mental disabilities.
Everyone clapped.
When Perriello said that the VA was a federally-run health care system that has provided the best healthcare for our veterans because they deserve nothing less… everyone clapped. My question is this- don’t we all deserve decent healthcare that doesn’t go up 20% from one year to the next?
A self-described “conservative leaning” man in his thirties was upset that some in attendance wore blue tape on their arms to show support for reform. He said that he’s had a couple friends who were diagnosed with cancer, and came out of treatment fine. He was worried about the financial toll of healthcare reform affecting our nation’s ingenuity…. All I could wonder was how he would feel if those friends didn’t have decent healthcare and had to sell everything to cover their chemotherapy because their insurance “found a loophole” and decided to poke their dicks through it and subsequently screw their client into the poorhouse?
There’s no quick fix, but something has to be done, and real concerns over what sucks about the proposed bill need to be heard, studied and rectified. I have faith my Congressman, and wouldn’t wish his job on anyone. I mean, really, he kept his cool. Even when he was talking about the 6-figure expense of a woman who has a child premmaturely and how decent prenatal care could lessen the likelihood of a child being born early, only to have some idiot shout, “Abortion!”
Maybe it was as bad as the clips on TV warned me. But still, overall, aside from the morons, I was glad I went. The people who spoke, whose minds were already made up one way or the other, seemed transparent. Perriello did a good job of explaining the reality of the health care system, both already in place and what is being proposed. If I can think of a cool sign to make I just might go again tonight, when he does it all over again here in Charlottesville.
Maybe I’ll make an “I’M HERE TO SAVE TRIG PALIN!” sign. Or maybe I’ll just go to listen and learn, and hope something happens because I fear the position that other positoids- who are walking “pre-existing conditions”- face with our current health insurance industry. Doing nothing is great if you got it made- and I think that’s why so many resources are being put into spreading fear and lies among people for whom not a whole lot would actually change.
As for Palin’s comments, in my America, “Death Panel” should only be used when referring to the panel of judges on American Idol. And I’m talking about the classic panel of Simon, “Dawg” Jackson and Paula Abdul.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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A Weekend of “RedempShawn”
June 27, 2009
It’s been a full week since I got sick. Have I been to the doctor? No, but don’t worry, this isn’t a Perez Hilton situation. “God, I’m bleeding! I should call the police!” I have a viral infection, not bacterial, which means the only thing I’d get at the hospital would be a bill. (Contacted doc via email, he concurred on my viral suspicions.)
My friends get worried when I go down for the count like this. But I just got labs done, and all my numbers are great. T-cells are steady in the high 500’s, VL is detectable but under 48 copies. It’s just a bug. The real tragedy here is that I missed going to Roanoke for Gwenn and I’s annual Miss Virginia trip. We’ve been there every year since 1999, when I made it there to see Gwenn compete despite really being sick with close to 100 t-cells. This year a contestant, Chinah Helmandollar, is doing the comedic monologue similar to the one Gwenn did when she competed in 1999. Gwenn is now officially a pageant legend!
But wait, that’s not to say I haven’t carved out my own niche in the last decade. I hosted a pageant last fall, and judged a pageant where two girls were crowned. If either of them win tonight, I plan on collecting royalties. At the very least, I’ll solicit a discreet donation to Decker’s Daily Coffee. Aside from those contributions to pageantdom, my real mark has been my uncanny ability to predict the top finishers…
Every year, I make a poster that I unveil before preliminary competitions in Roanoke. Since I wasn’t able to be there this week, I emailed it to our pageant buddies. And now, for the first time, unless I’ve already done this and forgot, I am unveiling my prediction here!
(The reference on the poster to last year’s “misstep” is that neither of my two picks in 2008 made the Top 5. Probably the most embarrassing moment of my life.)
But this weekend is all about returning to my rightful glory. Not only are these two ladies going to finish at the top, my 2008 Person of the Year, Mike the Miz, has been getting a lot of heat in the WWE. Tomorrow he is wrestling the company’s biggest star, John Cena, at the Bash, a pay-per-view I am not getting because I am so confidant in a dominant Miz victory.
Nothing will help me get over this cough like a little redemption- er, redempshawn. So go get ‘em, tigers. You, too, can watch the Miss Virginia pageant, live and streaming at 9 PM EST. (The ladies pictured on the poster, by the way, are Caressa Cameron and Caitlin Uze, respectively.)
As the Miz would say, tune in, because it’s going to be AWESOME.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus. See my band play in Charlottesville on July 11!
Today was National HIV Testing Day. Know your status and, positoid or negatoid, be healthy!
World Hemophilia Day
April 17, 2009
Today is World Hemophilia Day! If you’d like to observe the 20th anniversary of World Hemophilia Day here’s what you can do this weekend.
- Hug a Thinblood: Not too tightly, but not too soft, either. Cyberhugs are good, too.
- Donate Blood: People with bleeding disorders rely on blood products. It’s safe and easy to donate!
- Punch Yourself In Nose: PLEASE NOTE… This is only for Thickbloods. Pretend the bleeding won’t stop for a while, and empathize with Thinbloods. (Please Don’t, actually.)
World Hemophilia Day really snuck up on me this year. I’ve slept half the day away, and now I gotta go play catch up. My advice to fellow Thinbloods- take full advantage of today! If there is someone you are pining for, they have to go out on a date with you. Especially if you show up in the suit pictured with a dozen roses… be creative in how you exploit this!
And no, Decker’s Daily wasn’t launched on Monday to rack up sponsors today. Though I was shocked to have gotten 8 days of coffee- more on that later… for now, I gotta get out of the house, grab a cup of joe, and scream to the world: “I am Thinblood, hear me roar!”
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus. Introducing The Confusinator
April 16, 2009
Apparently there was a lot of muffled laughter about The Swatchmen, a superhero group I will lead into battle the day after I am cured of hemophilia. (Read the original blog here.)
Well, the Swatchmen Facebook group is bursting at the seams with 48 members, one of which already has their alter ego ready to go- The Confusinator!
I imagine we’ll break the 100 mark by the time that cure rolls in.
You may want to join us. I have a lot of pent up thickblood envy that I am planning on unleashing once I am cured. So join or, as the Confusinator would put it, “Consequence the suffers!”
In all seriousness, who knows when a cure for hemophilia will happen? The science will take time, I’m sure. I joke about being cured, but I have mild hemophilia, and stay away from the temptation of joining the local rugby league, so the impact of the disease on my adult life is minimal.
Still, the enormity of the advances made from just before I was born to the potential of what awaits in my lifetime is a pretty wide swing. From people being able to manage bleeding episodes by infusing concentrated blood plasma, in effect going from a “victim of disease” to a superhero (The Infusinator, anyone?), to the horrific consequences of HIV infection… to being cured.
That’s a lot of science, human error and human triumph in the story of those who have lived with hemophilia or “thinbloods”, as I affectionately refer to those with bleeding disorders. (Shout out to my peeps with Von Willebrand!) And I eagerly await the day when there is a cure, but I hope that lessons learned are never forgotten.
If they are, then maybe someone will have to answer to myself, The Confusinator, and lots of former Infusinators.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus. British Report on Tainted Blood Scandal
February 24, 2009
The Associated Press ran a story yesterday about a report on the tainted blood scandal in Britain, which you can read here.
In Britain, 5,000 hemophiliacs were infected with HIV and hepatitis C, a third of whom have died as a result. The House of Lords (not a trip-hop band, unfortunately) member who headed the report stated that these infections are the worst treatment disaster in the country’s health care system.
“Long after alarms had been founded about the risks of obtaining paid-for blood donations from communities with an increased incidence of relevant infections, such as prison inmates, this practice continued. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that commercial interests took precedence over public health concerns,” the report stated.
The non-governmental report pinned a significant portion of the blame on U.S. companies for collecting blood from the prison population long after it was obvious that this was a high-risk donor source. The AP article ends with the following: “This inquiry is a nonbinding investigation that will not directly lead to criminal charges.”
OK, no criminal charges- thinbloods know there will be no accountability. But the folks who were in charge of making those terrible decisions should, at the very least, have to sit down for an interview with Ali G.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
My Column in New Issue of Poz
February 19, 2009
I have a new column in the latest issue of Poz Magazine, you can read it here: “Week On, Week Off”. It’s about the ups and one big down of my last seven years on my Structured Treatment Interruption.
Hope you enjoy reading it- I am especially proud of all of the Karate Kid references and am honored to be included in an issue that focuses on what we as positoids can do to improve our health.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Heapin’ Helpin’ of Lab Results
February 2, 2009
I know the numbers on everyones’ minds are the points scored at the Super Bowl (I predicted it right!). But I got some good numbers of my own recently: my latest HIV lab results. The viral load is undetectable, and the CD4 (t-cell) count is 523… the third highest I’ve had recorded since the 1980’s!
Sweet!
For those who know about my week on/week off treatment strategy, it’s important to note that the labs were drawn after being two days into a week on the drugs.
Huh?
I take my HIV meds for seven days, then don’t take them for seven days and repeat that cycle. In the March issue of Poz- out next month- there will be a column about why and how I came to the decision to do this back in 2002. I’ll link it when it’s up.
So one of my favorite things aside from high t-cell counts is getting my coffee drink on. After getting my labs done, I left my appointment with Dr. Greg and went to a new coffee shop in town called the Calvino Cafe located at the Market Street Shops. As I am ordering, the nice young woman behind the counter tells me her daughter loved my book.
I smiled, and tried to act humble, but I always get way too excited in these situations. “No way! How cool!”
In a hilarious coincidence for the day, she told me her daughter is dating Dr. Greg’s son, giving the whole moment a very Stars Hallow, Gilmore Girls aftertaste that went down well with my fave drink, the iced mocha.
I frequent a few of the coffee shops in town. My baristo extraordinaire, Jaike, hooks it up real nice at Shenandoah Joe’s. And Toan over at C’ville Coffee offers up such a great environment to write, and is also the only shop in town that has an Adult Zone and a kids/family section. Well, just the other day I was in the adult zone, having coffee with Gwenn and a pal, and the title of a book caught my eye: “A Heaping Helping of True Grizzard”.
There was a goofy looking author, Lewis Grizzard, on the sleeve. We all had a chuckle at his mustache’s expense. Then I read the blurbs on the back of the book, and I felt like me and ol’ Griz might have a lot in common.
“A southern comedic gem!” “Like Andy Rooney- only funny!” “Clever and witty!”
All the adjectives I like to attribute to myself.
I open this 1991 book up to a random page about sex. “Sex today is just as scrambled as everything else. You can’t even talk about it without getting confused.” The Griz then presented a glossary of terms to help himself- and presumably us, too- better understand the world we live in.
“LOVER- Somebody you aren’t married to but you’re sleeping with them anyway.” He tackled “cohabitation” and “palimony”, then the next one up was kind of baffling. “GAY: Formerly “queer,” “fruit,” or “fag.” Means you and your lover can go into the same bathroom together when you stop at service stations during long trips.” How lame is that, right? I was really discovering that the Griz and I weren’t on the same page in regard to our senses of humor or our views on life. When I got to the next word, the fact that I opened the very large book to this page meant that this very blog was inevitable.
“AIDS: You and your lover can share the same hospital room together, too.”
A heaping, helping of Grizzard did not go down too well with the iced mocha.
In writing this, I Wiki’d the Griz, who passed away in 1995. I’m not going to dishonor him any further than he did himself, or the way he dishonored all of those positoids who were laying in hospital beds dying as he chuckled at his typewriter, swirling his glass of alcohol and admiring his handiwork on the word “AIDS”. I won’t comment on the fact that he died from heart failure, or make a joke about the one page of his work that I read, which didn’t show much heart (or humor) at all.
OK, so maybe I’m sticking it to the guy. But hey, he deserves it. And I didn’t know he was dead until I Wiki’d him halfway through this entry. I guess, like him, I am not beyond cracking a joke or two at the epidemic’s expense. But unlike Griz, my jokes are at my own expense.
And the intent is to make my fellow positoids laugh and feel better. Not cringe and feel worse.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
The Four Days of Thanksgiving
November 29, 2008
Thanksgiving Day gets bigger every year. You got the eat-a-thon on Thursday, the shop-a-thon on Black Friday, then the aftermath on Grey Saturday…
But wait, it’s not even over then! Because then there’s the last mad dash to the malls on Sunday Bloody Sunday, before returning to work on Manic Monday, which coincides with World AIDS Day this year.
If that weren’t enough, Black Friday marked the first observation of Native American Heritage Day, which will occur on the day after Thanksgiving from now on.
Speaking of Black Friday, the news about the Wal-Mart employee being trampled to death was just horrible. There’s gotta be a way for humans to realize they are walking on other humans and for what? Just to save $75 on a television set… I just don’t get it. This is why, from now on, I’m advising my thinblooded brothers and sisters to observe Native American Heritage Day and stay the hell away from the aptly titled Black Friday and the reckless herd of thickbloods.
As far as Thanksgivings go, I couldn’t have had a better time this year. Went to my parents house up in the mountains of Lexington, and our friend Lauren and her baby, Evelyn (we covered the first presidential debate together) joined us. I got to hang out with my still-new niece, Helayna, who is 9 months old and full of smiles. Then for dinner, Gwenn and I joined Lauren at her grandparents house for a more formal affair in the evening. All in all, a very relaxed and joyous day of eating and sipping red wine.
Black Friday started early for me. Not because I was waiting in line at Best Buy, but because I woke up with a sore throat. It felt like a bacterial infection, so Gwenn took me to Prompt Care in the hopes of getting a prescription for antibiotics. When we walked in, I felt like time immediately stood still… just a bad vibe. When the receptionist told me to wait, I turned to Gwenn and said, “Let’s get out of here.”
I mean, really. At least take my name, so when I sit down and you call me up to the window, it isn’t by saying, “Hey, you.”
I’m not a snobby patient, I’m just in tune with my medical chi, and I felt like my whole day was going to be ruined if I put my fate in the hands of Prompt Care. We sought refuge at Martha Jefferson Hospital’s version of Prompt Care across town, and my medical chi vibe was immediately validated.
“Hello!” The full-of-life receptionist said. “Have a seat and let me get you signed in. You name?”
Before I could take off my coat, I was back in the room. A nice nurse entered the room, wheeling in a laptop. She registered me while I waited for the doctor, who came in less than ten minutes from the time I walked through the door.
I explained my symptoms, and he asked if it hurt when I swallowed. I swallowed, and said it hurt a little, but nothing too bad. (It got worse the next day.) Then he did a throat swab, which came back negative for strep. “Probably a viral infection,” he said. “I’ve prescribed some Vicodin for the pain.”
Now, I’ve never taken Vicodin, but I’ve heard it can take the pain away. Today, when I woke up with a sore throat, that little pill made it go away in short order.
As I mentioned after the last bout with a sore throat, I was hoping to get that out of the way in time for the World AIDS Week travels, which start tomorrow. Thankfully, the travel load isn’t too bad- we have two flights for four speaking engagements, three of which are happening in one state.
And, even with another sore throat, I am thankful to be educating this week, and commemorating World AIDS Day with my lovely love, Gwenn. Will be reporting the week’s events here, as well as on my Twitter page.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
The Twilight (of My Cold)
November 21, 2008
Whatever I had is finally leaving my body. With the time change, and the late nights of Nyquil-induced slumber, I went three days without seeing sunlight.
But now, I’m ready to re-emerge among the living, and the bright flashes of sunlight that greeted me today in the cold, brisk, air only made it apparent that I’d missed my deadline for my 2nd book.
To have my next book- a vampire book- completed and sent to my high falootin’ NYC agent by the time Twilight hit theatres was a great plan, the hope being to have my book published before the second Twilight movie sucks the genre dry. But my 10-long ailment precluded me from doing some final writing and editing, and early attempts to do so in a sickened haze proved unfruitful.
I felt defeated, as I played online poker in the darkness, the glow of the laptop making my face look paler than usual. Coughing quietly to myself, I drank my nectar of lemon and water, wondering if I’d be missing out on a chance to ride the vampire craze to much-deserved riches.
Then I remembered an article a friend sent me, just as my transformation to coughing fiend began early last week. It suggested a I had a much longer window of opportunity to slide through… a four year window.
The article suggests that vampires as entertainment thrive during Democratic administrations, while zombies rule the Earth during Republican’s glory days. No, this doesn’t mean I’ll wait until the end of Obama’s first term, but it does mean that I shouldn’t beat myself up for getting sick.
Still, as Gwenn and I were catching up on our E.R. episodes the other night, there was an obvious sign that I shouldn’t let my vampire book- which has a character who is HIV positive- sleep in the coffin for too much longer. In the scene, a mother asks Abbie if she can have the “talk” with her two young sons, because she is too embarrassed. It quickly becomes apparent the boys are too young, and have other things on their minds.
“Can vampires get AIDS?” One of the brothers asks.
It was like someone slapped me in the face, and asked what else do I need to finish this damn book.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
AIDS Treatment: How Soon is Now?
October 27, 2008
A recent study suggests that the newly diagnosed will now be pressured to immediately start on HIV drugs. Here’s the story, afternoon glory.
In the study, they found that people who started on HIV drugs with higher t-cell counts had a better survival rate. My worry is that I foresee doctors shoving pills at newly diagnosed people who have healthy immune systems.
I can’t overstate the role that HIV drugs have played in my health since I started in 1999. I also can’t overstate the importance of not starting on AZT in 19
90 when it was suggested I do so- I wouldn’t have adherred to the treatment in the early days of my diagnosis. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend waiting until you have less than 100 t-cells, like I boneheadishly did, either.
A daily reminder of your status in the form of pills is something that you have to be ready for, mentally and emotionally. If the physical threat isn’t there yet, I don’t think a positoid should be asked to swallow more than they already have to, all things considered.
One other thing, the article mentions that drug holidays are a no-no. ” Another key study found that briefly interrupting treatment to give patients “drug holidays” puts them at grave risk.” … How about some details: How long were the holidays? What were the patients numbers/health like when they took the holidays?
I blog my truth, without assuming that my truth would be the truth of anyone else living with HIV. I write occasionally about my week on/week off HIV meds schedule, which I’ve been doing successfully for six years now. I don’t feel like I am at grave risk.
I know the medical community likes to paint people with medical conditions with big, broad strokes. My only suggestion is to let the patient determine which colors are used, and not to strap everyone down with the same well-intentioned advice.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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