My latest musings on Rare Disease about some of the unforgettable bumps and bruises that have occurred as a result of hemophilia. I really love that there is an illustration for each of the three horror/humor stories! https://raredisease.net/living/absurd-mishaps...
Had a ton of fun writing my recent article for Rare Disease, inspired by the What If series of Marvel comics. https://raredisease.net/living/what-if I'm retroactively dedicating this one to Garth McMurray. Garth was avid comic book fan and artist that we recently...
This month I got on a plane for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started. In the twenty-four years since we've been together, this is the longest stretch that Gwenn and I have been "grounded". And I was okay with it. Okay with being grounded for a bit. Okay...
A lot of times when people delay getting tested for HIV and STDs, it is because of the stigma. Or simply not wanting to know the actual answer to a question that your brain cannot seem to turn off. But the reasons for knowing your status should trump your fears,...
Last month I went into a Costco and received a booster shot for my Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which I received in March. I travelled about two hours for that first shot in March, because information was trickling in slowly with regard to when the vaccine would be...
On July 5th I wrote a blog entry about getting sick. I was careful not to assume it was COVID-19. I even took an at home test that came back negative. Admittedly, I didn't take the second test. You see, the kit comes with two and encourages you take both. Guess I...
This World Hemophilia Day I thought it would be fun to share some whimsical blood-lettings of days past... having four-and-a-half decades of life with hemophilia under my belt, I've certainly seen my fair share of my own plasma. So without further ado,...
On Monday afternoon I got the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. We drove about two hours to get it, because information in Charlottesville (where I live) was slow to come by in terms of when I'd have the opportunity to get vaccinated. It may be because...
The last five years or so, my average t-cell count has been around 600. In January, before the Covid-19 lockdown, my count was 635. I'm more than thrilled with that because, paired with my consistently undetectable viral load, it's a sign that my...
Since I started taking HIV medications in 1999, I've been very good at not missing any doses. Even during my extended period of week on/week off (2003-ish to 2013-ish), I was diligent about remembering which day was the start day for another week of pills....